Elevator Leg

The elevator legs purpose is to receive grain and to distribute it by gravity to different storage or processing locations. It is a vertically enclosed, rectangular housing with a drive head section at the top and a boot idler section at the bottom. A continuous belt with cups spaced 5 to 10 inches apart on the belt, convey the grain to the top of the leg where the cups are emptied as the belt begins to make its return flight and the grain falls into a distributor which directs the grain to the desired location. The boot idler section also serves as the inlet for the grain to enter the leg. From the distributor, the downspout piping directs the grain to the desired location. The elevator leg capacity is rated in bushels per hour (bph) and can range from 500 bph to 30,000 bph with discharge heights from 30 feet to 200 feet.