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Tough pickup front ahead of the field
Technical improvements have made locally engineered Draper Pickup Front the 'only one to buy'.
Zero warranty claims are good news for Wagga Wagga engineer Tom Grigg, whose enhanced Draper Pickup Front has been enthusiastically received by croppers.
A Draper pickup is a type of agricultural harvesting attachment used on combine harvesters. It's designed to efficiently gather and feed crop material into the combine for threshing and separation. The Draper pickup uses a wide, continuous belt or belts to move the crop from the header towards the center and into the combine.
“They’re uncomplicated, easy to maintain and easy to repair if damaged,” says Tom.
“‘The only one to buy,' is what owners have been telling me.”
He pointed to technical improvements based on earlier versions of the pickup front.
“Our latest update incorporates outcomes derived from many years of farming experiences with these machines in the field dealing with windrow crops,” he says.
Technical features affecting durability and performance have been rectified.
“The demand for higher performing harvesting equipment required a pickup front with the ability to feed material at the maximum rate under all conditions without time-consuming delays,” says Tom.
The 10-belt system involved splitting the rollers with centre bearing holders which keeps belt tension constant under all load conditions.
“To have all rollers driven required significant modifications of the chain drive,” he said.
“This has proved itself in the field to be bullet-proof. We have had no warranty claims on any of the fronts, proving the quality of manufacture.”
He says it was important that the unit was designed and built in Australia specifically for our crop conditions. It works equally well with canola, lupins, and cereals.
“The two belt four driven roller system delivers maximum driving effort to the pick-up belts giving them the ability to tease windrow lumps apart without stalling out.
“At the same time a longer, flatter ramp angle minimises windrow disturbance when travelling at faster harvesting speeds.”
Tom emphasised features that appeal to users including a strong, durable framework, greaseable bearings, and taper-lock sprockets for draper rollers, anti-flutter control and adjustable-height stubble damage protection for the castor gauge wheels.
“There are even more special features including a strong table auger with retractable fingers and a flighting layout especially designed for windrow handling,” he says.
“These features all add up to exceptional reliability, strength, serviceability, and even more importantly a very capable crop handling ability in heavy or difficult windrows.”
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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