Adding a Rata Equipment Power Claw is expected to bring both short-term and long-term benefits for Victorian family business Fankhauser Apples
Brad Fankhauser is a farmer with an eye on machinery trends and farming technology.
As the fifth generation to work on Fankhauser Apples in Victoria’s west Gippsland region, where he is general manager, any purchasing decision he makes has been carefully considered for its potential to maximise productivity.
Located in the town of Drouin, the family’s farm constantly innovates – having tested a harvest robot over several years, operating its own weather station and introducing harvest platforms from overseas.
The most recent purchase was a Power Claw from Rata Equipment, bought through his local dealer Gendore Tractors and Machinery.
The simplest definition of Rata’s Power Claw is as an alternative to a four-in-one bucket, with the added advantage of its claw-like nature opening additional capabilities and making materials handling easier.
While farmers around Australia have found advantages beyond the straightforward definition when buying a Power Claw, Fankhauser’s purchase was inspired by its textbook use – albeit accelerated by the need to clean up fallen trees on the family’s property after recent heavy winds.
“I’ve got a wheel loader and I’ve got a four-in-one bucket on it, which I’ve been using as a grab for last five or six years,” Fankhauser says.
“It keeps tearing the hitch point out of the bucket, so I’m obviously using it for what it’s not designed.
“The Power Claw was the fairly logical thing I needed to buy,” he adds.
“I spoke to the guys at Gendore about it probably six months ago and then after the wind storm, I had no choice but to follow up because I’ve got gum trees down everywhere.”
Rata Equipment’s Power Claw is available in three different models – standard, mid-range and compact – which are designed to suit different sizes and types of farm machinery.
Rata’s compact models are designed for tractors between 25-45hp, while the mid-range Power Claw is suitable for tractors between 45-75hp, along with small loaders such as Fankhauser’s.
The standard range is aimed at tractors above 75hp, plus telehandlers.
Rata offers the standard Power Claw in five different size options with widths of between 1.6m and 2.6m, ensuring all customers have access to a unit ideally suited to their specific requirements and their machine’s power.
There is also the ability for further customisation in the form of tine spacings, with Rata able to efficiently turn around units to ensure they are quickly operating on Australian farms in situations when they are needed – such as Fankhauser’s.
Despite the surge in popularity of Power Claws in the Australian farming landscape, Rata Equipment has shown it is a company not resting on its laurels.
Late last year, the compact model was redesigned to add a new folded-plate back frame.
This upgrade made the compact Power Claw more efficient to build, the company says, while further protecting the hydraulic hoses inside from branches or any other obstacles.
Across the Power Claw range, AR450 abrasion resistant tines provide excellent strength and durability, while these are also interlocking to ensure an excellent grip on whatever it being handled.
This means anything from large logs to small debris can be handled with ease, while grips on the irons are a further benefit when dealing with slippery materials.
While Rata says anecdotal evidence is that farmers are choosing to keep the Power Claw on their tractors permanently, another unexpected benefit has emerged from the company’s packaging.
The Power Claws are stored in Rata’s warehouse on stands, which are delivered with the product and have proven to be a handy storage method for farmers, who are able to reuse them when the claw is not in use.
All of this speaks to the Power Claw’s versatility and its ability to handle multiple jobs on farm, even beyond what it was initially bought for.
This rings true for Fankhauser, whose purchase may have been recent and necessitated by storms, but who is already eyeing off long-term benefits to his farm productivity.
“When we pull out apple trees, and we pull out a hectare or two hectares every other year, you’ve got to go through and pick up all the roots,” he says.
“We do that by hand and we have a couple of guys following the trailer around.
“Hopefully this means we can eliminate needing the three guys walking behind a trailer for two days and just have one person on a tractor solely pulling out roots with the grab part of it.
“That was the other reason for buying it – it will be used as a root rake as much as a grab.
“It certainly looks heavy enough that it’s going to withstand anything that I’ll use it with – it looks impressive.”
Gendore Tractors and Machinery, where Fankhauser purchased his Power Claw from, has only recently joined the Rata network as its exclusive dealer for the west Gippsland region.
Gendore has four branches in Tooradin, Leongatha, Warragul and Maffra.
It was the Warragul branch – and specifically sales representative Brad Carpenter – who Fankhauser bought his Power Claw from.
“I’ve known Brad, who we deal with mainly, for a long time – but they’ve always been very helpful and honest with their products,” he says.
“They’re really good at Gendore and I couldn’t complain about them.”
As an experienced user of various machinery types, Fankhauser’s final testimonial of the Power Claw sums up the product’s ‘ready to work’ nature.
“We have a saying on the farm that what we can’t buy, we build, and what we can buy, we modify,” he says.
“I can honestly say the grab is only about the third piece of machinery I don’t feel the need to modify.”
Rata’s Power Claw, along with its full product range, can be viewed online at www.rataequipment.com
