Product Focus: Elho Scorpio 550 rock picker

Available through Geronimo Farm Equipment, the Elho Scorpio 550 is set to de-rock your world

The added cost that unwelcome rocks can cause farmers, both in damaged equipment and in lost working hours, can add up for grain growers across the country.

Geronimo Farm Equipment has sold rock rakes and rock pickers throughout Australia over the last 20 years – but the latest addition to its product line-up is something it had never seen before – a combination rock rake and picker unit.

“With a lot of our competitors, you have got to go around your paddock once with your rake and again with a rock picker to pick up everything you have raked,” Geronimo’s Alex Webster says.

“This does it all in one – one tractor, one driver, one pass. So that is a good selling point from that point of view.”

Needing between 90–140 kilowatts (120–188hp) to operate, the stone picker can collect stones measuring between 40–400mm, with a hopper capacity of up to two cubic metres and 2.7m tipping height.

The machine is also fully hydraulic, directing power where it is needed with a recommended tractor hydraulic pump size of 110 litres per minute minimum.

It uses its hydraulics to adjust its picking depth automatically – keeping track of the ground as it moves across, though its two depth settings can be manually overridden by the driver’s commands.

With automatic depth adjustment, the driver doesn’t need to keep track of the ground, especially in dusty conditions with poor visibility.

Scorpio has a sturdy frame, a telescopic drawbar with collision guard, wide rakes and large tandem wheels, with steel bars that are replaceable, with every other bar mounted at a different height to prevent wedging.

Its large and durable lifting tines are flexible in all directions and do not break if the machine gets blocked – with the pickup rotor and the side rakes it powers able to be reversed if necessary.

While the Elho Scorpio can work in any environment from paddocks to roads, renovation sites and construction sites, Webster says the rock picker is ideal for large broadacre farming properties.

“We are launching the Elho range in Western Australia from our branch in Northam – we have sold a number of our conventional rock pickers there over the years but this machine is really suitable for those big broadacre properties,” he says.

Geronimo will be exhibiting the Elho Scorpio 550 at the Henty Machinery Field Days from September 17–19. Call Alex Webster with any queries on 0400 709 978.