When my son left college, I asked him if he wanted to farm and his answer was: “shovelling pig **** wouldn’t look good on my CV”! I wonder if he would have thought differently if the Australian-designed Kanga loader had been available at the time?
Midland Pigs’ production director, Trevor Digby, was certainly taken with the machines at last year’s Pig Fair, and bought one of the smaller models he felt would be able to get under the low roofs they have on one of the company’s finishing units. The idea was to virtually do away with brush and shovels.
So, has it lived up to his expectations? Without a doubt, he says, and the Kanga loader does exactly what it promised.
The operator stands on a platform at the rear, and when it goes under a low roof, he can step off and walk behind it as the controls are hand operated and easily reached. The machine is on tracks, and can be spun round in its own length.
We all know that brushing and shovelling are monotonous, time-consuming tasks, but with the Kanga, not only does the machine get into corners, it also carries the straw and muck out of the pens to be put wherever you want it. Hand sweeping and using a fork invariably means moving the material over and over again, pushing it forward until it’s where you want it. With the Kanga, it’s a one-shot operation.
The machine has certainly revolutionised the manual work on the Midland Pigs unit, which also means the work is more likely to be done. Most importantly, it gives the stockmen more time to manage the pigs.
Stockman Karoly Szabo loves the Kanga and is now expert at handling it, and he washes it down after every day’s work. He finds it very handy, manoeuvrable and useful for putting straw back into the empty pens.
The Midland Pigs’ machine is one of the smaller models, with a 16hp V-twin Honda petrol engine that’s proving economical with fuel. It has a lift height of about 1.2m.
Kanga offers an extensive range of loaders up to 25hp in both tracked and wheeled versions, along with various attachments for a variety of tasks.
For more information call Kanga Loaders on 08452 604800 or visit: www.kangaloader.co.uk
