Cutting farmers' costs by combining two machines in one, proved to be a winner at Henty this year.
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A multi-purpose fertiliser spreader and chaser bin taking out the 2019 Henty Machine of the Year Award.
Coolamon Chaser Bins' Spreader Chaser machine featured a self-cleaning hopper and was equipped with Haze Ag polyurethane spinner blades with bevel edged spinner discs.
The variable sized cones were able to spread all varieties of product, including lime, gypsum, manure and urea, while the chaser bin featured a 20 inch auger which can unload ten tonnes a minute.
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One of the Machine of the Year judges, Warren Scheetz, said the Spreader Chaser was impressive because it was able to utilise the two bins in one.
"They've always had quality chaser bins and now they've incorporated a precision spreader on the back," Mr Scheetz said.
"Buying the two separate machines would be significantly dearer than the one they've combined."
Another judge, Mark Bowyer was impressed with the machine's ability to spread high volumes without comprimising precision.
"The spreader was a high volume, high capacity spreader but at the same time, the machine could accurately spread lime and gypsum with the ISOBUS variable rate, it really impressed us," Mr Bowyer said.
Father and son team, Heath and Bruce Hutcheon of Coolamon Chaser Bins released the machine commercially in March, showing it off at various field days since then.
"We've got great feedback, a lot of farmers were saying 'I don't know why we didn't think of this earlier' but with the cost of machinery these days, to bring two into one from a commercial point of view just makes so much sense," Heath said.
"You've got a chaser bin that gets used for one month and a spreader that gets used for six to nine months, now this machine is going to be hooked up to the back of the tractor nearly all year round."
Heath said the machine comes in four different sizes, ranging from 20 to 30 tonnes and priced from $140,000 to $170,000 + GST.
He said the biggest challenge when combining the two machines, was the weight sitting on the belt.
"Whether it's used as a chaser bin or a spreader, the weight all sits live on the belt so starting the belt was a challenge," Health said.
"We're unique in the spreader industry with a one metre belt and to get the tonnage we have to make the hopper longer.
"There were no challenges with the actual auger or spinners at the rear."
It wasn't the first Machine of the Year Award for Coolamon Chaser Bins, the company also took home the prize in 2014 for their 60 tonne chaser bin and were Highly Commended last year with their seed and super unit. ,
