An automated rock crushing machine that is having a big impact in transforming land for Victorian growers is set to hit the stage at the Elmore Field Days for the first time.
Developed by Rocks Gone founder and former farmer Tim Pannell, the three-metre wide H4 Reefinator machine has doubled cropping yields, boosted stock carrying capacity and trebled land values across western and southern Australia.
It comprises a levelling blade, four front row and five rear row hydraulic tines, and a following ribbed drum, all weighing 28-tonne when filled with water and digging up to 600 millimetres deep.
The machine has been on a travelling roadshow in eastern agricultural areas this season and will continue to be introduced to the industry following the field days.
Farming groups and growers interested in demonstrations with the machine should get in touch with the company.
Latest Stories
The latest H4 Reefinator features integrated automation technology, eliminating the requirement for operators to perform on-the-go depth adjustments according to changes in land and rock conditions, whilst also adding other valuable benefits.
The Rocks Gone ‘Depth Master’ auto depth and slip control system, which is suitable for ISOBUS and GPS-integrated tractors, calculates speed over ground and tractor load or wheel slip to adjust machine depth up to 50 times per second, as well as the level of its blade.
Operators set the depth and only make a manual adjustment if desired, thereby better optimising machine and tractor performance and resulting in improved crushing results and operational efficiency.
Adrian Carr, National Business Development Manager with Rocks Gone, said another benefit of the automation technology, in conjunction with GPS guidance systems, was that it could produce depth maps of worked areas.
“The maps can show perhaps where you may not have been digging deep enough and rather than doing extra passes over the whole area, you may concentrate on some areas and not on others, and effectively do less passes,” Adrian said.
Stephen Rodger and Tracy Hunt have been using a H4 Reefinator to transform some family land near St Arnaud in the State’s Goldfields region that previously couldn’t be utilised.
The area features a mix of quartz and shale country, while they have also worked some steep land, where the Reefinator assisted the construction of contour banks plus potential for future cropping.
“You certainly couldn’t get over the quartz and shale area with an airseeder.
"You couldn’t even drive over sections before,” Stephen said.
“We are working on three passes with the machine – going to a depth of 10 to 20 centimetres, then to 25cm, and we do a final roll and use a grader blade to level it.
“In the steep area, we can now get the airseeder across the ground and we can just drop the seed on top and then go over it with a roller.
“Where we sowed some summer crops (in 2023), it was phenomenal.
"We planted in October and, with the help of a bit of rain, we had some sorghum and summer crops that were eight-foot high.”
The H4 Reefinator will be on display at the Rocks Gone stand at site 1120 at the field days.
For further information on the Reefinator and arranging a demonstration, Adrian Carr can be contacted on 0499 970 177.
