Richard has been farming for about 20 years in the region. The Waikato region had the largest share of dairy cows in New Zealandnat 22.4%. Indeed, the Waikato climate which tends to have warm, humid summers and mild winters is particularly suited for dairy farming with a good average grass growth rate.

Richard’s 220 dairy cows are milked on a once-a-day (OAD) system. This milking regime relatively common in New Zealand, used either as the overall farming system or tactically as a short-term response to adverse seasonal conditions.

Richard has owned another brand of bale feeder in the past, but there were a lot of moving parts and he broke the chain several times. He got tired of having to spend time in the workshop or at his dealer’s to fix the machine. So, he recently bought a Unrolla LM105 mounted bale feeder from his local Hustler dealer, Power Farming Morrinsville.

“I changed to Hustler because my other bale feeder had a lot more moving parts and would break chains fairly frequently.”

Richard has already adopted his new Hustler bale feeder, which was very easy to get to grips with. He is delighted with it, noting that it is robust and has far fewer moving parts. Richard only needs to grease the four nipples of the self-aligning, fully sealed block bearings to maintain his machine.

“The Hustler brand seems to have a lot less moving parts, (and) just seems very robust.”

Richard particularly likes the time-savers that come as standard on the machine. For instance, the unequal length tynes are a handy feature for quick and easy alignment when reconnecting the cradle, even on uneven ground.

“It just makes it so much easier to back the tractor and to hook up the buggy part of the bale feeder,”

Richard explained.

“Previously, I used to have to come on on a bit of an angle with my old bale feeder that forks were the same length.”

With a 100% hydraulic system, there’s not much that can go wrong with this unrollabale feeder. Moreover, the drive system is very simple: the hydraulic motor is located on the headstock and drives a pin that connects to the drive shaft when reconnecting the cradle to the headstock.

Investing in a Hustler bale feeder was also about additional peace of mind for Richard. It is a machine with a very robust chassis that is built to last.

The Unrolla range all come with strong 40 x 40 mm feed bars and zinc-plated chains rated to 24,000lbs. Not to mention the single piece fully enclosed floor in polyethylene, it’s non-corrosive, impervious to UV and very shock resistant.

“I would definitely recommend the Hustler LM105 bale feeder to any other dairy farmer.”

Source: Hustler 

The post [Job Story] A New Zeland Farmer Switched to the Hustler Bale Unroller appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

Mark is thrilled to have chosen a Hustler Applic8r mounted boom sprayer a few months ago and thinks it’s a “wonderful machine”. Mark farms on 5,500 effective hectares with about 46,000 stock units comprised of sheep, cattle and deer.

Mark was looking for a versatile and compact mounted boom sprayer that would handle a large variety of applications, from fertiliser to herbicide and insecticide on both crops and grass paddocks. He explains that with the Hustler Applic8r LX1150,

“we can use it all through this machine. All around, it’s just a good machine to use, for everything.”

The Hustler sprayer range is ideal for livestock farmers or crop farmers willing to use a sprayer in tight paddocks and small to medium size areas, especially on rough terrain or rolling hill country. Mark chose to equip his sprayer with a Hustler SonicBoom which is hydraulicly folded as

“you don’t have to get out and fold anything away,”

Mark said.

Some other time-savers make the Applic8r very easy to use according to Mark, such as the handy storage container on the side of the main tank or the extra freshwater tank.

For Mark, one of the key benefits is the GPS guidance unit he decided to add to his sprayer configuration.

“You can outline your paddock where you go it’ll paint the paddock for you, if you overlap or anything, that part of the boom is shut off itself automatically,”

Mark detailed.

Hustler Applic8r sprayer helped Mark to “save on chemical” and to get the perfect application for his operation.

“Hustler is a wonderful product, well made, the backup service and the people at the factory are just wonderful to deal with.”

Before buying his Hustler sprayer, Mark has done his homework, asking fellow farmers. Mark has received good feedback about the brand, whether it is the sprayers or other machines manufactured by Hustler. Several neighbours in the district own a Hustler product and they “can’t fault them” while “the backup service is really good”.

“All around, it’s just a good machine to use, for everything.”

As Hustler Equipment head office is based some 45 minutes away from Oheniwairua Station, Mark was also happy to support a local company with a good reputation.

Source: Hustler

The post [Job Story] Hustler Boom Sprayer in Action on a New Zealand Farm appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.

He chose a Hustler Applic8r LX1150 mounted boom sprayer which he was able to fully customise to his needs. Watch the video to see why Brett is thrilled with his new Hustler sprayer!

Brett’s dairy farm, located near the village of Parakao in the Whangarei District and Northland Region of New Zealand’s North Island, extends over 412 hectares, with 311 hectares dedicated to the milking operation. With its subtropical climate, Northland offers a key competitive advantage for its agricultural sector. The region produces about 116,000 tonnes of dairy products each year.

With 820 milking cows and most of the maize silage produced on-farm, Brett can’t do without an effective sprayer for his crops. In the past, he had a Hustler Kapito sprayer but it was unfortunately involved in the fire. Both tractor and sprayer burned, “there was no other choice” except to buy a new one. As Brett was happy with the previous sprayer he used for eight to nine years without any issues, he decided to buy a brand-new Hustler. As a bonus, the new sprayer was also well positioned in terms of price.

“The old one was very reliable. It never gave any problems at all.”

Because every farmer and farm is different, Hustler offers a range of mounted boom sprayers that can be fully customized to suit your particular needs. This was a key feature that Brett particularly liked.

“We have a Hustler Applic8r LX1150. Hustler customised that for us.”

For his new sprayer, Brett chose the Applic8r LX1150 with a fully hydraulic SonicBoom to not waste time going in and out of the paddocks. This model comes standard with a handwashing tank, a built-in toolbox, the ViziGauge view, the adjustable MixMax agitation system, a QuickFlush flushing tank for easy cleaning, and all sorts of time-saver features.

“There is a very easy drain plug, it’s just a little pull cord at the back, which is brilliant!”

Brett chose to customise his sprayer with a handy storage box where he can put his chemical containers. He also set up the boom with 380-millimetre centers and triple nozzle bodies in order to cover various types of applications from herbicide to fertilisers. When needing to spray maize raws, at 760 millimetres apart, Brett just has to turn every second nozzle body off to get the perfect post-emergent spray!

Beyond that, Brett appreciates how Hustler sprayers are built to last and well thought-out. With a smart chassis/tank/pump integration, Hustler produces a tough and compact sprayer.

The built-in SkidPlate protects the vital parts of the machine from common obstacles faced when spraying. With this design, Brett doesn’t need to park his spray unit on a pallet and it’s “the best thing,” according to Brett. With

“the stand at the back, so you’ve got a heavy boom you can take it off and it’s got two stands that sit out, so it doesn’t try and fall over backward,”

Brett detailed.

Some improvements have been made since the Katipo sprayer generation, Brett noticed that

“the controller is a lot easier and more logical to use as well.”

The spray controller can be linked to an existing or new GPS tracking unit, including a customisable in-job layout.

Using a GPS system helps to rationalise the use of fertilisers and chemicals, ensuring targeted distribution while avoiding overlap or empty areas – meaning a consequent reduction in costs and operator fatigue. The sprayer GPS system can run and manage other ISOBUS implements, which is handy when the tractor is already equipped with a GPS like Brett’s tractor. However, if your tractor is not already equipped, Hustler partnered with Raven technology to offer the plug-and-play Raven CR7 GPS.

“I definitely recommend this machine, it’s brilliant, easy-to-use, good price, well-constructed, durable and they’ll customise it to what you want.”

Source: Hustler

The post [Job Story] Hustler Applic8r LX1150 Sprayer: The choice for a New Zealand Farmer appeared first on North America FarmQuip Magazine.