increase font size
Melodis mounted on a JCB machine.
Making a good quality stack or clamp silage is a given for livestock farmers, but feeding out can be a lottery.
So a multi-faceted mixer-feeder bucket that can cut, mix and discharge might prove useful for those looking for better stack/clamp management, or just to mechanise feeding in irregular-shaped or old cattle yards.
This describes the Emily Melodis mixer-feeder, distributed by Ag-Attachments, that comes with a heavy-duty bucket in a range of sizes from 0.9 to 7.5cu.m.
These units suit operation on telescopic handlers or loading shovels, allowing them to be manoeuvred into tight spaces typically inaccessible to tractor/mixer wagon combinations. They suit grass and maize silages, PKE and minerals.
In the base of the bucket a dual-helix mixer screw is driven from either end to reduce dynamic loads. Discharge of the mixed ration is via a guillotine-style gate at one end of the machine.
There’s a choice of upper attachments: either a basic hydraulic grab or a hydraulically driven rotor that cuts upwards and deposits material in the bucket. The resultant stack face is smooth, well-sealed and remains consolidated, so resisting secondary fermentation and spoilage.
In operation, dry materials are loaded first, followed by the grass and maize silages. The bucket is ‘crowded’ back to the vertical position, with a load mixed in two-three minutes. Typically, a 3cu.m bucket has enough capacity to feed 30 to 35 animals dependent on their age and size.
Construction is heavy duty, with high-wear areas done in Hardox steel or optional stainless-steel liners.
British industrial and agricultural machinery manufacturer JCB has won a £152 million (NZ$348m) military contract with the US Marine Corps as part of the Tractor, Rubber Tired, Articulated-Steering Multi-Purpose (TRAM) vehicle programme.
There can't be many people who on seeing the distinctive bright yellow and red colour scheme, don’t think ‘JCB’. Indeed, JCB has largely become the generic name for all brands of excavators, not unlike the term Fridge or Hoover.
JCB has released details of its new Fastrac 6000 Series, filling the gap between the current 4000 Series (160- 240 horsepower) and the 8000 Series (330+ horsepower).
Since Donald Trump’s import tariff announcement, the world has been on a wild economic ride.
Since Donald Trump’s import tariff announcement, the world has been on a wild economic ride.
New research is helping farmers better understand and manage fertility, with clearer tools and measures to support more robust, productive herds.
Southland crop farmer Mark Dillon took out his fifth New Zealand conventional ploughing title at the NZ Ploughing Championships held over the weekend at Methven.
Ensure your insurance is fully comprehensive and up to date because as a rural contractor you don’t know what’s around the corner.
Waikato farmer Walt Cavendish has stepped down as the spokesman for a controversial farming lobby seeking greater protection for New Zealand farmers against inferior imports.
A verbal stoush has broken out between Federated Farmers and a new group that claims to be fighting against cheaper imports that undermine NZ farmers.
According to the latest ANZ Agri Focus report, energy-intensive and domestically-focused sectors currently bear the brunt of rising fuel, fertiliser and freight costs.
OPINION: Reckless action by Greenpeace in 2024 forced Fonterra to shut down a drying plant for four hours, costing the co-op…
OPINION: The global crusade against fossil fuel is gaining momentum in some regions.
