The single most common sizing mistake is dividing annual output by 365 and calling that "daily capacity." Harvest does not arrive evenly — it arrives in a 4–8 week window, often in surges. What matters is the busiest single day.
Step 1 — Find your peak daily intake
Estimate the largest volume you must clear in 24 hours during the peak. Then apply a 1.2–1.5x margin so a wet spell does not overwhelm the machine. If peak intake is 50 t/day, size for roughly 60–75 t/day of drying throughput.
Step 2 — Batch or continuous?
Batch recirculating dryers (3–25 t/batch): low investment, 1–2 operators, flexible across crops. Ideal for farms and cooperatives that dry a few loads a day. One 10 t/batch unit run twice a day already covers ~20 t/day.
Continuous tower dryers (22–500 TPD): grain in and out around the clock with PLC control. Right for collection centers and large growers where stopping means wet grain spoiling on the ground. Our 5HL-120 / 300 / 500 series cover 120–500 TPD.
Worked example
A cooperative with 50 t/day peak: two 10 t batch dryers (rotating) cost less and suit flexible crops, but need manual handling. A single 5HL-120 tower dries it continuously with one operator and no pile-up risk. The tower wins on uptime; the batch pair wins on capital outlay. Tell us your peak day, crop and labour, and we will size the exact configuration rather than guess.