A ripper of a stripper

A stripper front that was originally designed for harvesting rice has become popular with WA graingrowers, enabling them to get their crops off faster with less wear and tear on their harvesters.

Ratten and Slater dealer principal Warren Slater said the Shelbourne Reynolds range of Excel stripper fronts, which are made in the UK, had slashed fuel use and almost doubled harvesting capacity because they only harvest grain heads, not straw.

Mr Slater said they were originally designed for harvesting rice, and the company acquired its first machine from the rice-growing region in north-eastern Victoria near Finley about eight years ago to see if they could be used to harvest WA grain crops.

He said initially they were only available in a 32-foot front, which restricted their suitability for broadacre harvesting until a 42-foot front was developed by Shelbourne Reynolds in 2011.

The new machines incorporate a three-section stripping rotor and two-section auger.

New features include a spring-loaded pivoting adaptor plate system that, when coupled to the spring-loaded gauge wheels, enables the wider headers to follow ground contours.

"They have been well received by farmers who had to harvest lots of straw or had crops that were hard to harvest in high-moisture conditions," Mr Slater said.

Ratten and Slater are the sole distributors of the strippers in WA and have sold about six machines Statewide so far, including four in the Esperance region. They have also been popular around the hay-growing regions of Northam and York.

"We've sold half a dozen around the State and they are also very popular in the South Australian straw industry because they leave the straw behind," Mr Slater said.

"The big thing that we are finding is that the fronts do well in our tough harvesting conditions. Even though the grain might be right to harvest, a lot of times the straw is too tough to cut.

"But the Shelbourne Reynolds stripper fronts just takes the grain off the head and leaves the stalks behind so you can keep harvesting."

Mr Slater said the stripper fronts had proven extremely valuable this harvest, which on the south coast has been severely affected by rain delays and windy conditions.

"With the mongrel weather we've been having, the rain and everything else, these machines allow growers to get so many more hectares done per day, regardless of the straw condition," he said.

"They don't need a lot of horsepower from the harvester because it virtually becomes a grain cleaner, so fuel use is about half and the harvesting capacity is nearly doubled."

Mr Slatersaid harvesting speed also increased to between 15km/h and 16km/h.

"You can speed up your harvesting and have lower operating costs, so I believe they've got a big place in the region," Mr Slater said.

The Shelbourne Reynolds stripper fronts can pick up lodged and fallen crops, which has also been a major problem this harvest.

"They comb and pick the stubble back up and take the grain off the head, leaving a beautiful standing stubble," he said.

Grass Patch farmer Paul Ietto used a Shelbourne Reynolds stripper for the first time this harvest and is impressed with its efficiency and cost-saving.

"Our fuel saving alone has been huge," Mr Ietto said.

Ratten and Slater is also trialling a European-made stubble incorporating machine called a Joker, which could be combined with the Shelbourne Reynolds strippers to provide a complete harvesting package.