Separator delivers increased capacity for East Lothian farm
11th July 2021
Farm manager Graham Knottenbelt says he has been impressed by the capacity gains and cost savings brought by a Standen UniPlus Separator, as well as the machine’s reliability and ease
Farm manager Graham Knottenbelt says he has been impressed by the capacity gains and cost savings brought by a Standen UniPlus Separator, as well as the machine’s reliability and ease of use.
Luffness Mains farm took delivery this year of a Standen UniPlus Stone and Clod Separator. It replaced two star- web combination destoners the farm had previously used to prepare the land for planting 200 acres of main crop and 200 acres of salad potatoes and carrots.
Farm manager Graham said: “Moving from two machines to one seems counterintuitive but swapping to the Standen model has in fact increased capacity for us.
“The UniPlus is bombproof – it is user friendly and once in the field it just keeps going. It has proven to be so reliable that we have not yet had a single breakdown.
“It is a simple machine but is essentially two destoners in one. The star element does the majority of the job but is backed up by web separation which leaves a very clean bed. Not only have we increased capacity but we have also made cost savings as we don’t have to run two rigs, we are saving one man and one tractor. We are really impressed.”
The Standen machine features 10 rows of 320mm diameter Duropol stars, which are arranged in an Actiflow configuration – a patented system that effectively moves the soil away from the sides and back again through the machine to maximise the separation area. The stars last up to three times longer than competitors’ machines, Standen says.
The feed into the machine is via large serrated discs and a smooth intake roller which eliminates small stones dropping into the bottom of the bed. This is assisted by the fitting of optional in-fill rings on the first five rows of stars. The Underweb starts after the fifth row of stars and continues up to the cross conveyor, which gives a double separation effect to further boost output.
Graham runs a 36mm web for potatoes, then changes the Underweb to a 28mm for carrots. This is a 10-minute operation which means he can change from one crop to another very quickly, and still maintain good quality beds for both crops.
