Clear Ridge Fabrication takes SUPA BIN to the next level

Soon after Clear Ridge Fabrication burst onto the scene in 2019 with their ‘SUPA BIN’ Grouper, brothers and former grain farmers, Dallas and Kaidan Boyd were looking at ways to increase the versatility of their Grouper.

 The pair own and operate the engineering business near West Wyalong in Central NSW and had won the HMFD award in 2019 for the Best Australian Designed and Manufactured Machine, giving the SUPA BIN nation-wide recognition. 

In 2020, due to popular demand, CRF released the SUPA BIN/SUPA TUBE combination, which was an instant success due to, not only it’s increased versatility, but it’s ability to efficiently transfer up to four different grain and fertiliser products from “silo to seeder” without the need for a separate auger and with zero contamination. 

This has been another huge success with around 90 per cent of bins sold, now fitted with this option. 

The team at CRF were confident it was another potential HMFD 2020 award winner, but COVID put paid to that.       

Now, in 2023, CRF has gone next level with the newly released Ultimate Control series. This too has evolved due to popular demand. While the SUPA BIN is unique in its ability to dispense four (and up to six) products either individually or simultaneously, thus allowing multiple blending options, farmers were wanting the ability to do this with accuracy and consistency. This is where the ‘Ultimate Control’ series comes into play.

This new series is equipped with CAN (Controller Area Network) compatible linear actuators on the product doors, that are integrated into a whole new electronic control system. 

The new system also incorporates a touch screen which is mounted in a control box on the side of the grouper and also a new, more intuitive, remote-control unit. 

Put simply, CAN is a system that allows devices (in this instance, the actuators) to communicate with each other in a reliable and priority driven manner. 

The system allows the operator to select one of three pre-programmed door opening distances for each compartment which also can simply be adjusted on the touch screen to anywhere from 1 to 100 per cent if so desired. 

The ability to infinitely program the actuators on each compartment to open the product doors to a preset distance consistently is a first for a machine of this type in Australia.

“This system eliminates the need for guess work and ensures that any product blends are consistent day after day, week after week,” Dallas Boyd said.

The new intuitive handheld remote-control unit has also been integrated into the SUPA BIN hydraulic system. 

Where the old system had a remote-control unit with a series of buttons to control the tubulator, the new remote has a four-way toggle switch for tubulator left and right and tubulator up and down with the toggle switch springing back to a central position when released. 

Different to the old system, the further the switch is pushed in any direction, the faster the tube will move in the desired direction. 

The new remote control unit controls every function of the bin which includes, engine start/stop, engine speed, bin lighting on/off, tubulator fold out/in, product delivery belt on/off, tubulator belt on/off, tubulator left/right and tubulator up and down with an ‘E-stop’ on the controller which, when activated in the case of an emergency, causes every function to cease operating and the engine to shut down.