Based in the small town of Yenda near Griffith, the Yenda Producers Co-operative Society is part of the Yenda Group, whose businesses share a common goal to provide quality goods and services to the rural sector in and around the Riverina.
With an impressive 95-year history, the group now has more than 1500 members across a vast farming region, with branches in Leeton and Griffith in addition to the main office in Yenda.
The philosophy and vision of Yenda Producers is to assist members to continue the development of sustainable rural businesses within the community. The Co-operative provides an extensive range of services that includes the supply of chemicals, fertilisers, seeds, fuel and general merchandise – essentially anything that a farmer requires.
The group has a fleet of tipper trucks that includes single trailers, truck and tractor spreaders and four B-doubles which are used to cart fertiliser and manure. It was the difficulty drivers were having unloading manure that originally prompted operations manager Kevin Curran to look at a Flow-Easy vibrator.
Flow-Easy vibrators are distributed by Enmin Vibratory Equipment in Braeside, Victoria. They are designed to speed up the unloading of bulk products, providing an efficient, safe and controlled load discharge. The vibration loosens compacted material, effectively eliminating compacted residual build up – a costly and common issue.
“It was one of my drivers that originally alerted me to the fact that the manure was often sticky and would simply not move. The only way to get it moving was to repeatedly bang on the side – both risky and time consuming. My driver had heard of Flow-Easy vibrators which were the impetus for me to look into it,” Curran said.
Enmin provided Yenda with a unit on a trial basis – the trial proved the value of the vibrator, particularly in relation to OH&S. “The vibrator saved a lot of time unloading thereby improving our productivity, but the real attraction of the unit was the safety aspect,” said Curran.
Following on from the success of the trial, Yenda purchased and fitted vibrators to all of their trailers. “The Flow-Easy vibrators have certainly proven to be a worthwhile investment,” Curran added.
The vibrators also allow for a lower elevation height, minimising the chance of overturning – further improving driver and truck safety. Other benefits include lower fuel and maintenance costs and reduced wear and tear on the truck and trailer.
The Flow-Easy range includes 12 and 24 volt electric vibrators along with hydraulic and pneumatically powered options. Some transport applications require vibration to be applied for an extended amount of time, a scenario where the design characteristics of the hydraulic and pneumatic models come into their own. If required, they can be run continuously, rather than the more generally utilised intermittent operation of the electric models.
“The Flow-Easy vibrators are easy to install and only require minimal modification to the trailer body, making them a simple, low cost addition that provides a number of benefits. These include increased health and safety for our drivers and a reduction in the risk of a OH&S incident when carting. So we look at it as ‘cheap insurance’ in this area,” Curran added.
“As we update our truck and trailer fleet we will be removing the vibrators from the existing trailers and installing them on the new units,” added Curran.