Agriculture Special Feature

Hay Farming
Hay Farming is a 2000 acre farm on the Holbeach Marsh with a wide range of crops produced on some of the best grade silt land in the country. They bought their first Herbert grader in 1989 for loading onions into store, and in 1990 they bought a second machine for grading potatoes and bulbs. Nearly 20 years later, they have just taken delivery of their most comprehensive grading line yet, capable of grading onions, bulbs and potatoes. With the latest cleaning technology available, the Herbert 2400 Contractor is equipped to deal with the wide ranging conditions that growers are experiencing more frequently, from the driest seasons where damage must be minimised, to the wettest years where raw cleaning power is essential.

A Multi-Sep cleaner was specified as it allows for a huge variety of roller sizes to be fitted depending on the conditions faced, and can be easily setup to handle a wide range of crops. Nigel Patrick states “ the Herbert name is renowned for excellent build quality and reliability, and with an after sales service that is second to none

Herbert’s have proven to us that they
provide the best grading solution on the market. Their recognition for outstanding service to the industry is well deserved and we wish them continued future success.”

Features & Benefits

The new Herbert Contractor II range features 1800mm and 2400mm wide machines with a very high specification as standard. They can be supplied from our own stock of standard machines or built to your exact individual requirements. They are suitable for a range of crops, including potatoes, onions, carrots
and bulbs.

The features and specification of the new range of graders are at the core of their
ability to handle crop in all conditions at high capacities of up to 60 tons per hour.

The Herbert range features a unique system for interchanging cleaner modules to allow flexibility for dealing with different conditions. We have the following cleaning
systems available for standard fitment to new machines.

•   Multi-Sep cleaner (exclusive agreement with Grimme)
•   7 row adjustable star cleaner (unique Herbert design)
•   Hydraulic Dolman Roller Cleaner
•   Spiral cleaner
•   Continental Web

With farms increasing in size it is very important for a machine to be easily moved between sites. The Contractor II range is fully road legal, coming under the 3.5m maximum width limit. All aspects of the machine are designed with this in mind, so
moving the grader is a simple and straightforward process.

1972 – Today
In 1971 Herbert’s prototype grader was built for the farm’s own use, but this quickly went into mainstream production in 1972 with the conception of the Herbert MultiGrade. By 1976 24 machines had been sold and Herbert Engineering employed 16 people. By 1982, Herbert’s were manufacturing an average of one grader per week.

By 1990 they had designed and installed what was at the time the UK’s largest potato packhouse. Compare this to the present day, and Herbert Engineering now employs over 140 staff and manufactures a huge range of vegetable handling equipment for export all around the world.

Customer quotes

Peter Grewar,
Peter C Grewar (Potatoes) Ltd, Blairgowrie.
We are 100% happy with the performance and reliability of the machine and the superb backup we receive from Herbert's which, given ourdistance from their factory, gives us the confidence to keep using them as a keymachinery supplier.

Gary Naylor,
A H Worth & Company Ltd, Holbeach.
Herbert's expertise in potato grading equipment from design through to manufacture has given us the capability to handle an increase from 400 acres to in excess of 900 acres. Herbert's have always excelled in providing a service and support to back up their excellent build quality, and the recognition from the RASE is well deserved.

David Watkins, Ballingham Hall Ltd, Hereford.
Our current 8ft grader was supplied in 1998 and has provided ten years of reliable service. It is well equipped to handle the wet seasons which are becoming more common, and easily handles the capacity we require.

Jason Jolley, G’s Growers Ltd, Ely.
G's have been buying equipment from Herbert's for over ten years for the both the farm and the packhouse businesses. We cannot afford to run unreliable machinery and have always been very impressed with the quality of Herbert equipment and the support they provide.

With a large acreage of potatoes and onions planted each year we need to ensure that we have reliable, well made machinery and a strong service backup from all our suppliers. Herbert's are well regarded in the industry and we rely heavily on their machinery throughout the lifting seasons.

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