Mixer Wagons, Reviews

REVIEW: Faresin Magnum Double 2000 mixer wagon

Tom DicksonOctober 23, 2015, 9:48 amOctober 23, 2015

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What I like most about the Faresin Magnum 2000 feed mixer is that it completes a very complex job of weighing, mixing and distributing but can be run from the most basic of tractors, TOM DICKSON writes.

Dealership Chesterfield Australia has recently taken over as sole importer and distributor of Faresin products in Australia.

Production manager Ian Luscombe says Chesterfield has been looking for a top quality mixer wagon to sell in their dealerships for some time. He believes the Faresin Magnum Double, and in fact the whole Faresin mixer range, fulfils Chesterfields demand for excellence.

“Our next step is to source suitable machinery dealerships throughout the country to market the Faresin range,” he says.

About an hour out of Bundaberg in Queensland, Bernie and Liisa Ostermeyer have just purchased a Faresin Magnum 2000 to help them with efficiency and productivity on their fattening property, ‘Booyal Park’.

Magnum Double 2000 at a glance

The Magnum Double 2000 is a twin vertical auger mixer wagon. As the name suggests it is capable of carrying a 20-cubic-metre load.

The 8mm thick steel bin connects to a solid rigid chassis which in turn is mounted on a single axle. For improved ride large floatation tyres have been fitted.

Luscombe adds the Faresin feed mixer line-up ranges from 3.5 – 46m capacity, in single, double or triple augers with tungsten knives, driving through quality Comer gearboxes and angle drives, which derive parts and service support in Australia out of Perth.

Mixers are constructed in S355 construction grade steel with 15 or 20mm floors combined with 6 or 8mm walls.

The Magnum Double 2000 features a 20mm base. This provides a good indication of the strength of the mixer and should give years of service before corrosion creates any issues.

Primarily the Faresin Magnum is used for feeding chopped and mixed product to livestock. Chopping makes feed more palatable and increases digestibility. Mixing allows a variety of feed to be combined to create a well-balanced, nutritional feed blend at feeding to maximise weight gain in livestock.

Poorer quality hay and straw can be used as the base ingredient, for bulk, to which products high in protein, nutrition and energy can be added.

Extras

Bernie’s Faresin feed mixer unit came standard, but it’s noticeable that it already has many of the features you would normally have to pay extra to get included on some of the other mixer wagons on the market.

It has a heavy duty adjustable oscillating tow hitch which negates any stress on the draw bar when operating in uneven terrain.

The drawbar has a mechanical foot stand. At first I thought that a hydraulic stand would be great and can in fact be added as an optional extra.

But I’ve realised it’s probably not necessary because once the mixer is attached to the tractor, in most cases, it stays attached for the whole feeding season, or in Bernie’s operation, every day of the year.

Gearbox

The 2-speed Comer gearbox must be always operated at 540rpm. In low speed the augers rotate at 18rpm and in high speed they rotate at 33rpm.

The beauty of having a 2-speed box is you can be preparing a mix in your own time in low range without it being too aggressive and that will give you a reasonable consistency with your mix.

Once you’ve got your liquids in and everything is chopping, you put the machine into high range which gets some serious cutting happening and reduces the mixture down to a half- or three-quarter inch in the cut.

The discharge process and the consistency of the mix is far better in high range, due to the 33rpm, than it is in low range. The 2-speed gear box can be shifted between high and low by reaching out through the rear window and operating the range change lever.

This unit has the lever removed because the operation is only preparing smaller 3- and 4-tonne mixes. So the mixer stays in high range all the time.

Augers and knives

The 540rpm high/low box then converts drive to the two vertical augers. Each auger is made from ST52 high grade steel and each has eight bolt-on tungsten knives. This one has been used every day for about seven months and only just undergone a blade replacement.

Two manually adjustable counter knives are located at the front of the mixer tub. The counter knives create resistance against the fodder therefore improving the effectiveness of the cutting knives.

Weighing system

A four-load cell weighing system is included as standard. The LED display gives the operator a clear indication of how much of each ingredient is going into the blend.

The system has a recipe data input feature so it virtually instructs you on the amount of each ingredient to load in. The monitor also shows how many kilograms are going out.

Because the monitor is mounted on the machine I reckon it would be advisable to get a screen shade to prevent the glare of the sun making it hard to read.

The monitor is connected to a swivelling mount, so if necessary it can be pointed towards the side you are loading from. This allows you to clearly see the weight going in.

Chop and mix

The Faresin mixer did a really impressive job of preparing a moist finely chopped, palatable blend. I also witnessed this machine chopping up a mix that included sweet potatoes.

I imagined it would be a big ask to locate and chop them up but to my surprise virtually every one of the sweet potatoes was reduced to fine pieces in the mix.

Obviously, the longer you spend chopping the ingredients, the finer the blend. After 20 minutes the mixture of hay, silage, water, molasses, crushed grain and mineral powder looked and smelt perfect.

Discharge

The Faresin Magnum 2000 is both left and right side discharge. A bank of three hydraulic levers which plugs into one set of remotes on the tractor controls all the feed-out apparatus.

This highlights the fact the feeder can be hitched up to a low specced tractor. It essentially means you can buy a cheaper type tractor with only 540 power take-off (PTO) and minimum hydraulic remotes as a dedicated feeder tractor.

One lever opens and shuts the discharge door which regulates the volume of feed coming out of the bin. The second lever turns on the front discharge belt. It has dimensions of 2,100mm x 700mm and operates in either left or right direction.

When the discharge belt is running to the left it delivers fodder out and onto the ground. Operating to the right directs the mix to the hydraulically adjusted 1,500mm trough feeding elevator. Height adjustments on the elevator are made with the third lever on the hydraulic bank.

Tyres and extensions

Two winners for me are the tyre package and rubber extension around the rim of the mixer bin. Instead of opting for the standard dual 215/75 R17 tyres, Bernie took the more intelligent approach of fitting Super Single 435/50-19.5 tyres.

Apart from getting much better flotation in wet muddy conditions, the risk of punctures caused by rocks getting caught between the dual mount tyres is eliminated.

If dual tyres are slightly under inflated and the mixer is loaded up the two tyre walls can rub together and cause premature wearing and eventual failure.

I would suggest however speccing up to the tandem axle with braking option if you foresee using the feed mixer to carry its maximum load. The additional axle adds about $3,300 to the overall cost.

Power requirement

It is advised in the brochure to use a 120hp (89kW) tractor to operate the mixer, but I sense that requirement is more about having the necessary weight to control the unit when it’s loaded right up than to run the PTO and hydraulics.

Having a cheaper type tractor that stays permanently attached saves loads of time and energy spent taking it on and off your main tractor.

As it happens, Bernie has a telehandler to do all the loading which he reckons is great because it clears the top of the mixer much easier than a front end loader on a tractor.

His telehandler is also made by Faresin. Look out for the review by Matt Wood online soon.

Last words

The standard Faresin Magnum vertical double auger mixer we saw on Bernie’s property has a price tag of $89,887 plus GST.

For an additional cost the mixer wagon can be further specced up to include hydraulically adjustable counter knives, hydraulic footstand, hydraulic or air braking system and a road lighting package.

Furthermore, it is available with a single or double axle, a double axle with suspension and self-steering capabilities. If you are intending to use it in very narrow laneways and confined spaces the self-steering might be worth a thought.

My gut is telling me I can confidently recommend the Faresin Magnum 2000 to anyone in the market for a mixer wagon.