Union Grain install a new Grain Sampler

Union Grain Storage Ltd. in Skegness operates a 20,000 tonne store, housing 17,000 tonnes of grain in six bulk bays and 3,000 tonnes in six additional silos. They sample anything up to 30,000 tonnes of product each year including wheat, barley, rape, beans and peas and are a member of Openfield Cooperative – an industry leading, British, farmer owned cooperative.

In early 2016, Union Grain Storage Ltd. made the decision to upgrade their grain sampling system. The old system had become worn and dated. The store manager at Union Grain Storage Ltd., John Allen, approached Perry about installing a newly available grain sampling system. Union Grain Storage Ltd. already have several Perry machines installed and they have a long business relationship together.

Along with being the UK’s most experienced manufacturer of grain & bulk handling and drying equipment, Perry of Oakley Ltd. are exclusive UK suppliers of Tout Pour Le Grain’s range of grain sampling equipment.

The grain sampling system installed at Union Grain Storage is the HERON 4000 Gyroscopic, which boasts 3.3m, 4.1m or 5m operating radii. It can be mounted on a single post or on a wall allowing for maximum flexibility to suit the needs of the user. The swinging up/down drive is gearmotor controlled through a variable frequency drive (VFD) for torque boost and integrated dumper bottom detection. The sampler also has a vacuum intake with grain to air ratio adjustment and a 3kW vacuum turbine at the foot of the sampler for conveying distances up to 60m.

All the electronic components and wiring are enclosed neatly on the sampler pillar. With the limp home mode available, the sampler can operate up/down and swivel drives even if the VFD fails, meaning no down time.

Union Grain Storage Ltd. opted for the HERON Gyroscopic to have the uprated control panel which allows for automatic sampling and can be programmed to sample up to ten spots per vehicle for four different vehicle sizes. By sampling the ten spots it conforms to TASCC (Trade Assurance Scheme for Combinable Crops) and the HGCA’s (Home Grown Cereals Authority) best practice guide.

Mr. John Allen said “We are very happy with the new sampling equipment, it’s a really nice machine. We are particularly impressed with the joystick controlled panel which we can program with up to ten sampling spots. It’s a big improvement on our previous system.”