The longest grading line installed by Tong Peal, at just over 50 metres, is in full production at the Boston packhouse of Naturally Best.

The system has been designed for maximum speed, and to provide greater flexibility and traceability.

The entire grading line has been painted in the Burgundy livery developed for the Vivaldi potato, whose healthy eating qualities continue to attract greater sales.

The alignment of the machinery gives a further advantage in providing access to all moving parts, and easy maintenance increases production by cutting back on downtime, Jerry Gill, sales manager at Tong Peal.

A twin controlled flow box tipping system provides a high capacity and a gentle feed to the grading line, while a new model Big-Bag tipper empties the 1.2 tonne capacity bags onto an in-line belt providing an even greater feed to the grader.

Loose soil is removed by the Evolution separator, and the crop is then inspected and passed over five 1,800mm-wide Easy Grade screen sizing sections.

Up to six grades can be achieved at up to 30 tonnes an hour, each grade put into boxes by five Easy-Fill automatic box fillers. Each filler has weighing facilities with digital displays so the contents of each box are added to the traceability record.

A Uni-Fill Big-Bag/ Box Filler is included in the line, enabling high capacity filling of any grade into Big-Bags for export markets.

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