M-series grain dryer – A solution for growing farm size

Customer presentation

Juha Rinta-Kiikka (center in the photo) farms his home farm in Vähäkyrö together with his wife Jaana Rinta-Kiikka. Also working on the farm from the same family is Mirva Oravasaari (right in the photo). Also pictured are Mirva’s husband Mika Valtari (left in the photo).

The farm focuses on raising finishing pigs. The farm has about 2,000 finishing pig places. About 250 ha are under cereal cultivation. All the grain is used on the farm for the pig houses.

The M-series wagon dryer brought quality and savings to the harvest

In 2025 Juha Rinta-Kiikka woke up to a fundamental problem. The farm’s needs had changed, and the old 320-hectare dryer could no longer keep up with the harvest rhythm during threshing. The farm had previously acquired a 1,200 m³ drying silo in addition to the old dryer. However, a new dryer was necessary, because in wet autumns the capacity of the drying silo was not sufficient for overly moist grain, which slowed the harvest down too much. At the same time, they wanted to improve grain quality by increasing drying.

Because the old dryer was still operational, the new dryer was wanted to work seamlessly together with the old one. They wanted to save costs by integrating the dryers to operate with the same discharge hopper and heating system. In addition, the farm wanted to switch to drying with bioheat because of the high cost of fuel oil.

Rinta-Kiikka requested quotes from different dryer manufacturers and ended up choosing Mepu’s M-series wagon dryer. The new dryer’s place was found between the drying silo and the old dryer. The M-series wagon dryer adapted best to the tight space. The decision was also supported by Mepu’s plan to connect it to the old dryer. The dryer project started in autumn 2025 with foundation work. Construction in Vähäkyrö began in spring 2026, and that same year’s crop was already dried with the new M-series unit.

Grain Pro enables remote operation of the dryer

After getting familiar with the new equipment, Mepu’s M-series dryer has operated smoothly. Because of the wet autumn, the new M-series unit and the old dryer have been used efficiently in rotation: when the M-series wagon dryer is cooling, the old dryer has already been set to dry. The combined capacity of the dryers is now over 1,000 hectares.

The dryers operate with their own control systems. For the M-series they wanted Mepu’s new versatile Grain Pro control system. The modern control system has enabled operation and monitoring of the dryer remotely by phone when needed. It has freed up time for daytime hobbies and nighttime sleep.

Remotely, Grain Pro has made it possible to monitor, among other things, the drying temperature, so there is no longer a need to go out to the dryer in the middle of the night.

Oil replaced by wood chips – Bioheat container saves fuel costs

With the renovation, both dryers on the farm are now dried using cost-effective bioheat. Giving up expensive fuel oil and switching to wood chips has brought significant savings, as drying previously used up to 15,000 liters of fuel oil.

A Mepu bioheat container was installed in the immediate vicinity of the dryers. The container’s 950 kW furnace produces the heat needed for drying, and an 18 kW fan transfers the warm air to the dryers. Next to the bioheat container is a 650-liter ash container.

Rinta-Kiikka has been very satisfied with the solution. In particular, the low consumption of chips has been a pleasant surprise, and the bioheat container has worked well with both dryers.