inform Grimme NEWSLETTERAutumn 2013

November 1993 introduced Grimme (UK) Ltd as a daughtercompany of Grimme Landmaschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG.

steep learning curve by allassociated with the birth of

this new company has in time seenthe growth from rented buildings inSleaford to owned premises atSwineshead. The current expansionat Station Road indicates theinvestment to the agriculturalsector by Grimme and itscompletion should coincide withthe twentieth anniversary ofGrimme UK.

The Grimme product range haschanged during this period, but maybenot so much as in the last few yearsas we now see a wider range ofharvesters suitable for the UK marketnot only in trailed machines but alsoself-propelled harvesters.

A The current expansion atStation Road indicates theinvestment to the agriculturalsector by Grimme…

The First Twenty Years

The introduction of trailed bunker machines withseparating systems to suit UK harvestingtechniques is creating an interest to overcome thenumber of tractors and machines/trailers in thefield at harvest time. As this season's potatoharvest draws to a close other crop harvestingcontinues so we urge all to be specially aware ofthe health and safety issues during this winterharvest period. Copies of the safety DVD producedin conjunction with the HSE are available.

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News & EventsWelcome

ith their ability to be harvested virtuallyall the year round, carrots must number

among the freshest produce to be marketed bysupermarkets.

For Emmet Dunne, whose company Leo Dunne Ltdgrows, harvests and packs over 220 acres ofcarrots each year for sale by Irish multiples, it is abusiness which he says can be incrediblydemanding when the weather and conditions areeverything but accommodating.

“Like most growers, we harvest to order,” he says.“We are told how many tonnes are required for agiven day and we have to do our best to not onlylift that tonnage but also to wash, grade andpackage them.”

“We tend to rent an area for two years – carrots inthe first year and then cereals in the second,” heexplains. “This means we have a season to ensurewe are handing back to the farmer land which hasusually been subsoiled and is in good condition forhim to re-plant.”

The carrots are sown in succession from Februaryto about mid-May, planted in three bands withinthe 75cm bed which is one less than most growers.

“I believe three rows provide the carrots with morespace for air to flow through the canopy and thishelps to reduce disease problems and the cropdoes better as a result,” he says.

Harvesting normally starts in the second week of Julyand continues through to April of the following year.

Using a trailed harvester required the constantattendance of a fleet of tractor and trailers – a lotof traffic running about the fields.

“In wet conditions the field could become veryheavily rutted and damaged,” he says. “We weresending a lot of soil back with the carrots to thepacking station which needed to be removed, sothe sample was not that good.”

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s this year draws to anend, a large part of this

edition looks forward notjust to What’s New fromGrimme at AgriTechnica -with plenty to fill our centrespread, but also to themassive investment Grimmeis making in the UK andGermany, which all aims to drive high qualitymanufacturing and customer service.

On that note you can readabout the investment we aremaking here in the UK todevelop the next generation oftechnical specialists who willsupport Grimme equipment asit becomes increasinglytechnically advanced.

There are some changes to ourline-up too, with Glyn Argenttaking responsibility for beetharvesting and the appointmentof Sean Thurston as ASM forthe South East. We also wishBarry Burrell a long and happyretirement. He will be missed bycolleagues and customers alike.

A Bunker Self-PropelledCarrot Harvester IdealIn Wet Conditions

The Time HasCome…

The solution he concluded was to invest in a self-propelled bunker-type harvester – a GrimmeVaritron 270, which runs on a combination ofwheels and a wide, weight-spreading track.

Carrots are lifted by a full width share that takes thewhole bed on board, the soil being separated out bythe harvester’s webs before the carrots reachGrimme’s twin Multi-Sep unit, subsequently passingvia a cleaning elevator into the harvester’s 7tcapacity moving floor bunker. “The Multi-Sep cleaneris the key,” insists Mr Dunne. “It does an excellentjob treating the crop gently so there is little if anydamage or breakage and the sample is clean.

Ralph PowellEditor for Grimme UK

Like most growers, weharvest to order, he says.We are told how many tonnesare required for a given dayand we have to do our best tonot only lift that tonnage butalso to wash, grade andpackage them.

Harvesting now requires fewer tractors, trailers anddrivers. The harvester simply empties its load usingits 1.2m wide transfer elevator into trailers parkedon the headlands while the full trailers are beingtransported and emptied.

Mr Dunne comments that during the difficult wetautumn of last year, the Varitron 270 managed tokeep working in appalling conditions.

“It was impressive how it stayed on top of theground making very few ruts” he says. “With a frontand rear steering system it can make speedy headland turns and not have to work in lands to accommodate a side off load. For a harvester which lifts the thick end of 7000 tonnes of carrots for us each year, I have to say it does a first rate job.”

BPC HARROGATE NOVEMBER 27TH AND 28TH

Grimme as co-sponsors of theevent cordially invite you to jointhem on their indoor or outdoorstand to discuss any aspects of thepotato machinery range from acomplete handling, inspecting andgrading line to a genuine partssuch as stars for a destoner.

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DHARVESTER

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E HAS COME…

arry Burrell (Steptoe) hasdecided to retire from his

sales role at Grimme Swineshead.Well known and renowned inLincolnshire, Cambridgeshire andother areas throughout the UK,Barry has seen many changesduring his forty year associationwith Grimme.

Barry worked for Pearsons beforejoining Grimme UK and has continuedhis area sales role as part of GrimmeUK and latterly Grimme Swineshead.

His enthusiasm will be sadly missed as he leaves behind him a wealth ofknowledge of both machines andcustomers. He will however keep his hand in at Swineshead a couple of days a week cataloguingsecondhand machines and controllingshow display material.

Barry and his wife June were joined bymany staff and customers for anevening reception to mark his retirementin August. Colleagues from Germanyand the UK were able to reminisce withBarry over his career supporting theGrimme product and with his foresightto nurture his successors – who have ahard act to follow.

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Agritechnica 2013: (Left) The BeetBeater separating stones (Right) The new control desk EasyLift top lifter: (Left) 2-row top lifter SP200 (Right) Showing one person can change the top lifter belt

What’s new from Grimme at Agritechnica 2013

rimme group is making asignificant investment in the

latest digital technology.

Its website at www.grimme.com has acompletely new look, and automaticallyadapts to the display sizes of your computer,smart phone or tablet PC. A new medialibrary has also been added with over 2,300pictures, 230 videos and 320 leaflets.

Grimme is also launching a number ofspecial apps for I-pads and I-phones -available at the App store free of charge.First will be calculators for potatoes perhectare depending on spraying tracks, rowwidth, tuber distance and cultivationmethod. This gives growers a basis forcalculation of the volume of seed required.

For those customers working in stonyconditions, Grimme has developed “AirSep”,which separates trash and wet clods fromthe harvested crop pneumatically.

It works very gently. An airstream lifts thecrop and moves it gently forwards. Stonesand clods sink to the bottom and areseparated through a stone flap. This issimilar in concept to water systems butenables dry storage of the harvested crop.

A two row potato harvester with brush typeseparators can achieve an output of 30tons per hour. Harvesters fitted with the"AirSep" are able to reach an output ofabout 60 tons per hour with highseparation accuracy.guaranteed.

In the fight against potato disease, it is essential (or evenmandatory) to remove soil and haulm from the axle of potatoharvesters with every change of fields in affected areas.

Normally this is a manual operation adding up to 15minutes in the changeover time from field to field.

The mechanical axle cleaning shaft in combination withthe V-shaped axle cover for trailed and self-propelledpotato harvesters eliminates much of this manual work.

New EasyLift top lifter intakefor ASA-LIFT vegetableharvesters

ASA-LIFT, now a Grimme subsidiary, hasdeveloped a new strong top-lifter intakeunit that makes pulling easy - Weldedhollow profiles also improve the stability of the intake section

'Easy-Lift' incorporates stone protection,which automatically removes stones in theintake unit to avoid bruising of the crop anddown time caused by stone blockages.

New too is belt guidance. Two joinedtensioning rollers keep the clampingstrength constant, which in turn reducesthe power requirement. The rollers aremaintenance free and quickly exchangeable.

The belts in the 'Easy-Lift' intake unit are easily changed by the operator in a few minutes.

100 miles for charity

Cycling enthusiasts from Grimme cycled the 100 miles from York to Swineshead at the beginning ofSeptember to raise money for Freewheelers EVS. Enduring side winds and eventually tail winds thegroup safely arrived at Station Road. Raising over £3,500 for the local area of Freewheelers.

As a break away from the workshopand his apprenticeship, Ashley Craggsfrom York finds time to enjoy tractorpulling. At a local event Ashleycompetes with his tractor.

Pulling Away

Agritechnica 2013

Grimme is using Agritechnica to showcasesome important changes and additions to itsrange of sugar beet machinery. These include:

Biogas-beet preparation

Grimme's “Beet-Beater” offers an innovativesolution for the dry preparation of energy beet inbiogas for all year round production. A 20 m³buffer hopper offers significant gains in operatingefficiency.

New harvester control centre

The main functions of the Rexor 620 and 630 arenow integrated into the new armrest control centreor the new ride lever which provides direct controlwithout the distraction of other operations on thedisplay. The control centre is height and distanceadjustable. to suit individual operators.

New engines - new technology

The new fuel-efficient 530 HP,12.8 litre Mercedes enginewith AdBlue is now standardin the 620. This meets thestrict Tier 4 exhaust emissionstandard. The REXOR 630 alreadyboasts the latest 625 HP, 15.6 litre engine.

Innovative “AirSep” trash separator

Mechanical Axle Cleaning for harvesters

RowRunner track assistance

The RowRunner track assistance system keeps thetractor independently on track whilst harvestingrow or ridge profiles. As soon as the tractor-implement is located in the crop row, amechanical feeler at the tractors' front detects thecontours.independent of GPS.

The. signal data can be used to autosteer thetractor. freeing the operator to make adjustmentsto the attachment and to check the work results.

WHAT’S

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…Grimme’s futuresuccess and that of itscustomers relies on sowingthe right seeds today, butthis offers equal opportunityto young people eager to advance…

Left to right: Rootster, Rexor 620 and Maxtron Sugarbeet Harvesters

Your Future − Our Future

18

Pictured above from left to right: Thomas Thornally • Oliver Wilson • Joshua Clover • Peter Lavan • Russell ListerThomas Pearson Ashley Craggs • Phillip Teague • Peter Stocks • Jack Samways • Daniel Taylor

Changes in the South East for Grimme UK

The expansion by Grimme Landmaschinenfabrik GmbH& Co. KG with its range of sugar beet harvesting

machinery and the takeover in November 2012 of theKleine sugar beet equipment now allows Grimme to offer afull range of sugar beet harvesting and handling equipment.

With this expansion Grimme UK hasnow appointed Glyn Argent as SugarBeet Sales Manager and in conjunctionwith after sales support provided bySwineshead, Grimme are able to offertheir full range of sugar beet harvestingand handling equipment. Glyn is wellknown within the south east as theGrimme Area Manager for potato andvegetable equipment. ‘The opportunityto represent this new venture was one Iwanted to be involved in’ declares Glyn.

‘The sugar beet market is totallydifferent from the potato sector and wehave to realise this to expand ourbusiness within it’, says Mr Argent

Promotion of the product range will commence with acomprehensive demonstration programme, which will beannounced in the near future and the successful trailed Rootsterharvester will be the mainstay of this programme. Fully trainedservice support technicians will be based at Swineshead tosupport existing and new customers as we enter the 2013 season.The Kleine range of equipment suitable for the UK market will beintroduced also in the near future.

Taking over from Glyn in the role of Area Sales Manager for thepotato range of products is Sean Thurston. Sean joins Grimme UKfrom Ben Burgess Ltd, who with their four depots in East Anglia iswell known in the potato sector of the agricultural machinerydealers. In conjunction with Grimme UK, Ben Burgess will beinvolved with the Varitron 220 and 270 models self-propelledpotato harvester demonstration programme this autumn.

In an on-going supportive role, Ben Burgess will beable to supply sugar beet machine parts fromparts stock at the Aylsham branch.

For further information, pleasecontact Glyn Argent M: 07946 295197E: g.argent@grimme.co.uk

Sean Thurston has taken over from Glyn asArea Sales Manager for the South East.

With an extensive knowledge of the Grimmeproduct whilst at Ben Burgess Ltd., Sean willbe covering the East of England region. Seanjoined Ben Burgess as a technician in 1990,moving to sales in 2000 where he was areasales manager working between Norwich andAylsham. This background will ease him into hisnew role at Grimme UK Ltd. Away from workSean enjoys squash, cycling and keeping fit.

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THE SOUTH EAST

However, it is clear that a “one-size fits all”programme cannot balance the long termneeds of the individual, the employer or the industry.

The current college-based programme isdesigned to deliver NVQ Level 3 qualifiedengineers. This is a solid foundation on whichto build for the future. However, to keep pacewith the demands of growers who have to worktheir root crop machinery more intensively andto maintain the skills and knowledge necessaryfor its support, the programme must enabletechnicians to achieve Level Four and beyond.

Russell Lister, Head of Aftersales for Grime UK,sums this up as, “Your future - Our future”,which recognises that Grimme’s future successand that of its customers relies on sowing theright seeds today, but that this offers equalopportunity to young people eager to advance,whether they already work within the Grimmenetwork or want to join from outside.

It could be argued that there are flaws in thismodel. – Of course, some students will fall preyto other industries and employers once they arequalified. Others may fail to qualify or may notwish to proceed beyond the standard level.However, this is no reason for not having aprogramme, which will push the trainingboundary to new levels to take account of thechanging demands of our customers, themachinery they use and the advanced technicalskills that are necessary to maintain it.

In short, a future in which we all share.

Grimme UK and BMC have joined forces to offer two Level 4 programmesin Land based Engineering and Business Management .

The HNC level programme will bridge the gap between thepractical skills based Level 3 Apprenticeship courses andhigh end theoretical level degrees in the land basedsector with tailor-made support for employees in the nextstage of their careers in land-based engineering andbusiness. Grimme has also pledged to provide potential bursary assistance with tuitionfees for high flyers that showgreat passion and commitmentto the course.

Pictured right: Grimme UKand Brooksby MeltonCollege finalising thecourse, Mark Bendle and Russell Lister

Stop Press

he days of fixing farm machinery with a hammer andan adjustable spanner are long gone. Of course, these

are still in the tool box but so are more sophisticated toolsdriven by the design, construction and operating systemsof the latest machinery.

The latest computerised operating systems are designed tomake life easier for the operator and to achieve maximum fieldperformance. But what happens when these break? A hammerand adjustable are no use when a Cambus cable fails. Informeddiagnostics may help a technician locate the fault but the causestill has to be identified and the machine repaired and Grimmehas always recognised the importance of apprenticeships as acentral part of the development and progression of the individualthrough the company. Now, Grimme UK is following a similarpath to support the product right down the chain.

It aims to develop the skills of all its young employees byoffering them training and development opportunities that allowthem to achieve their potential in whatever area they shine. This includes formal training at college matched by furtherdevelopment at work to provide opportunities for “graduates” to follow a career route that’s right for them – maybe as atechnician, a product support specialist or, perhaps, in sales and management.

In association with Brooksby Melton College (BMC), Grimme,like other major manufacturers, introduced a programme to kickstart training and development for its own engineeringapprentices and for others employed in its dealer network.

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16412 Grimme Inform 18 AUT 13 ART_A4 09/05/2014 16:58 Page 6

Output Doubles with New Investment

INTERNATIONAL EVENTS

AGRITECHNICA 10.11.13 – 16.11.13Hanover. www.agritechnica.com

Grimme UK Ltd, Station Road, Swineshead, Boston, Lincolnshire PE20 3PST: 01205 822300F: 01205 821196 E: info@grimme.co.ukW: www.grimmeuk.com

n 2010, Grimme LandmaschinenfabrikGmbH & Co. KG experienced a sharp

rise in the demand for their productsthroughout the world consequentlyGrimme took the decision to increaseproduction capacity by the building oftwo brand new factories. This enabledthe transfer of manufacturing of self-propelled harvesters and webs fromDamme to a new industrial area tenmiles away at Rieste which had beenpurchased a few years earlier.

The new facilitiesemploy a team of240 people, of whicha 110 working onthe web assemblyline. Thisdevelopment isheaded by 36 yearold Felix Lingens whohaving studiedAgronomy atuniversity began hiscareer with Grimmein 2008, workingwithin the logisticcentre at Damme.

Here he gained experience in running aresponsive parts supply chain and beinginvolved with the new build from day one,Felix took charge of the self-propelled andweb and factories in December 2011.

“Compared to our old factory at Damme, thenew building for web manufacture gives us9600 square metres of floor space andlarger offices. Investing in our new beltingproduction line, riveting machine andbending machine alone has made a hugedifference to our production capacity. Also byimproving our focus on reduced build times,we have been able to double our output andare currently producing on average 550webs per week,” says Felix. Throughout2012 we made in excess of 32,000 newwebs. Felix continues “we are able toreplenish any out of stock webs to ourfactory quickly which is our goal.

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rimme Landmaschinenfabrik GmbH & Co. KG is still expanding, and with the

introduction of a new daughter company inBelgium and the further involvement with ASA-Lift and Kleine for future products fromthese specialised manufacturers.

Looking towards another successful year,Grimme will be exhibiting at the 2013Agritechnica Show in Hall 25.

GAgritechnica 2013

The production team is focused andrealise how much Grimme customersrely on their machines andappreciate how costly machine downtime can be. Everyone regularlyreceives practical training learningabout the impact of abrasion on thewebs produced and our team leaders

appraise every worn or broken web returned to them. This all helps tounderstand the impacts of life in the field,” he concludes.

Grimme is committed to offering products with the highest customervalue and delivering an exceptional aftersales support. Rising prices ofraw materials such as steel and rubber are challenging and whilst somemanufacturers have lowered the quality of their products accordingly,Grimme have refused to compromise. Grimme continues to purchaseraw materials from ‘high end’ suppliers with whom there is a specialworking relationship spanning many years with the emphasis on quality.

Grimme customers worldwide benefit from genuine parts, manufacturedto high standards from quality materials. Vigorous quality control and indepth research and development, which is a main criteria of theGrimme business, goes a long way to maintain the Grimme standard.Parts availability worldwide is supported even more strongly now by themarketing of the Grimme product through Grimme daughter companies.

Pictured above: 1) Grimme Damme 2A & 2B) The new web factory and team3) the new factory site for webs and sp harvesters

1 2A

2B

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