Omokoroa man Simon Priest produced an unusual-looking trailer without a deck which won a top award at this year's Fieldays and is now in demand by kiwifruit growers.
The Softrider trailer, designed and built by Simon, won the New Zealand National Agricultural Fieldays premier Innovation for Future Profit Award and afterthe prototype's one-day trial on a kiwifruit orchard, orders began pouring in for more.
Fieldays judges said that not only was the trailer innovative in its design, it also had the potential to bring about significant saving for growers and orchard contractors, ticking both boxes for the Innovation for Future Profit Award.
Existing bin trailers, some of which Simon has built himself, have no suspension and rollers instead of a solid deck meaning bins are inclined to move when transported, often damaging fruit.
"I thought there had to be something better out there so started researching overseas, thinking I'd import a trailer but I couldn't find anything suitable," he said.
So it was back to the workshop at Simon's Engineering and over time, the Softrider trailer emerged.
The trailer is in effect extended hydraulic forks on wheels. The tractor-operated hydraulic system is enclosed in the box section frame of the trailer and operates the gate at the rear of the trailer and the forks.
To pick up three kiwifruit bins, the rear gate is opened, and the trailer is backed over the bins, with the fork sliding underneath. Once the bins are in place, the rear gate closes, locking the forks, and the trailer is raised to towing height.
The process is repeated in reverse to unload full or empty bins and a smooth ride is ensured because the bins are held tightly together and the forks act as a back-up to the leaf suspension.
Simon asked Katikati orchardist Phil Reed to test the trailer in the field and after the first day Phil was so impressed he began telling others about it.
"The next morning I had people turn up at the workshop wanting to buy one," said Simon.
Phil was impressed with the trailer on a number of levels, not the least of which was the fact one tractor and trailer could do the work which previously required four tractors, trailers and drivers.
Since his win, Simon has had approaches from potato, onion, squash and apple growers. He's also working on a version for avocados.
