Diamond celebrations for Haith's mobile potato grader

The UK's leading designer and manufacturer of vegetable handling equipment is celebrating the diamond anniversary of its mobile grader.

Introduced by Haith Group in December 1963, the mobile grader has become one of the company's best-selling machines, with more than 300 produced in the last six decades.

The technology found in today's graders is significantly more advanced than that utilised in the 1960s. However, the focus on customisation and meeting the customers' bespoke needs remains to this day.

Today's grader features a heavy-duty hopper, auto crop flow control, a choice of cleaning systems, touchscreen HMI control and shaft-mounted drives. Haith also provides a range of optional features, including soil extractors, optical sorter integration and stainless or mild steel construction.

The latest mobile grader to leave Haith's South Yorkshire factory was bought by BH Savidge & Son, which opted for Haith's flagship model - the PRO SF 2400s.

Capable of handling over 100 tonnes per hour either in a yard or in a field, the PRO SF 2400 features all of the standard options plus a galvanised gantry with anti-slip treatment for operator safety and gentle crop handling.

Despite being 14m long, Haith's unique road kit and rear steering axle ensure the machine handles like a standard farm trailer.

Ben Savidge is delighted with the grader's performance so far.

Ben Savidge:
 

"We worked with Rob Highfield in early 2023 to design the grader, having seen a similar one in Norfolk."

"We had previously had a high-capacity grader made by another firm, which we could not move and required very high power to run."

"We've known for a few years that we needed a mobile grader. This year, we needed to grade 2,000 tonnes more than last year and knew we would be working at our main base and another farm."

"As we wanted to invest in one machine to work at both sites and futureproof ourselves, the Haith mobile grader made perfect sense."

"By working with Haith, we have been able to build something exactly to our requirements. We are also confident in the quality of Haith's work as we operate their bagging trailers."

"Everything is over-engineered, and we hope that this machine will last us for years to come; so far, it is doing the job of two machines on many other farms."

Haith's mobile machines have always been popular with growers and packers looking for both performance and flexibility, but the company has been exceptionally pleased with sales and enquiries in the last four years.

Duane Hill, Managing director at Haith:
 

"I think there's definitely been a resurgence in interest in mobile machinery, whether that be grading or sorting. Mechanisation and automation are increasingly important to growers and packers of all sizes, and the ability to move their machinery around is very popular now."

"We have a very healthy order book at the moment. Hopefully, when we come to celebrate the mobile grader's Blue Sapphire anniversary in five years, we will be marking the 350th mobile grader leaving the factory."