General Maintenance

For standard (black or blue) gearboxes, use a Moly-Lithium base Extreme Pressure No. 2 grease (NAPA Valvoline# 633), Shivvers part # C-6185. For high temp (silver, red, copper, orange or white) gearboxes, use high temp grease Chevron Ulti-Plex Synthetic EP, Shivvers part # C-6188.

At a minimum, the gearbox should be greased annually. For higher usage, follow the recommendations below.

  • Circu-Lator I – Every 100,000 Bu
  • Circu-Lator II or Dri-Flo 500 – Every 150,000 Bu
  • High-Torque Circu-Lator, Dri-Flo 1000 or Dri-Flo 1500 – Every 250,000 Bu

Follow the Gearbox Lubrication Guide on page 1 of the Pre-Season Inspection and Maintenance document.

If any of the following statements are true, your Tapered Sweep Auger is worn and should be replaced. 1) The fliting is completely worn away at the outside (small) end of the auger. 2) The fliting is worn to a sharp (razor) edge at any point on the sweep auger. 3) Measure the fliting at any two points 18” apart on the sweep auger. If the height nearest the bin center is the lowest, the sweep auger is worn. If the heights are the same, the sweep auger is questionable. Note: The difference in these two measurements my be as little as 1/64” on larger diameter bins.

Pre-Season Inspection and Maintenance

As a service-oriented company, Shivvers strongly suggests that a pre-season inspection be performed on your drying unit to prevent the most common problems encountered. This will help identify areas which may cause a breakdown during the drying season and give you enough time to order replacement parts.

Contact your local authorized Shivvers dealer to schedule your pre-season inspection.

General Grain Drying Information

Cross-Flow Dryers force air horizontally through a column of grain that is usually 12-14 inches thick. The air is forced from one side of the column, through the grain (raising the temperature of the grain rapidly) and then heated air is exhausted into the air.  Counter-Flow Dryers move air upwards through grain that is moving downward. This is accomplished by forcing heated drying air up through a perforated floor inside a bin, through a bed of grain at least 3-8 feet deep and exhausted out the top of the bin.

Counter-Flow Drying is more efficient and results in more uniform grain moisture and higher grain quality.

Since the heated air is in contact with the grain for a longer period of time (due to the depth of the grain versus a thin column) more of the hear is used from the heated air to remove moisture before it is exhausted.

Since the grain is moving toward the heat source and removed once dry, all the grain receives the same amount of heated air (not just heated from one side).

The grain is in contact with the heated air for a longer period of time at a lower temperature. This causes less ‘stress’ on each kernel resulting in less stress fractures and the ability to remove the same amount of moisture.

Retention time is the amount of time corn is in the drying process. The longer the retention time, they more test weight is retained. In a Cross-Flow Dryer, a kernel of corn travels through the system in about one hour. At 6’ of grain depth in a Shivvers Counter-Flow Dryer, the kernel takes about 12 hours before it leaves the bin. This longer retention time allows that corn to retain 2-4 more pounds of test weight.

Sales

Please feel free to contact your local Authorized Shivvers Dealer for the most accurate pricing and availability. Your local dealer will also be able to give you information on any special offers that are currently available. You can find a list of authorized dealers in your area by using the dealer locator.

If you have an active Shivvers Link subscription, you can access your account at https://myshivvers.com/Link/.

Our manuals are available on our website under Support & Service. Search for your manual and open or download for future reference. If your manual is not on-line, please contact us.

You can find a list of authorized dealers in your area by using the dealer locator.

Shivvers does not sell parts to the public. Part sales are done through our authorized dealerships. You can find a list of authorized dealers in your area by using the dealer locator.

For information about becoming an Authorized Shivvers Dealer, please use the Become a Dealer link on this website to submit a request.

Authorized dealers can access important sales, service and marketing information by logging in to the Dealer Portal under Support & Service.

Authorized dealers can access the Quoting Program at https://myshivvers.com/quoting/