Leading vegetable handling equipment manufacturer, Tong Engineering, is looking forward to returning to the NEC Birmingham to exhibit once again at the UK’s largest farm machinery show LAMMA, on stand 7.668 in Hall 7.

Since the industry last met at LAMMA, Tong has launched several new products and equipment advances and is set to highlight how these latest developments are proving invaluable in improving post-harvest operations by minimising labour requirements whilst maximising capacity and yield.

One of the company’s newest machines, the FieldLoad PRO, is proving to bring a dramatic reduction in post-harvest loading times. The FieldLoad PRO receives and cleans crop at high capacities straight from trailers filled by the harvester, ensuring soil and debris is removed from crop in the field, whilst significantly reducing unnecessary transport of crop from field to farm. The machine is fully configurable to meet exact requirements and is designed to be extremely versatile; it is suitable for multi-crop use, working effectively on potatoes, carrots and onions. Customers can also choose any Tong cleaning unit as part of the machine, including the advanced EasyClean separator available with Auto-Touch HMI controls. The Tong high-speed PU coil cleaning system and star coil cleaning units are also available.

Another new product launch from Tong which is already transforming post-harvest box filling for growers worldwide, from the UK and Ireland, to Australia and the USA, is the new Tong MonstaFill box filler. Built to combine high capacity and gentle box filling, with reduced forklift movements, the MonstaFill box filler ensures a continuous box filling process. The simple in and out forklift action to remove full boxes and subsequently present empty ones makes for a seamless process; there is no waiting for the forklift and the machine can be easily operated by one forklift.

“We are delighted at how our new product developments performing,” says Richard Knighton, Sales Manager at Tong Engineering, “it is always great to see new products come into their own. One customer in the UK is achieving throughputs of up to 90 tons per hour when using the MonstaFill with our latest FieldLoad PRO field-loading machine. The MonstaFill has transformed their daily throughput capabilities so much that the subsequently ordered a further two MonstaFill machines to advance their potato handling operations even further.”

In addition to the new product launches from Tong, optical sorting advancements are increasingly taking centre stage as growers look to reduce the reliance on the workforce to achieve efficient grading and sorting. Tong prides itself on its experience and expertise in integrating a wide range of optical sorting equipment from best-in-class manufacturers, and is looking forward to speaking to vegetable producers at LAMMA to discuss how the new camera technologies can be specified to replace traditional manual sorting facilities for great efficiencies.

 “We look forward to seeing farmers and growers from all over the UK at Lamma to discuss the latest handling advancements and their requirements for the year ahead. We welcome visitors to come and see us on our stand in Hall 7 where they can be sure of a warm welcome with light refreshments,” says Richard.