A John Deere 3200 telescopic handler has clocked up more than 4000 hours during its short two year working life at Cornwall Farmers' feed blending plant in Truro. In that time it has handled an incredible 140,000 tonnes, mixing and loading all kinds of ingredients.
The feed mill currently uses two of the 100hp 3200 handlers to handle an annual output of about 35,000 tonnes. At busy times both machines work 12 hour days on average, moving each tonne of material a total of four times before the blend emerges from the unloading elevator. The whole mill and blending plant relies entirely on the handlers – if they stop, production stops too.
Since its arrival in May 2001, the original machine has never missed a beat. It has never broken down and, despite handling nearly 35 tonnes every engine hour, it has an impeccable repair record. Both handlers are totally standard apart from being fitted with 20in wheels and industrial tyres.
Total maintenance costs (excluding routine services) for the two year old 3200 are just over £1385. This includes a bill for £810.65 for one repair and replacement to the bucket's front Z linkage, explains Brian Tripcony, Cornwall Farmers' machinery manager.
"Both handlers are fitted with one tonne capacity buckets and work continuously with full loads and fast cycle times. It is inevitable that in such demanding conditions they will wear. The mill management takes health and safety issues very seriously and requested that we replace the linkage and bushes and some pins to return them to as new condition. This kind of work greatly accelerates wear and it would be unfair to consider this as normal – the workload is extraordinary.
"Also, we must put this bill for two years' work in context with the machine it replaced. That cost more than £11,000 for repairs in a single year on exactly the same work. The mill manager simply could not tolerate that kind of expenditure."
Admittedly the handlers are meticulously maintained, and rarely go outside the mill. Nonetheless, the operators clean them every week and book services early, so they are carried out at the correct hourly intervals. The machines are spotless – there is not a mark or a nick on them.
"The handlers are a real credit to their operators," says Angela Williams, production manager at the Truro mill. "It is amazing to watch them at work, tip-toeing the machines around each other – they are very, very skilled. There is no doubt the handlers and drivers are vital to our operation."
All the blend ingredients come in bulk lorries that tip their loads directly into separate bays in a vast warehouse building at the site. As orders for feed come in, the operators are given a list of ingredients – like a large scale recipe – and use the loaders to scoop up the one tonne bucketfuls that are dumped in the mixing area.
Ingredients are precisely measured using the handlers' on-board RDS weighers. With all the feed ingredients in the mixing bay, the handler then lifts and turns them over. The feed is then loaded into the mollassing and mixing system, where it is mixed again before being transferred to another bay from where it is relocated into one of 14 finished feed bays. The handlers then put the feed into a holding bin, ready to be finally transferred to the farm delivery lorries.