Valerie G. Barnes Connell Jordan
Northern Advocate
A year after beginning work on a project to make “wild rice harvesters become more productive,” the Saskatchewan Polytech team have showcased a “working harvester prototype,” according to a Saskatchewan Polytechnic news release dated July 3, 2024.
Working in Partnership with the NWC Wild Rice Company, Chris Thomson, program lead for the Saskatchewan Polytechnic’s Agricultural Equipment Technician program, began work on the multi-year project to create and develop both equipment that would be used in wild rice harvesting, and “in training needed to maintain the specialized equipment,” according to the news release.
“Thankfully, Sask Polytech has a real wide range of expertise that we have been able to draw from to come up with solutions,” Thompson is quoted as saying.
Thompson, along with Quintin Dudrangne, who has been the lead design-tech/fabricator for the project, have worked on the project and brought it to the point of “completing testing on a working prototype for a new boat hull design and propulsion system,” quoted from the news release.
“We’ve modified the design of a typical boat hull to make it wider so that it can support the larger industrial design engine we’ve been working with. These boats will be loaded with 400 pounds of wild rice and will need to be able to move and steer correctly. Our recent tests proved that the propulsion system works at the required speeds and that’s exciting,” Thomson explains.
The boats has been tested on a small body of water close to the city of Saskatoon, with access to the Saskatoon Water Ski Club’s boat launch.
“It functions surprisingly well, speed wise,” Dudragne is quoted as saying. “We’ve made a few little adjustments, trying different belts, pulleys and prop pitch and over a series of tests we got to the point that we’re happy with it and we know it handles properly.”
The project began out of a need to enhance wild rice harvesting equipment to support harvesters, particularly in northwestern Saskatchewan, who were facing problems with harvesting equipment such as equipment becoming obsolete, parts for existing equipment getting hard, if not impossible to find, and no updates in equipment for a long time.
While they have tried to simulate the wild rice harvesting environment, they will ultimately need to take the prototype north, “where wild rice grows.
“We need to work closely with our NWC partners in the next phases … our prototype to date has been successful,” Thomson is quoted as saying.
Saskatchewan Polytech’s Sustainability-Led Integrated Centres of Excellence (SLICE) are also a partner in the project.
“Sustainability is at the heart of this project. This collaborative applied research will result in new equipment and capability that will bolster an important northern industry,” SLICE Director Robin Smith, SLICE director said in the news release.
Thompson and his team will be heading to Beauval to meet with representatives of the NWC Wild Rice Company and other partners involved in the project to demonstrate the progress made on the boat and the training materials that are being developed in the near future.
We’re looking forward to demonstrating the value that this collaborative project will bring to the people who work with wild rice in Saskatchewan’s north,” Thomson is quoted as saying.” Thomson also says there is potential in making this wild rice harvester project a “formal part of our learning process for students in a few of our programs.”
