Tom and Jim Drummy share details about upgrading their MEYER Dryer.

Consistency is key for profitable grain drying. That’s why Drummy Brothers Inc. in Ryan, Iowa, upgraded from the Quantum^® Control to the INTUI-DRY^® Control and TrueGrain™ Moisture Sensor System. Their new system provides accurate moisture readings and convenient control of their MEYER ENERGY MISER® 1200S Tower Dryer.

The farm is run by brothers Tom and Dan Drummy and their wives, along with Tom’s son Jim Drummy. The family operation has been ongoing for 49 years and has transitioned from grain and livestock to strictly raising grain.

Not too dry, not too wet.

“With INTUI-DRY and TrueGrain, it saves us money consistently by keeping us at 15% moisture,” explains Tom Drummy. “If you can keep it at 15, that’s the key. And we do a much better job of keeping it at 15. Too dry a moisture in your grain, you lose weight in your product. And it also slows down the dryer by running it longer, making you run inefficiently. Too wet a grain is a dock at the grain terminal when you deliver it.”

Upgrading from Quantum Control.

The Drummys acquired the MEYER Dryer in 2006 from Brock. “I was six years old when we built that dryer,” said Jim Drummy. “And I remember it coming in the yard on a big semi trailer. I’d never seen something that long go down the road.”

The Quantum Control on the dryer met the Drummys needs for many years. But when the TrueGrain Moisture Sensor System came out, they were very interested in it to improve grain sampling. That system requires the INTUI-DRY Control, so they updated both at the same time.

Parallel Sensing Technology™.

“The old system had what they called a plate sampler, said Tom. “It laid on the bottom of the dryer and it was extremely sensitive to hot or cold air temperatures. So with TrueGrain, they’ve put the sampler in its own box, stood the sensor up, a different type of sensor altogether. So it is not affected by ambient conditions outside of the chamber. That was the whole reason that I wanted to change to this new system.”

Easy to install.

Tom and Jim explained that the TrueGrain System and INTUI-DRY Control were simple to install. The Drummys were even able to do the millwright work themselves to integrate the moisture sensor system into the dryer. They worked with D & B Agro-Systems in Hubbard, Iowa, to install the electronics and wiring on the new controller, and to get everything running seamlessly.

“D & B is a great dealer to work with, they’re one phone call away,” said Jim. “It was a very simple thing and there was hardly any problems on startup,” said Tom. “Everything went real smooth.”

Easy to operate.

Tom explained that he grew up operating the Quantum Control and it did a good job, but that it wasn’t the easiest system to use. “It had buttons on it that you pushed to reveal hidden screens. So you were always looking for what you were trying to find. The INTUI-DRY is just so much more self-explanatory.”

“The more I ran the INTUI-DRY, it was a lot simpler than running that Quantum, more user-friendly,” said Jim. “If you hit one button and you were wondering where something else was at, it would lead you right into the next page to find that option. If I want to find the burner in that page, I just go down to systems on that page and it comes right up and voilà, you’re right there.”

Remote monitoring and control.

Jim also appreciates having remote access and control through his INTUI-DRY web-based phone app. “I live off the bin site so I can get on my phone and make sure the dryer is running the way it’s supposed to be. And another thing I really like is when the system texts me at night and tells me the dryer is shutting down. So I know we got through the corn drying for the day.”

“I like the web access to the fact that I can check on Jim,” laughs his dad. “Jim runs the drying system here during the season and I can pick up my phone or my iPad in the combine and see exactly what he’s doing as far as where he is dumping the grain at, how dry or wet it is coming in, and what have you.”

Accurate moisture readings.

Every load that the Drummys bring in from the field is moisture checked, weighed on state-inspected scales and recorded in books. Tom reads their most recent results drying with INTUI-DRY Control and the TrueGrain Moisture Sensor System. “It is so accurate that over last year 170,000 bushels of corn went to the elevator, and we were targeting 15%. We had 14.87% average on 170,000 bushels.”

That kind of accuracy translates to money savings year after year.