Farm Trader Checks Out the Schaffer 660T Telescopic Loader From Glenbrook Machinery

Farmers throughout our great country are well known for their matter-of-fact point of view and commentary, so when the Farm Trader crew took a trip to Rakaia to visit Canterbury pig farmer Paul Davey, they knew they could expect an honest critique of his Schaffer 6680T telescopic loader, recently purchased from Glenbrook Machinery.

Paul Davey and his wife Sally have owned and operated Stonewall since 1984 and have an inventory of around 8000 sows and piglets. The farm operates a free-farm system, whereby the sows are farmed in paddocks and piglets are bred in small huts where they stay until they’re weaned.

On the day of weaning, piglets are placed in deep straw-bedded weaner barns with kennels, where they live for five weeks. After their five-week stay in the weaner barn, they’re moved to larger ‘finisher’ barns where they are kept until they reach bacon-weight at around 18 weeks of age.

Driving onto the Stonewall property, the visitors passed several stacks of covered straw bales, the largest (similar to a sizeable Auckland apartment block) of which they were told would typically last Stonewall around 35 weeks. Viewing one particularly large stack of straw, it was immediately apparent that the placement and removal of such a large volume requires the input of some serious mechanical equipment.

When Paul made the decision to upgrade the yard loader he was using to remove and replace the deep straw bedding in his pig barns, he had a definite list of specifications to fulfil his requirements. As the operation uses a lot of straw, Paul needed to make handling the machine as easy as possible for his staff, both in placing the bedding and removing the compost.

Manoeuvrability was an important factor when deciding which brand of machine to purchase, as was easy access in and out of the cab and the engine compartment for servicing and maintenance. Aside from needing good manoeuvrability to get into tight spots in the barns, any loader considered also needed exceptional traction capability, especially when removing the manure-filled straw from the barns.

For more information on Glenbrook Machinery and their digger hire, bulldozers and diggers, please go to http://www.glenbrook.co.nz .