Potato Review

HAITH has extended its range of box fillers, with the launch of the Supa-Fill 400 PRO Box Filler. The new machine offers several advantages over the current version. Capable of filling up to 40 boxes per hour, the Supa-Fill 400 comes with an Omron NB 3 HMI control screen, giving the user fingertip access to the machine’s advanced functions, including manual and fully automatic box filling, box height selection, lifetime and batch counting for stock recording and assisting with maintenance scheduling. As well as the HMI screen, the Supa-Fill 400 PRO Box Filler also offers variable speed control as standard, a flat belt with fall retarders which provide better cushioning to the crop compared to machines using cleats or door stops. The Supa-Fill 400 PRO Box Filler accommodates boxes ranging from 900 to 1200mm in height and, by featuring self- levelling sensors the machine, which Haith believes is the most sophisticated on the market today, delivers consistently even filling. “We’ve taken our class-leading box filler and improved it,” said Ken Hollingsworth, UK sales at Haith. “We’ve included several innovative features as standard, which differentiates the Supa-Fill 400 from competitor machines. The result is a machine that offers the best possible handling, works quickly and efficiently and features advanced functionality as standard. We think the Supa-Fill 400 PRO will be a very popular choice for farmers and packers looking for exceptional build quality, features and value for money.” As well as improving the features found on the machine, Haith has also extended the warranty from one to two years at no extra cost. 42 POTATO REVIEW SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 MACHINERY Tasmanian processor applauds new twin-head box filler TONG Engineering has announced a new twin-head box filler which is already minimising labour requirements and almost tripling throughput for an established seed potato processor in Tasmania. Built to combine high capacity and gentle box filling, with reduced forklift movements for maximum efficiency, the new MonstaFill box filler is the latest in a series of new product developments from Tong. “As a company we are very proud to be unveiling a number of new products for 2019, and the new MonstaFill box filler is the first of two advanced and exceptionally gentle box filling solutions that we are bringing to the market this year,” said Managing Director Edward Tong. Manufactured to gently and evenly fill one or two ton boxes, the new filler from Tong is maximising throughput capacity for Cherry Hill Coolstores in northern Tasmania. Processing more than 15,000 tons of seed potatoes annually, Cherry Hill operates between the seed grower and the main crop grower. “For the potato seed grower, we unload, apply fungicides, grade and prepare their seed for certification,” said Andrew Langmaid of Cherry Hill Coolstores. “For the seed buyers and main crop growers, we store the seed until planting season, and then prepare the potatoes for planting.” He said: “The new MonstaFill box fillers have really taken our capacity potential to the next level. Most notably, the MonstaFill has significantly reduced forklift requirements, which has had a huge effect on how quickly we are processing crop into boxes.” Featuring a 2.5 or 3.8 cubic metre capacity holding hopper at each end of the machine’s main crop conveyor, suited for one or two ton boxes respectively, the new MonstaFill gently transfers crop to two rubber-lined holding hoppers. The hopper tanks are fitted with integrated loadcells which allow them to fill to a pre-determined weight ready for discharge into boxes. Once one hopper is full, the conveyor begins to fill the second hopper. The new filler detects when an empty box is presented by the forklift and the hopper discharges crop into the box as it is lowered by the forklift. The process means that the forklift then takes the full box away and returns with an empty box to repeat the process. Andrew said the discharge mechanism of the holding hoppers means a very even fill of each box, and the integrated weight indicators transfer the data for each box directly into crop statistics database. SUPA-FILL 400 PRO launch extends box filler range

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