Safety and efficiency when feeding out with Haymate

South Australian farmers wanting a safer and more effective way of feeding stock contributed to an entry in the Henty Machine of the Year Award. 

The Haymate range was developed in Keith, SA, in collaboration with local farmers, by All Custom Engineering Fabrication founder, Andrew Martin.

Hundreds of hours of work were put into the design, manufacture and constant development of the Haymate to hit all requirements. 

These included being lightweight enough to be able to be towed over all terrains, while also keeping its strength to hold the weight of hay; being able to feed out both square and round bales from silage to high-density on the same machine; and the ability to be towed behind either a heavy-duty vehicle, tractor, FEL or JCB whilst on or between properties, thus saving time and equipment savings.

Through many trials and modifications, the first Haymate machine was born, the Haymate DR5500. It is a machine with fully integrated hydraulic components capable of feeding livestock from the comfort of a heavy-duty vehicle using remote control technology. Feeding out can now be operated safely and easily with just a single person. 

Designed for ease of maintenance and greatest reliability, the Haymate has only one size Japanese bearing throughout, high-quality hydraulics and a genuine Honda (when available) or a vertical-drive Kawasaki engine.

Tri-axle load share suspension with newly in-house designed suspension side support bracing for added durability and 16-inch wheels gives the Haymate one of the best unloading and loading abilities without loading weight to the towing vehicles.

The Haymate range now consists of two tractor-driven models and two fully integrated hydraulic models with full remote operation, including engine starting and stopping from the same remote control.

The Haymate range has a fully integrated modular design of the chassis to allow all models to be made from one base model, enabling easy future upgrades thanks to the fully innovative bolt-together design.