Merredin WA manufacturer Laurie Phillips, has a production line turning out feeder drums for retrofitting to harvester draper fronts that can barely keeping up with demand.
Grain farmers and contractors across the country are putting in orders for the season as this well made but simple innovation is a marked improvement for operational efficiency on harvesters using a draper front.
Marketed as the Turbodrum, this retrofitted harvester feed drum is smaller than what you might consider standard, but has a greater number of retractable fingers to allow a more aggressive grab of the grain as it flows through.
This translates to the feeder drum developing a more even flow of the crop into the feeder house, with resultant big time saving gains.
The Turbodrum was developed as a joint effort by Western Australian farmer and inventor Mic Fels and farm machinery manufacturer Laurie Phillips of Phillbourne Manufacturing.
Not only does the Turbodrum far outshine anything else on the market as far as performance to deliver the crop into the feeder house, it is also designed as a plug-out and plug-in feed drum, so it’s convenient to take out the existing drum and replace it at anytime.
Current harvesters are very efficient in separating the grain and straw, but it is recognised there is a weak point in the chain and that is the ability to feed broadleaf crops evenly up through the process.
Particularly in heavy canola crops, harvest speed can be less than half of the header capacity due to issues with feeding.
Laurie Phillips and Mic Fels made the incremental changes required when they designed the Turbodrum to deliver the crop to the header in a smooth continuous flow as fast as the harvester could muster.
At just $5,445 inc gst, for Turbodrums to fit D60 and D65 Macdon fronts, with free freight Australia wide for a limited time. Online orders are being taken at www.ipaddock.com.au/turbodrum/ while phone orders and enquiries go direct to Phillbourne Manufacturing on tel: 08 90412066.
