What is agricultural machinery?
Agricultural machinery is a vehicle and attachment unit that is designed and sold for the direct use in planting, cultivating or harvesting farm products. Also, it is used in the connection with the production of agricultural produce or products.
With an advanced growth in technology today, we are glad to have the convenience of agricultural machinery for farmers. They get to work more quickly and efficiently with little worry on energy and time consumption to yield crops.
However, it is inevitable to experience machinery breakdown which eventually contributes to work downtime. That being said, every user must be well-aware of working safely and handling agricultural machinery properly. This is to ensure more effective work performance.
Be it ploughing, harvesting or transporting, this agricultural machinery with its respective functions has made work easier for farmers. Typically, the biggest challenge faced by these hardworking farmers is the productivity rate. These machinery function at the highest productivity rate throughout their working clock in the farming industry.
So, how to go about operating the machinery properly to boost its productivity? We have listed 3 major ways you can do so.
1. Opt to Certified Agricultural Machinery
To experience the highest agricultural machinery productivity, you need not necessarily buy brand new machinery. Renting used farm equipment alone can take you a long way. It is as long as they are certified to be rented by the machinery manufacturers.
You could still experience almost the same machinery productivity at work if you rent them from authorized manufacturers. They maintain this machinery well for long-term purposes.
The understanding of this concept is simple – there are outlets that don’t maintain their heavy equipment at the same standards as the authorised ones. Many times they do not possess the technical expertise or product knowledge that are crucial for services or repair. It is an added disadvantage to them if a breakdown or low productivity of machinery were to happen to complex machinery.
So, instead of looking at the agricultural machinery features or prices alone, pay attention to manufacturers’ expertise, knowledge and after-sales services. Then, make up your mind to either buy or rent the machinery from them. Also, you need to know if the machinery received correct and sufficient services at the highest standards possible.
2. Follow Preventive Maintenance Program
Every operator needs to be reminded of the preventive maintenance program that he should follow when handling agricultural machinery. How we use what we use is important at deciding the lifespan of something. Whether the machinery is to plough, harvest or transport, it is best to operate the equipment as careful as possible.
There is no better way of protecting your agricultural machinery than to schedule regular servicing. So, monitor your equipment after and before every use to ensure they don’t function out of force. Also, make sure you observe the potential frequent wear and tear components in your machinery. You get to prepare for any repair ahead of time. By doing so, you get to make the best out of them.
You can obtain the best Preventive Maintenance Program consultations from your certified manufacturers. They have faced many situations and stages of wear and tear in the agricultural field or any other relevant ones. It is where the after-sales services come to place. Now you know why getting in contact with an authorised dealer is essential.
3. Hire Experienced Agricultural Machinery Operators
The best part about hiring an experienced operator to handle your machinery is that they know to explain about your machinery. They can be about machinery usage records, track equipment downtime or feedback on the operation itself. Your experienced operator knows the difference between highly productive machinery and an average one.
They simply know about your machinery health status which makes them reliable in so many levels.
So, you could rely on them to operate your machinery well while providing you with information when needed. Adding on, experienced operators are highly skilled at using agricultural machinery at an optimum rate. They understand how the control systems function. Hence, it is safe to say that they will not pull the machinery triggers that contribute to downtime to your projects.
Apart from machinery downtime, operator safety is important too. Hiring experienced operators will save you from the headache of ensuring workers’ safety at work.
If you don’t have one, then you carry the duty of making sure your workers are safe. So, get experienced operators to operate your machinery. They help you boost the machinery productivity effortlessly.
What does agricultural machinery consist of?
These agricultural machinery are segregated according to farming work. There is machinery for
1. Planting, seeding, fertilizing, pest control and irrigation.
2. Harvesting, haymaking and post-harvest.
3. Loading, milking, grind mixers and wool presses.
Use your Heavy Machinery Smartly for Better Efficiency
There are many more micro-aspects that contribute to high productivity rate of machinery. But, they fall back to the above-mentioned criteria.
Hence, whether you are an operator yourself or owner of heavy machinery, the mentioned hacks will save you alot of trouble, cost and time.
On a side note, you can make the best out of heavy machinery such as wheel loaders for your construction projects too. These tips are highly-demanded, so we believe you would not want to miss out.