Entegra’s patented Taperflow guttering system has eliminated the chance of storm damage to hay sheds for Australian farmers
To say water is crucial to life would be a major understatement, and to describe water as being crucial to Australian agriculture would be a similar understatement.
Not enough water, or too much water at once – the elixir of life can be just as damaging through its presence as it can through its absence.
Australian farmers rely on their sheds for the storage of both machinery and products such as hay.
These sheds are always exposed to the elements, and not all sheds can withstand the impact of a severe storm without damaging either the shed itself or the valuable contents inside.
One way in which farmers can be assured of their shed’s strength and security is by having it fitted with Entegra Signature Structures’ patented Taperflow guttering system.
This system is delivering results for farmers such as Victorian Greg Kennedy, who stores up to 30,000 and 40,000 bales of hay each year, the majority of which is exported.
Keeping this hay dry and protected is crucial to his business’ success, and a recent storm showcased the value of Entegra’s Taperflow system perfectly.
“The other day we had rain of probably 30mm in 10 minutes and it was the only shed on the farm where the guttering system never overflowed,” he says.
“The best thing about our Entegra shed is the guttering system.
“We have a lot of trouble with the ground moving here, so all our traditional PVC pipes tend to split a lot.
“This leads to water running into hay, which of course is a bad thing in our industry, so we’ve got this tapered gutter.
“We’re going to have a go this year at another Entegra shed because we’re happy with what we’re doing.”
Taperflow has been on the market for approximately three years and is patented by Entegra Signature Structures.
Entegra’s agriculture shed designer Aston Kirk says while a standard gutter can handle a ‘typical’ rainfall day effectively, it is during storms that Taperflow excels.
Kirk describes Taperflow as a “simple but effective” patent which was designed to solve the problem of draining a shed to one end, and also mitigating the chance of overflow.
“As you’re going from point A to point B, the amount of water you’re taking off is increasing, hence you need to increase the capacity of your gutter system,” he says.
“Therein became the question of ‘how do we increase the capacity of the gutter system?’ We taper it. Typically, we adapt different widths to be suited to the volume of rainfall capture with a certain amount of fall in it per metre and that will increase the longer the shed is.
“What that’s doing is allowing the gutter to run a lot faster as it’s increasing the capacity.
“When it gets to the end of the gutter, there’s no real construction. It goes straight into a high-capacity rain head which creates a vortex, so to speak, with a single drainpipe.
“This creates its own suction and helps to suck the gutters dry.”
Another farmer whose operations have been changed thanks to Entegra’s Taperflow is Sam Parker.
Based in north-west Victoria, Parker has diversified his business from grains into hay.
Parker echoes Kennedy’s sentiments about the Taperflow’s ability to withstand heavy rains.
“We get a lot of heavy downpours in summer and it will handle it, whereas my other sheds with the PVC will get a lot of overflowing. We don’t get that with this,” he says.
“I’ve had a few different sheds, and the quality of finish in this one is really good.
“I love the galvanised channels, RHS and the nice finish with the Colorbond gutters.”
His Entegra shed has replaced hay caps, and the confidence Parker has in the shed is enabling him to maximise returns by selling his hay at a time which suits him.
“Now that I’ve got the shed I can choose my markets,” he says.
“I know the hay I put in the shed is going to be the same when I pull it out.
“I can either go export depending on quality, or the domestic job, and I can sell when I want.”
Parker dealt directly with Kirk during the selection and building processes and he says the experience was nothing but positive.
“Aston really fine-tuned our selection process of what we needed,” Parker says.
“The whole way through the process of selecting the shed to building the shed and afterwards with any little problems, he was always happy to help us out.
“If I was going to build another shed, it would have to be with Entegra.”
Kirk says Entegra aims to go above and beyond for its customers, offering advice about how to maximise the effectiveness of the new shed.
“We have a lot of process benefits with how we deliver our sheds, and we often assist clients with guidance on how to best set up their tank systems too,” he says.
“It’s not part of the shed, but it’s more about how we can help the operation.
“You have got this product to capture as much water as possible, so we suggest the size tank we think you should be putting in and where you should put it.”
Water capture is another important aspect of the Taperflow system, which is set up to secure as much as possible for farmers.
This can be used as clean water for spraying and is described by Kirk as a “secondary benefit” of the system.
“We live in Australia, we might get 100mm of rain one year but how that falls one year can differ to the next,” he says.
“It might be gradual, consistent falls one year, but the next year they might get that in two storms that are very concentrated.
“When that happens, if you don’t have a gutter that’s big enough to cope with it, you’re not going to capture and store as much rainfall as possible.
“Your gutters are also cleaner with less chance of blocking up because it’s a wider gutter and the volume of water tends to push any debris out.”
Kirk says other benefits of not having drainpipes are eliminating the chance of them breaking, and also potentially driving over underground pipes.
Taperflow has been proven to withstand the extremities of Australian conditions.
No matter how much rain might fall in one storm, Kirk says Taperflow is built to handle it.
“It’s a big gutter and it holds a lot of weight. You can be getting over a tonne of water in a bay in some instances, so you need a decent bracket system,” he says.
“Our brackets are fabricated and welded RHS brackets, and each of them are a different size as the gutter profile changes which shows the attention to detail.
“We’ve got a very heavy bracket and your gutters will not fold.”
Taperflow is available through Entegra Signature Structures, which has its head office at 180 Karinie Street, Swan Hill, Victoria. The company also has offices in Queensland and Northern Territory and its product range can be viewed at www.entegra.com.au