“Hustler’s got the best gear out” says New Zealand dairy farmer of his EzFeed silage wagon
Boyd Houghton is one of the first owners of the all-new Hustler EzFeed SM110 silage wagon. Boyd picked this wagon for its durability, reliability and for the innovative industry-first TwinFeed™ featuring left or right-hand feed discharge. Watch the video to find out more about Boyd’s new EzFeed silage wagon.
Boyd Houghton is farming in Tirau, a small town in the Waikato region of the North Island of New Zealand. The majority of dairy herds (71.1%) in New Zealand are located in the North Island, with the greatest concentration (28.4%) situated in the Waikato region.
The flat to rolling contour 225-hectare (556-acres) farm is the house of 650 Friesian milking cows.
Boyd and his team use a recent 54 Bale Rotary Cowshed. Rotary systems are fairly common, making up about 30% of dairy farms in New Zealand, and have become popular due to milking efficiency in larger herds by maximising the time that clusters are harvesting milk.
But the rotary cowshed is not the only new equipment that can be found on the farm… Boyd decided to purchase a Hustler EzFeed SM110 silage wagon from his local Huster accredited dealer Power Farming Morrinsville and sold by Brian Marsh.
“We went with a Hustler EzFeed SM110 because it can side delivery both sides”
Before purchasing the Hustler EzFeed, Boyd did his homework. “We did look into other brands, but found that this one was what we really required now,” Boyd said. “We went with a Hustler EzFeed SM110 because it can side delivery both sides,” Boyd detailed.
The EzFeed SM110 is the first silage wagon to feature left or right-hand feed discharge for more feeding versatility. 5 positions for the discharge floor allow an easy setup when feeding into troughs. The wagon also embarks a massive 1000mm roller chain/bar discharge for reliable feeding of heavy crops and unobstructed flow of material. Roller chains require fewer adjustments and maintenance than conveyor belts.
“It is a very strongly built design”
The EzFeed silage wagon range has been built utilising the proven uni-body design from the Hustler Combi wagon range. EzFeed has the biggest ground clearance, impressive drawbar clearance, and toughest axle design on the market. “The tandem axles that it floats on, the drawbar system on it is excellent,” Boyd continued.
Boyd also likes that all details have been well thought through. “There’s plastic along the top, so if the front end loader does hit it, it doesn’t damage it and ding it,” Boyd said. Virtually indestructible our replaceable roto-molded hungry boards can take a beating from the tractor front loader without turning to splinters or dinging up the wagon. Another industry first from Hustler!
“The design out the back for loading it is excellent”
“The design out the back for loading it is excellent,” Boyd said. The wagon comes standard with an auto-release tailgate to prevent damage if the floor is reversed. The quick-release design allows the operator to remove the tailgate without the need for tools.
“They’ve got all the grease nipples in one place,” Boyd explained. The central greasing on the axles and the difficult-to-reach bearings makes life easy for the operator to keep the machine well maintained. All drive shafts are running on sealed bearings with built-in trash shields for longer service life. While retaining more grease, greasing intervals can be safely extended 3-4 times longer compared to shafts running on bushes.
“I believe that Hustler’s got the best gear out, for dairy farmers, sheep farmers, cattle farmers, to do this bulk feeding”
The EzFeed elevator incorporates Hustler clever load-sensing hydraulic system – coming standard – taking the guesswork out of feeding silage. “It can’t just keep pushing it up, especially on grass silage,” Boyd described, “so it’s got the benefit of not damaging and not overloading the front feeder bar.” One set of hydraulics is all it takes to connect and power the machine.
The EzFeeds wagons come also scale-ready for an optional Feedlink feed management system. This allows traceability back to the owner and its easy in-cab use prevents a headache when feeding to multiple mobs. And it’s accurate both on the tractor and on the jack stand!
“I believe that Hustler’s got the best gear out, for dairy farmers, sheep farmers, cattle farmers, to do this bulk feeding. They require a good machine to actually do the hard work,” Boyd concluded.
5 Reasons why EZFEED is the best-in-class
1. 100% Roller Chains | Industry First
With EzFeed gone are the days of trouble-some link chains and conveyor belts which require constant adjustment, fine-tuning and are often slipping or breaking disrupting your feeding program. EzFeed is the first wagon on the market to run a 100% roller-chain design to overcome this.
2. Virtually Indestructible Hungry Boards | Industry First
High-impact resistant and rotational moulded, our replaceable Hungry Boards can take a beating from your front-loader without turning to splinters and making your nice EzFeed silage wagon look all dinged up. Another industry first from Hustler.
3. TwinFeed | Industry First
The first silage wagon to feature left or right hand feed discharge for more feeding versatility. And with 5 positions for the discharge floor allows for easy setup when feeding into troughs. Coming soon is an electric in-cab controller option for on the fly feed direction change and hydraulic side-shift.
4. Low-skill operators dream | Simple Operation
As the name suggests EzFeed makes feeding silage easier than ever before. As standard only one set of hydraulics is all it takes to connect and power the whole machine and our clever adjustable load-sensing hydraulics takes care of the rest making EzFeed the ideal wagon for low-skilled staff.
5. Unique Uni-Body Design | Proven Platform
Built utilising our proven Combi wagon platform EzFeed has the toughest axle design on the market by a country mile, large suspension travel, comes scale ready for our industry first FeedLink feed management system which weighs on both the jack/skid and drawbar, impact resistant puck-board floors, toughest bars and more.
Do you want to know more about Hustler feedout wagon range? Contact us today for a chat or a demo, you’ll be glad you did!
