Drop pan system and sample separator for grain loss measurement or other sample collection and assessment

A drop pan system comprising:

• a housing coupled to a machine;
• and
• a set of differently sized drop pans, each drop pan being selectively coupled in a nested position with the housing, wherein only one drop pan is coupled to the housing at one time;
• a mechanism to selectively retain the one drop pan in the nested position and to release the one drop pan from the nested position;
• and
• alignment guides on the housing for selectively aligning any selected one of the set differently sized drop pans relative to the housing.

A method comprising:

• providing a set of differently sized drop pans;
• selecting a first drop pan from the set of differently sized drop pans;
• retaining the first drop pan in a nested position in a support housing coupled to a machine, wherein the one drop pan is retained by a mechanism in an unpowered state;
• releasing the first drop pan from the housing;
• selecting a second drop pan from the set of differently sized drop pans, wherein the second drop pan is a different size than the first drop pan;
• and
• retaining the second drop pan in a nested position in the support housing coupled to the machine, wherein the second drop pan is retained by the mechanism in the unpowered state.