The company recently introduced the 7m and 9m Nevada electric stirrers, which Thomas says cut much of the cost and effort out of keeping effluent mixed.
While effluent is now an integral part of a dairy farmer’s soil nutrient plan, Thomas says they often don’t get the optimum consistent spread of nutrients over all paddocks being irrigated. Some paddocks become overloaded with black nutrient-rich effluent, while others get only slightly dirty water – a problem Thomas says can be resolved with the Nevada pond stirrers.
Consistent nutrient application can sometimes seem difficult to manage when dealing with a larger pond or effluent from intensive feed systems and feed pads.
In extreme cases mixing daily is sometimes required, Thomas says. “One of our clients has a big herd with a smaller pond, and is using a high-input feed system. He needs to run his pond stirrer for about one hour a day to prevent it from becoming crusted.”
Thomas says electric pond stirrers are good in situations like this, where farmers are pumping into, or out of, their ponds frequently.
As electric mixers use mains power and can be set to work off a timer, Thomas says their running costs are lower than tractor-mounted stirrers, with less energy and labor requirements. TThe range of Nevada electric stirrers is from 7.5kw to 22kw. “With the timer you can set it to run on night power.”
As they are shore mounted with a V-belt drive, Thomas says the electric stirrers are easy to maintain and generally have a longer lifespan than submersible stirrers, which are more difficult to maintain or repair.
“The Nevada stirrers are galvanised, and are manufactured in Germany to be more durable and higher performing than any other horizontal mixer in New Zealand. The base rotates 360 degrees so farmers can easily lift the propeller out of the water, spin it to shore and pump it with grease in a short time.”
Tel. 0800 464 393
www.nevadanz.co.nz
