Why Do I Need a Grain Cart?

Grain carts are an effective way to reduce equipment wear and field compaction. Why waste expensive combine hours stopping to unload onto trucks at the end of the field? Or worse, exposing your operation to yield loss by compacting the ground with trucks in the field? Both these practices waste precious harvest time and put unnecessary wear on your equipment.

Grain carts stay on the field, eliminate stationary unloading, and in multiple combine operations can gain the efficiency equivalent to adding an additional harvester at a significantly lower price point. This enables you to harvest more acres per day, drastically decreasing your combines idle time and putting more dollars in your pocket.

How Do I Know What Grain Cart is Right for Me?

Every farmer harvests differently, so acquiring the right grain cart for you will be different for your operation than for your neighbors.

There are many things to consider when buying a grain cart such as the size, build design, auger discharge side, cart design, technology, and different undercarriage options.

Size

Cart size has steadily increased over the years. The first carts to hit the market wouldn’t even hold one combine hopper today; however, today’s carts range from 600-bushel to 3000-bushel.

Through many on-field visits, including demo programs and start-ups, the feedback provided to Elmer’s suggests that most farmers want a cart that can hold a full legal truck load plus an extra 200 bushels. This allows the grain cart operator to unload onto the trucks in a single trip without filling the cart so full that the operator risks spilling crops through rough terrain.

Producers that have a wide range of crop densities may consider a larger cart if the acre of low-density crop justifies the bigger equipment.

Build Design

Welded Build Design

Most manufacturers use a welded build design when building their grain carts. Benefits of a welded together constructed cart include:

Lower manufacturing cost.
Fewer build components.

Bolt Together Design

The HaulMaster grain cart is built with a bolt-together design. The benefits of bolt-together include:

Natural flex between the panels, which means there are no broken seams.
Able to replace a damaged panel.
Straight body lines, no distortion caused by welding.
Able to paint/power-coat all panels prior to assembly. In addition, there’s no raw metal causing rust runs.
Able to package in a shipping container and send it overseas.

Auger Discharge Side

In 2018, Elmer’s Manufacturing introduced a right-hand unload auger for the HaulMaster, forever changing the North American grain cart market. The benefits of the right-hand and the left-hand discharge unload auger:

Right-Hand Auger

Tractor seat swivels further right, providing better sightlines and reducing operator strain.
Controls are on the right, providing easier access.
With a joystick the right-hand discharge is more natural, so you aren’t reaching across our body or using your left hand.
No full cart U-turn is required with a loaded cart in a typical approach to the trucks by loading rear to front on driver’s (non-tarp) side.
Upon completion of unload, the tractor and truck cab are inline. Easy to give the truck driver thumbs up that load is complete.

Left-Hand Auger

Left-hand unloading is proven to work. There are many reasons why the left-hand unload was introduced and has been around for so long.

For most farmers, this is what you grew up with and are used to.
Auger may be left unfolded during grain transport if there are no obstructions, limiting wear and tear on linkages. However, unfolded augers may cause additional stress from bouncing in the field.
If more than a load is brought back to the trucks, and the operator wants to empty the entire cart, trucks could be lined up so that no U turn would be required.

Dual Auger vs Corner Auger

Dual Auger Design

A dual auger grain cart has a bottom auger running the entire length of the tank which feeds the unload auger that fills the truck. Dual augers are available in carts with capacities of 1100-3000 bushels.

Benefits of a dual auger include:

Larger auger opening.
Faster unload speed.
More stability with a lower center of gravity.
Lower loading height.
Includes a pivoting auger
Larger capacity potential.
Steeper sidewalls, which equals little to no crop hang-up.
Better sightlines for the combine operator.

Single/Corner Auger Design

A single/corner auger design is a cart with one auger that connects the bottom of the tank and the spout. These are available in grain carts from 500-1500 bushels.

Benefits of a single auger include:

Fewer maintenance points.
Less Expensive.
Easier clean out between crops.
Typically built lighter.
Better auger visibility with “forward” auger.

Undercarriages

It’s a hot topic in the agricultural industry: are tracks or tires best? Making the choice with these two is a decision that shouldn’t be made lightly. It’s a key consideration for any farm operation that’s looking to be more effective and efficient.

Tracks

Having a grain cart fitted with tracks is ideal for the farmer that is focused on minimizing field compaction. Tracks distribute weight over a large area, reducing compaction and increasing flotation.

Benefits of track undercarriage include:

Reduced compactions – much larger footprint.
Smoother ride in the field, as it floats over rough terrain, washouts, and pivot tracks.
Increased flotation, which allows for continued harvest in muddy conditions.
Tracks can handle larger load capacity (HaulMaster now offers 3000-bushel carts that are standard with tracks).
No flat tires or tire blowouts.

Tires

Benefits of tire undercarriage include:

Least expensive option.
Requires less maintenance.
Less Weight, easier to pull uphill.
Row Crop tandem tires may reduce overall height of cart when loading on a trailer for transport (for custom harvesters)
Available in many configurations that include:
- Flotation tires
- Row Crop Tandem
- Inline Tandems (steerable tires)

Technology

Technology on a grain cart today helps make using a grain cart simple. Things like scales, camera systems, external display, and automatic functions help take out the hard work.

Scales

Scale indicators can come in all shapes, sizes, and accuracies. Direct connections offer the best stability and accuracy while providing you with live weights, GPS, and detailed load tracking. You’ll know exactly what crop type, and how much is coming off the field into your trucks and into your bins.

Benefits of scale technology include:

Detailed load tracking by crop type, field, truck, and bin.
Records data on controller and tablet for accuracy and storage.
Automatic unload detection.

Automatic Features

Technology today makes operating a grain cart easier than ever with automatic features. This helps save time during harvest, and time is money to a farmer.

These include:

Double tap fold/unfold
Auto close gate by weight, so you never overload your trucks.
Auto close gate by speed, so you’ll never forget to close your gate again.
Auto unload detection.
Auto auger spout centering.

Optional Technology

There are different pieces of technology that can help make farmers’ lives easier as they consider their next grain cart.

Camera Systems
- Mounted on auger and rear of cart to watch unloads and behind the cart when reversing.
External Scale Display
- Allows combine to see the live weight of the cart in the field. Can calibrate on the go.
Integrations – Pipe AG, John Deere Grain Weight Sharing
- Show live weights across platforms, and better tracks routes in the field.
Cloud Services
- Allows you to integrate or upload to cloud services to see your data on the go.

Conclusion

Buying a grain cart is a substantial investment. However, a grain cart will increase efficiency, reduce field damage and compaction that hinders yields, to harvest more acres per day, and puts more dollars in your pocket. Consider the size, design, under-carriage, and technology options that best fit your operation.

From there, we would recommend testing it out yourself that the exact model you are interested in fits your farming needs. Request a HaulMaster demo at: https://elmersmfg.com/contact-us/?inquirytype=Demo_Request.

For a customizable experience, you can find Elmer’s grain cart options and specifications in our downloadable brochure! https://elmersmfg.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Brochure2024_Haulmaster_231211.pdf.