Four thousand bushels of portable grain storage is not something you see everyday on the farm or at the National Farm Machinery Show at Louisville, Kentucky.
But when Walkabout Mother Bins made their first-ever appearance last week at the annual machinery showcase, many farmers couldn’t resist the opportunity to get a close-up look at the big units.
“We have wanted to showcase our product at the NFMS for a number of years and we are so proud to have it at the show for the first time,” said Dave Hedt, president and owner of Walkabout Mother Bins. “Our company motto is to ‘make the lives of our customers better’ and that is exactly what the Mother Bin is doing for many farmers across the U.S.”
In this interview with RealAgriculture’s Bernard Tobin, Hedt says the grain storage unit is a great option for farms who experience labour shortages and harvest bottlenecks. “A Walkabout Mother Bin is the in-field storage solution that keeps farms of any size running at peak efficiency,” he says.
The portable 4,000-bushel unit “allows the farmer to take it to the field and continue to harvest — the combine continues to run, the grain cart continues to run and the trucks never have to stop. It’s a massive efficiency tool,” says Hedt. (Story continues after the interview.)
Hedt is often asked how much power it takes to move the bins in the field. He says it’s important to remember that “it’s not a grain cart, it’s portable storage and it works in tandem with your grain cart… It sits on the end of the field. And for that reason you only need a 250 to 300 horsepower tractor to tow it because you’re only ever moving at empty.”
In the video, Hedt breaks down the return on investment, saying most farmers can pay for the Mother Bin in two to three years. He adds that the product is built to last for 20 years.
The company is on course to have more that 100 units running in North America by the end of 2023. Heft says Walkabout Mother Bins can be found on farms as far west as Oregon to North Carolina in the east and Texas in the south. He adds that the company is also looking north and has plans to expand its Canadian dealer network. There are currently two units in Western Canada.
Click here for more National Farm Machinery Show coverage.
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