YOU can’t be too Grizzly when you are literally the cutting edge of the ag machinery business.
Especially when that’s not just your opinion, or even the opinion of your clients (and it is), but is also the assessment of the wider industry.
And you know that’s true because that industry regularly hands you awesome awards, such as the 2024 Elmore Machinery Field Days Australian Machine of the Year.
Although at Swan Hill’s Grizzly Engineering this ongoing cycle of success is a two-edged sword, according to marketing manager Skye Poltrock – because they are running out of room on their trophy shelf.
But to be honest, you haven’t been able to wipe the grin off the face of the Grizzly Ag team down on McAllister Rd since they received this latest gong at Elmore this month.
It is, in the grand scheme of things, a remarkable effort for a local ag machinery enterprise – any Australian ag machinery enterprise – that it can keep flying the homegrown, homemade flag and do it with such success.
In a world where the colours of the big overseas producers tend to dominate paddocks, Grizzly isn’t just flying the flag, it is shipping its products across the country and battling to keep up with demand.
Mr Poltrock said receiving the Elmore award this year was “an incredible boost” for the team of 35 who run this innovative operation.
“The Wheel Track Renovator II was totally created in-house by our product development team, led by Gavan Monk, and then put together in the workshop by the crew,” Mr Poltrock said.
“It is the latest model – the original was also named Machine of the Year back in 2010 at the Australian National Field Days held in Orange, NSW.”
As you would expect, with its name, the Renovator II will repair any kind of traffic lines in paddocks – spraying, fertilising, harvesting, seeding, you name it, they all leave wheel tracks.”
Wheel tracks which can go as deep as 500-600mm making a trip across badly affected paddocks one where you put your dentures in your pocket and hang on.
But the Renovator II will smooth them all out, drawing in dirt from alongside the tracks to deliver a smoother field, making it much easier to be worked – and meaning less wear and tear on machinery.
“This unit has been designed primarily for the broadacre farmer and I reckon we must have got it pretty right originally because that model was a linkage-only version that worked so well we are still using its original patent in this model – although we do have a new patent pending with the Mark II, which is a trailed variation where its depth control wheel in the tracks allows the Renovator II to dynamically adjust to the damage for better repairs,” Mr Poltrock said.
The Wheel Track Renovator II is so new it was only officially unveiled in Speed at the Mallee Machinery Field Days in July this year.
It succeeds other Grizzly Ag winners such as the East Coaster (Orange, 2000), the Field Master (Swan Hill 2008) and we can go back further, but you get the picture.
As Mr Poltrock pointed out, they are not introducing new machines on a seasonal basis – the last really big-time new one was Tiny, a ginormous fixed frame, folding heavy duty disc plough which handles everything from general cultivation to a heavy, deep mix in sand over clay soils.
“While we might not have a new machine every year, we also do a lot of work fine-tuning designs as we see how their performance can be enhanced – and at times adapted into a new product,” Mr Poltrock explained.
“We have been doing this since 1983, and my brother Kurt, who is the general manager, and I have taken over from our parents, although our mother Wendy remains a director.
“Like many other Australian icons of ingenuity, the Grizzly plough was founded on need, by country people with the will to construct a better offset disc plough, and the business really got going with its unique three gang, tandem offset disc design, which was patented and released.
“This innovative Grizzly provided complete ploughing out (no unworked ridges), less working draught, elimination of side draught and longer disc life.”
Mr Poltrock said Grizzly continued to use technological advances to improve its range to include lower power requirements, significant fuel savings, reduced stress on components, reduced maintenance costs, and greater operator control allowing effortless adjustments for better performance.
And he said that was backed up with in-field service and support.
“At Grizzly our focus is on machines with inbuilt durability, accuracy, efficiency and easy operation for sustainable farming practices,” Mr Poltrock said.
“Grizzly is widely recognised for innovation, with our design and continued investment into research and development as an essential role in the success of the company’s product range.
“The health and safety of the end user is a strong focus on the design of the products, with Grizzly being quality assured to ISO9001:2015 per Australian standards and all our dealers have Grizzly training, technical support and rapid delivery parts replacement anywhere in Australia.
“And in such a competitive market, we are just as proud to say we are Australia’s largest manufacturer and exporter of disc ploughs – all from a family-owned business in little old Swan Hill.”
