New South Wales company Coolamon and its innovative Spreader Chaser bin has taken out the 2019 Henty Machinery Field Days machine of the year award
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Heath and Bruce Hutcheon, Coolamon, celebrate the Henty Machine of the Year Award for the Coolamon Spreader Chaser
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The Spreader Chaser is exactly what its name suggests: a multi-purpose fertiliser spreader and chaser bin combined into one.
Featuring a self-cleaning hopper, the Spreader Chaser comes equipped with Haze Ag polyurethane spinner blades with bevel edged spinner discs.
The variable sized cones have the ability to spread all varieties of product while the chaser bin features include a 20-inch (50cm) auger with an unloading rate of 10 tonnes a minute.
The exciting machine impressed the Henty Machinery Field Days judges with its innovation, engineering and design.
“Coolamon has been building chaser bins for quite some time – the idea of the Spreader Chaser brings two machines into one without compromising the functionality of either of those machines,” judge Mark Bowyer says.
“As far as the spreader goes, it is a high volume, high capacity spreader – a lot of producers now are spreading poultry manure and such products where they need greater volumes,” he added. “At the same time, the machine can accurately spread lime and gypsum with the ISOBUS variable rate – it really impressed us.
“The model we viewed had steerable rear-axle on the walking beam and weigh scales.
“The spreader mechanism on the back is well renowned spinners designed by Richard Hazelton, they have been tested independently and can spread urea up to 36 metres.”
Launched commercially in March, the Coolamon Spreader Chaser 3523 has been on a field days roadshow across the country.
Coolamon general manager Heath Hutcheon says that winning the Machine of the Year award at this years’ Henty was recognition of his team’s efforts.
“We have had excellent feedback from growers, many wondering why this machine wasn’t thought of years ago,” says Hutcheon.
“With the cost of machinery these days, to bring two into one makes so much sense from a commercial point of view.”
Hutcheon said cost savings on machinery was the biggest benefit to farmers.
“A chaser bin gets used for one month of the year and a spreader for six to nine months, and this machine is basically hooked up to the back of a tractor all year round,” he says.
The Coolamon Spreader Chaser is offered in four different sizes ranging from 20 to 30 tonnes and is priced at $140,000-$170,000 + GST.
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