For the past 41 years, Van Zyl Staalwerke (VZS) has been working closely with farmers to find solutions to their farming problems.

As usual, VZS again exhibited their wide range of products at NAMPO Bothaville this year, as well as a few trusted products with a new jacket.

“We do a lot of business with the farmers, and we deliver all over South Africa. Most of our products were on display at NAMPO and we were proud to show what we have,” said Nico van Wyk of Van Zyl Staalwerke. Over the years, they have forged very close ties with farmers.

Nico says: “We build between 900 and 1 300 implements per year, and many of the implements arise as a result of clients having certain needs around certain products. In other words, every year, we make adjustments to implements to make them better and stronger, thus developing the best implements for the farm.

“The best implements are built on a farm and not in a factory, because a farmer knows what works on his farm,” explains Nico.

VZS’s roller screen can save farmers money and time by helping them take the best grade of grain to market.

Roller screen

VZS’ roller screen has been in their stable for many years and according to Nico, it is an extremely important part of every farming setup.

This screen is used to sieve out small seeds and other material, such as green pods from soybeans. This screen is available as a double or single drum version. The double drum screen is more suitable for soybeans while the single drum works better for maize and sunflower as well as for soybeans.

The screen can screen between 30 and 40 tons of grain per hour right next to your field. The roller screen removes unwanted elements and smaller grain kernels to prevent farmers’ grain from being qualified as inferior at the silos.

The smaller kernels that are screened out can be used again as animal feed. This screen has the potential to improve your grain quality by one to two grades.

VZS’s Semi-Inline Ripper aerates farmers’ soil and prepares seedbeds.

Subsoiler

One of the products that Van Zyl Staanwerke offers is the Semi-Inline Ripper, also known as the Subsoiler. This implement is invaluable to farmers.

One of the most important changes made to this implement is the use of coil springs instead of leaf springs to ensure proper soil penetration. The ripper’s breakaway action is at 2,2 tons and the wear parts on the ripper’s teeth are relatively cheaper compared to other products on the market.

“This ripper does a great job, it breaks up your soil and if you’ve done it properly, you only need to do it every four or five years,” says Nico.

You can work with it directly behind the tractor and because the tines are spaced semi-inline, it is easier to pull, and your material passes through more easily.

This implement has a working depth of 450 mm or 650 mm with longer tines, requires approximately 40 to 47 hp (30 to 35 kW) per tine and has a tine spacing of 760 mm. The tines have a replaceable wear piece at the front and the ripper comes with optional heavy-duty rollers to break up soil clods and level the seedbed.

VZS’s new chaser bin. This is a 45 000 litre and 35 ton beast.

Chaser bin

The latest addition to the VZS chaser bin range is the 45 000 litre beast. This chaser bin has a load capacity of 35 tonnes. It has tandem axles, which makes driving the chaser bin easier if you have uneven soil in your fields.

The unloading capacity is very high. Just like the 25 ton and 20 ton chaser bins from VZS, this one has an unloading capacity of five tons per minute at idle when the tractor has a PTO speed of 1 000 rpm.

As a result, the chaser bin unloads quickly and as an alternative, it also has a bottom drop to be unloaded from below with a cylinder operated from the tractor. The other option is that farmers can open and then close the hydraulic lock so that the chaser bin can easily be filled without spillage.

VZS’s chaser bins also come standard with tarps.

If you would like to learn more about any of these products, view VZS’s wide range of implements or contact the team, you can visit their website at https://vzsgroup.co.za/