Simplicity and manoeuvrability is key for South Australian farmer

Ease of maintenance and the flexibility to handle all bale shapes and sizes were the top considerations for South Australian dairy farmer Jeff Green in purchasing the Hustler Chainless X5000. A long-term Hustler customer, he traded up his 12-year-old Chainless 4000 for the newer model after seeing it at a field day.

Jeff Green runs a dairy operation at Hindmarsh Tiers, on South Australia’s Fleurieu Peninsula. He calves down 300 cows a year and milks on a year-round basis. The farm covers two separate blocks: the main dairy block and a run-off block with an additional 250 animals.

During their peak period in summer and at the start of winter, Jeff and his staff put out around eight rolls of silage a day, as well as four round bales and a couple of square bales of hay across the two blocks.

Finding a feed-out cart that could handle the differing bale sizes was essential to minimise their workload.

“Initially when we first thought about purchasing a feed-out cart, we looked at some brochures, then at a few machines on local farms,” Jeff says. “I was impressed by the simplicity: there were a lot fewer things that could go wrong compared to other options on the market.”

Because Jeff’s feeding regime included the three bale sizes, they needed a machine that could handle everything.

“The Hustler Chainless 4000 looked to be the best option because it would do our silage, our round bales and our square bales of hay. It also had the least amount of moving parts to go wrong, so that meant less maintenance for me.”

He says a lot of the gates and laneways on the property are very tight, so one of the other features that drew him to the Hustler was the ability to lift the bale up in its cradle. “We are able to clear our gateways, where other machines may not be able to get through,” he says.

The combined features of flexibility, maneuverability and ease of maintenance made the purchasing decision an easy one, and in 2004, Jeff found himself the proud new owner of the Hustler Chainless X4000.

After enjoying 12 years of trouble-free operation, Jeff noticed Hustler had released a new model, the X5000. Interested, he went along to a field day to see it in action. “It had a few updates that had us quite intrigued,” Jeff says.

“With the improvements the X5000 offered, and our confidence in Hustler as a producer of reliable, easy-to-maintain machines, we traded in the 4000 and purchased the new Chainless X5000.”

“That was about 18 months ago and we’ve had an awesome run with it ever since.”