Spot on Accuracy

David Harrison of Aldreth near Ely are recognised as one of the UK’s top specialist companies when it comes to cost-effective potato handling with automatic palletisers and high accuracy multihead weighers from some of Europe’s most advanced manufacturers.

They have now been appointed UK agents for Pro-Pak of Holland and their Weighmaster multihead weigher available with 10 or 12 weighing scales, a product friendly machine for potatoes, onions and carrots etc.

Pro-Pak uses speed adjustable belts instead of vibrator channels to feed the weighing scales. Belts are not susceptible to dirt build ups and work well with non washed potatoes. Belts are also more product friendly than vibrator channels.

It’s all about speed and accuracy. The high speed, electronic weigher prepares the pre-set weight in its stainless steel weighing buckets and discharges it on the command of the bagging machine. The weighing process is continuous with constant weight checks to minimise ‘give away’. The control panel is simple to program with
keyboard and a TFT colour display with lbs or kgs.

A Family Affair

Established in the early 1930s by George Dennis, Dennis (Haddenham) Limited is a family run business now operated by his grandsons Peter and John Dennis with Peter’s sons Jonathan and William. In 2008 they installed a 10 bucket Pro-Pak Weighmaster to replace a previous system that lacked accuracy when run at speed. “We were for ever checking for under and over weight bags” explains Peter Dennis. “When it says 25 kg on the bag, people expect 25 kg in the bag. The Pro-Pak is spot on for accuracy, even when we are running 120 tons a day we are maintaining variances of less than 25 grams on a 25 kg bag.”

They grow Maris Piper, Fianna and Markie varieties on the rich fenland soil to the west of Ely for the chipping trade. “We usually run the machine at around 15 tons an hour (600 bags), peaking at 17 tons an hour” says Jonathan Dennis. “Mostly we are filling 25 kg bags, although some customers prefer 20Kg.”

Their 10 bucket Pro-Pak machine feeds a Symach automatic palletiser which can handle bags and sacks from 5 to 50 kg. Fast, efficient and gentle handling is the order of the day. Conveyor fed, the stacking head swiftly rotates and places the sacks according to the selected programme. Each layer is placed on heavy duty, coated ‘trap doors’ which withdraw to place the sacks gently onto the pallet below which is presented hydraulically to the level at which it receives the next layer. This manoeuvre also includes gentle tamping down of the top layer. Consequently any potential impact damage is minimised, protecting the produce and profitability.

Peter Dennis is particularly impressed with the consistently tidy 9 bag high stacks that the Symach produces.

They originally installed an O&P mechanical palletiser and ran it for 12 months. Whilst It was fine for 9 tons an hour, the business outgrew it!