Now imported by MJM Equipment, it was a chance encounter overseas that led to Balzer chaser bins first bolstering one broadacre farmer’s operations
Australian agriculture is full of innovators, people willing to take a leap of faith on a new product.
And even a decade after that first experiment, when the trialled product is now entrenched in the local market, it should not be forgotten that somebody was the first to say ‘yes’ to trying something different.
In this case, the product is a Balzer chaser bin, imported to Australia by broadacre farmer Chris Dowling before the product even had a formal national distributor.
That Australian distribution role is now undertaken by MJM Equipment, which has overseen a growth in the Balzer’s popularity across the nation, but it was a trip to the United States which started Dowling’s connection to the product.
He visited the National Farm Machinery Show in Louisville, Kentucky almost 15 years ago and came across the 50-tonne Balzer chaser bin.
“It was just sitting there in the middle and it stole the show.,” Dowling says.
“I knew I needed one but I couldn’t justify one for a year or two but like all farmers do, we made it happen and brought one out.
“We’ve still got that bin and we haven’t even worn the augers out. It’s been a great bin and we’ve bought quite a few since.”
Dowling’s base farm is near Yarrawonga in northern Victoria, however the land he farms alongside sons Tom and Sam stretches more than 400km north to Condobolin in central New South Wales.
It is undeniably a big farming operation and one which requires equipment that not only boasts high capacities, but also durability, reliability and convenience.
Since purchasing the original 50-tonne chaser bin – which is still going strong today – Dowling has expanded by purchasing two 72-tonne bins and a 78-tonne unit, the latter of which is the largest in the Field Floater 7 range imported by MJM Equipment.
Estimating that he has handled “hundreds of thousands of tonnes” of grain in his time owning the Balzer bins, there are several reasons why Dowling is an unabashed fan of the product.
“It’s all about efficiency, safety and getting your truck loaded right,” he says.
“You can have a road train pull in with a 72-tonne bin and six minutes or less later it can be leaving the paddock with 54 tonnes in the right place and no rejections for being overweight at the other end.
“We’ve tried a lot of older bins and you thought a 30-tonne bin was good, which it was, but you couldn’t keep up. You couldn’t drag product any distance and you were always guessing your load weights.
“When the first Balzer came along we couldn’t believe the difference, especially when we had some wet harvests.”
Getting technical
Balzer offers plenty of features which makes its Field Floater 7 range of chaser bins desirable to customers.
It is available in various sizes – between 42 tonnes and 78 tonnes – with unloading speeds reaching up to 30 tonnes per minute.
Each model includes a 61cm (24-inch) diameter unloading auger system as a standard feature, which is complete with Balzer’s patented hydraulic engagement clutch system for the horizontal auger.
All chaser bins are equipped with independent running gear and a distinct axle arrangement that uses the patented Auto-Trail steerable axle system.
Balzer says this leads to heavy loads feeling effortless, while facilitating superior manoeuvrability and reducing ground compaction.
The unloading auger spout offers exceptional precision by adjusting in every direction.
The Field Floater 7’s various features can be conveniently operated from a central location using the joystick control, while the chaser bins also have a cutting-edge electronic scale system, ensuring precise data management and instant yield reporting.
This latter feature is what Dowling cited as one of the most advantageous for his farming operation.
Other standard features include steering axles, horizontal sweep auger clutch, internal access door and hydraulic suspension to distribute the ground pressure proportionately.
Optional extras across the range include a three-way camera kit, hydraulic jack, hydraulic brakes, tyre upgrades and an Agrimatics Libra Cart for additional data collection and sharing.
Across the range, there is an overall machine length of 11.02m and bin length of 8.4m.
The travel height varies depending on the size of the tank – which sits at 55,000L for the smallest (42-tonne) unit up to an impressive 100,000L on the largest (78-tonne) chaser bin.
Super support
Dowling’s leap of faith made him a trendsetter and he has observed other farmers are starting to catch on to the Balzer chaser bin’s benefits, particularly around weight accuracy, intuitive operation, maintaining soil structure and minimising flotation issues.
Another benefit of the Balzer chaser bins growing in popularity is the fact there is now an official Australian distributor – MJM Equipment – based in the Victorian town of Wilby, close to Dowling’s home farm in Yarrawonga.
While the Balzer bins have proven to be a reliable machine with minimal issues, Dowling is full of praise for the service, parts access and back-up provided by MJM Equipment.
“It’s good that we have someone that’s importing them now, because we did it ourselves for a long time and probably didn’t keep enough parts because like anything you do need back-up and spares,” he says.
“I’ve got to take my hat off to the boys at MJM – they’ve stocked a fair bit of stuff which is not cheap and that makes a huge difference to how you can operate. That’s what makes it work.
“For people that were probably a bit gun-shy early, that makes all the difference because you’ve got to have parts and back-up and you’ve got to have good pre-delivery which I reckon MJM are really doing.
“It’s a credit to them because the pre-delivery and assembly is 50 per cent of the battle.
“I think it will keep going forward now we’ve got someone that can back us up with parts and service – it’s all systems go.”
Winning formula
As the headers get bigger, naturally the accompanying machinery must also get bigger – but Dowling realises that “everything grows together, it’s just the natural progression” and has not experienced any bottlenecks in his daily operation.
Despite their growing size, there have also been no issues with transporting them around – or between – his properties.
“They might be a bit bulky to shift but not half as bad as an air seeder or anything like that,” he says.
“They’re actually pretty compact for what they do. It’s just so easy and you’re not running people back to a field bin to unload it and get it down enough so you can shift it.
“That’s just a real time saver. You pull into the next paddock and just start harvest – there’s no messing around.”
Since Dowling imported the first of his Balzer chaser bins after seeing them in their United States homeland, the range has naturally been upgraded over time as all machines are.
He believes these have made the chaser bins even more user friendly while withstanding the test of time.
“I reckon they are very user friendly. These newer ones are just easy – they’re made for anyone,” he says.
“You’ve got a joystick that’s simple and you’ve got a couple of sets of hydraulics – you don’t have to worry about the steering axles, they make their own arrangements.
“They’re pretty bulletproof and the good thing is there’s not much in there that is hard to fix – it’s all pretty simple in there.
“They’re a pretty basic thing, but a basic thing that works.”
Reliability and efficiency are arguably the two biggest buzzwords in agriculture, with every farmer looking for machines which will meet these criteria.
Dowling’s endorsement of the Balzer chaser bins comes based on multiple units which have been worked hard over an extended period – arguably the most thorough test they could be put through.
“It’s definitely the cheapest way to ship grain out of the paddock for us,” he says.
“We wouldn’t be able to operate the way we do without them.
“We’ve never had anything that couldn’t be fixed and nothing that really stopped us – that’s the main thing
“It’s just been a great experience owning Balzers.”