Calf feeding boost
Advantage Plastics says it is revolutionising calf meal storage and handling, making farm life easier, safer, and more efficient this season.
Released into New Zealand in 2024, Penta mixer wagons are set to find favour with users who are looking for high specifications and competitive pricing, but more importantly, those looking for a consistent quality of mixing that the distributors claim is among the best on the market.
Established in 1970 in southwest Ontario, Penta mixer wagons were first introduced in 2001 and over the last two decades the company has gone on to expand its range with cultivators, dump box trailers and truck-mounted mixers.
At the heart of the machines are the patented Hurricane vertical augers, said to allow forages to circulate faster and featuring patented cut-outs that allow material to drop through the auger to complement the rotational mixing effect.
Manufactured from cold-pressed, 3/4-inch steel, mounted to 3/8-inch thick tube, the augers feature a stainless steel leading edge and bolt-on ‘sweeps’ to ensure forage movement and complete emptying. The augers are also fitted with deep, serrated, heat-treated tungsten carbide knives to deal with a wide range of forages.
At the heart of the machine, a 20mm thick floor plate forms the base of the mixing tub, with the walls formed by 6.5mm thick AR-200 Canadian steel platesaid to offer excellent impact and abrasion resistance, rolled to form a profile that complements the augers, with no sharp edges or “dead spots”.
The tub is carried on commercial- grade chassis, built using extensive 13 and 20mm section, North American-grade steels. The design remit is for a smoothly finished exterior profile, with no protrusions that reduce the risk of damage when moving around feed pads, buildings or gateways.
Ahead of the tub, an elevated viewing platform offers safe observation on the contents and the mix as it progresses, while also offering side-to-side access through the machine.
Offered in SD and HD specifications, the former is marketed as a unit with premium specifications at a competitive price. Models range for single-axle, single or twin auger units of 10 to 16 cubic metres, with a 50 to 105hp power requirement, through twin axle, twin auger units from 18 to 38 cubic metres, with a 125 to 230hp requirement.
All TA models feature a wide opening rear access door. A flagship triple-axle, 3-auger machine offers 47 cubic metre capacity, with front and rear steering axles and a 280hp requirement.
Standard specs for all machines include Digi-Master E-Z 2810 weigh systems with 4 to 6 weigh cells, depending on model. Discharge conveyors use a stainlesssteel pan, complemented by a heavy-duty, C-section (C-188) conveyor chain, said to be one of the toughest on the market, while the conveyors also feature a 3-foot flip up and extension chute to reduce wastage, fed by a wide front door to promote a constant flow and featuring conveyor magnets to capture and ferrous steel objects.
Standard equipment also includes a twin reservoir auto-lube system with tanks recessed into either side of the machine.
www.valtonfeedingsolutions.com.au
The CEO of Apples and Pears NZ, Karen Morrish, says the strategic focus of her organisation is to improve grower returns.
A significant breakthrough in understanding facial eczema (FE) in livestock brings New Zealand closer to reducing the disease’s devastating impact on farmers, animals, and rural communities.
Farmer co-operative LIC has closed its satellite-backed pasture measurement platform – Space.
OPINION: The case of four Canterbury high country stations facing costly and complex consent hearing processes highlights the dilemma facing the farming sector as the country transitions into a replacement for the Resource Management Act (RMA).
The 2024-25 season apple harvest has “well and truly exceeded expectations”, says Apples and Pears NZ chief executive Karen Morrish.
Through collaborative efforts with exhibitors, visitors, and industry partners, Fieldays says it is reaffirming its commitment to environmental responsibility with new initiatives for 2025.
OPINION: The Greens aren’t serious people when it comes to the economy, so let’s not spend too much on their…
OPINION: PM Chris Luxon is getting pinged lately for rolling out the old 'we're still a new government' line when…