An Australian-made rock bucket from Kerfab has proven to be exactly what a South Australian cropping farmer needs for his clean-up jobs
Trustworthy products that get the job done without any fuss are what every farmer seeks.
The perfect scenario with any new attachment purchase is finding something with the strength to handle tough Australian conditions, the versatility to handle multiple jobs and providing an improvement over what was being used before.
For South Australian farmer Danny Steer, a rock bucket from Kerfab has met all these needs.
Steer is a fourth-generation farmer at Lameroo in the state’s Murray Mallee region, which is close to the Victorian border, and he runs a continuous cropping program.
Steer was already an existing Kerfab customer, having previously purchased attachments from the Kerang-based manufacturer, and a positive customer experience during the rock bucket purchase mirrored his first dealings with the company.
“We’ve got some other attachments from Kerfab and they’ve just really stood up to the task,” he says.
“They had already done a custom build for us with some side shift hay forks – it was a pretty good reason to go with them again.
“Our experience with Kerfab was really good. We bought our bucket directly with Kerfab, we enquired online and got in touch with them.
“From first contact we probably had it ordered within a week and they had done multiple designs within that time frame for us to get the bucket exactly how we wanted it.”
Built to last
Kerfab’s heavy duty rock buckets are designed for aggressive bucket loading conditions and for handling shot rock and granite.
They have been manufactured with high tensile material, including 50mm thick steel at the base, and Kerfab says the external armour – which includes hardened 500 Brinell heel blocks – has been perfectly positioned to increase the bucket’s lifespan.
Kerfab adds that the unique shape of the rock buckets has proven to increase machine cycle times, outperform in digging and bulk loading and allow easy fill.
It also has rolled heel strips positioned beneath the heel blocks to separate them from the wear strips, while replaceable lip shrouds fully protect the bucket lip.
Full length pin-on wing shrouds shield the entire wing from top to bottom and these can be easily replaced to help reduce downtime.
The four most popular widths for Kerfab’s rock buckets are 1m, 1.3m, 1.6m and 1.76m, but Steer’s experience shows how the manufacturer will work with individual farmers to customise a bucket perfectly suited to their individual needs, with different widths and capacities available depending on machine size.
Handy addition
Steer has his rock bucket attached to a telehandler and purchased it with the aim of “cleaning up a few old farmyard projects”.
It has replaced a four-in-one bucket, which he admits was not as well equipped to handle the work it needed to do.
“We’re also using the rock bucket for wrapping up fences, removal of some concrete areas around old troughs, and cutting a bit of firewood too,” he says.
“Before this we were using a four-in-one, but it really wasn’t fit for the job of taking the dirt and everything without the ability to let all the soil move through.
“What we most like about the Kerfab rock bucket are both its strength and durability.
“The 50mm steel in the base of it has just really proven that it can handle rock, timber and even digging out concrete from old windmill stands.”
National presence
Kerfab is proudly an Australian manufacturer, with its manufacturing facility and head office located in the northern Victorian town of Kerang.
Adding a second factory in recent years has bolstered its manufacturing capacity and allowed the company to meet growing demand from across the country.
These facilities are complemented by a warehouse in Perth and office in Warwick, Queensland, while Kerfab attachments are available through the manufacturer’s national dealer network.
The rock bucket is one of many attachments designed and built by Kerfab, which suit a variety of popular agricultural machinery types and are all made to handle Australian conditions.
Repeat business is always a sign of both good products and service, and Steer has no hesitation in recommending the Kerfab bucket – along with the company more generally.
“If I was recommending the Kerfab bucket to someone, the main features would be just how versatile it is between all the jobs,” he says.
“What made the Kerfab stand out was basically its durability and they have been well proven.
“It really is one machine that can do a lot of things from fencing to concrete – it’s just fantastic.”
Kerfab’s full range can be viewed online at www.kerfab.com.au
