Producers buy mixers for a lot of different reasons. Sometimes they buy the cheapest mixer or they may want to buy one a little bigger. However there are three ways that a mixer can pay for itself and put extra money in your pocket and two times when you pay for a mixer.
The first time you pay for a mixer, is the initial cost, which is easy to compare. Vertical mixers have a struck capacity with and without side extensions. Sometimes the model number indicates capacity and sometimes it’s just a marketing tool. Just compare actual published cubic foot capacities, to the asking price and you’ll have the initial cost for similar mixers.
The second time you pay, is the cost to operate the mixer. Knives followed by tires are the biggest wear items and can be expected to wear out with any mixer. The major expensive wear items are the auger, the side walls, the frame and the floor. Because of innovative design and superior components, Cloverdale is the only mixer company that has a five year or 5,000 load warranty on the auger, side walls, floor and frame. These are the expensive to repair or replace items. The plow wing on the auger is a wear item made of AR200 and is an inexpensive bolt on component the can be adjusted for wear or replaced in the field with two bolts.
You can reduce your feed costs if your mixer can mix cheaper feed ingredients. Nearly any mixer can mix an expensive ration. A Cloverdale vertical can mix all types of long grasses, including switch grass and orchard grass. It can mix big square bales or round bales of alfalfa, corn stalks, straw and high moisture bales. You can mix silage, haylage, cannery waste and ethanol by-products. It is one of the few vertical mixers that can mix a 100% grain ration. Since feed is normally your largest expense, reducing your cost even 5% can make a big difference.
You can reduce your labor costs if you mix quickly and size your mixer properly. We have mixers sized from 40 to 1300 cu. ft. The mixer design allows for fast even flow of materials from top to bottom and from front to back. There is no floating of the feed on top as the mixer gets full. If you can reduce your feeding time, even one hour per day, your mixer can start paying for itself. The mixer, tractor and labor will easily cost $75.00 per hour, so saving one hour per day would save you $2,250 per month.
You can increase your production if your mixer does a great job of mixing. A good mixer will give you a consistent ration from beginning to end, even if you have very small or completely full loads. They must empty out completely so you don’t have feed left inside to spoil or freeze and ruin your next ration. It’s important for your mixer to mix your ration very quickly, so you can control your particle length. When we shaker box test our mixers, we get ideal particle length and very consistent rations of less than 3% C.V. Most vertical mixers have a terrible reputation for mixing. They pulverize and ruin the feed long before they ever get it mixed. Our plow wing design drives the feed towards the center of the screw, which allows it to move feed more efficiently from top to bottom. Our twin screw mixers have overlapping screws which pull feed from the opposite screw to actively move feed from end to end. Most twin screw mixers have no method of moving feed from end to end or use a passive system where feed falls into a cavity. This system can work if your mixer is always level when mixing, but much more difficult once you start to move the mixer while mixing.
Not all mixers are the same. If they were, everyone would just buy the cheapest one. You can save money with Cloverdale because of improved mixing, reduced labor and greater flexibility in feed rations. You save when you purchase because of the competitive price and you save later with reduced repair costs.
We offer demos at no cost. Try a Cloverdale mixer for yourself and see what others are saying.