As another year draws to a close we're all a year older, and some of us a little wiser. It's been a fantastic year for us both commercially and personally, with lots of business being done and lots of relationships renewed. We would like to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of our customers for their trust, opportunities and kindness over the course of the year and very much look forward to more of the same in 2020. We are winding down now and taking a well deserved break; over the festive period we are out of the office from the 20th December until the 2nd of January.

​If you're interested in what we have been doing in 2019, scroll down and take a peek at a sample of our finest work, with much more planned for next year.

Finally, for those of us celebrating it, have an absolutely tremendous Christmas and an even better New Year and we will see you in perfectly clarity in 2020. 

I know what you're thinking, another article about Mansfields and BURG.....get a room, right!? Well they actually did, as you can see from the pictures and rather than get dirty in it, it actually gets clean. Inside each blue tank is a small snorkeled human feverishly picking out each individual dirt particle at a rate of 30,000 litres an hour, and they seem to be doing a rather good job of it too. Unfortunately health and safety doesn't allow this practice anymore so what actually happens is the water filters through layers of sand, glass and activated carbon which take out the particulates and the clean water is whisked away to the next stage of purification under UV lights, in order to eliminate the bacteria. Throw some hydrogen peroxide into the mix and this creates crystal clear water with no nasty unseen surprises.

The rationale for requiring a filtration unit is wanting to reduce the regularity with which the water is changed in the channels, due to the sheer volume in them and the associated cost of doing so. The idea is that you keep the water in the channels for as long as possible whilst maintaining good water quality. 

As always, thanks to BURG (Joan van Burg) and F.W Mansfields (Lee Port and Kuldar Sorra) and of course our glorious leader Peter Kelly for all their hard work. Whilst we're at it, they rarely get the appreciation they deserve; thanks to BURG engineers Andries, Mark and Piet and KFS reprobates Matthew, Marcin and Mark for the actual installation.

Can all 4 viewers of this website please put their hands together and give Wye Fruit a warm welcome to the Kent Fruit Service's newsfeed? Congratulations on making the big time ladies and gents.

​Nothing like real footage shot in portrait to prove we have done something; see below for our flawless BFI working, well...flawlessly. The previous method of utilising their redpack was a more labour intensive manual method, which worked but was just too inefficient. Enter the BURG BFI 3.0 to save the day. It has eliminated a lot of the unnecessary manual elements and instead now churns out 70 packs a minute consistently, day in day out, with a high degree of accuracy. You can rely on the partnership between BURG and Redpack as they have worked together on countless occasions and the symmetry between the two means less wasted packaging and automatic speed adjustment when one or the other speeds up or slows down. 

A new addition to the BFI line set up is a split weigh belt situated nearer to the BFI than the traditional dosing wheel method of fruit delivery. The principle of the BFI is backwards communication, so if the belts with load cells underneath detect a lack of fruit, the BFI tells the weigh belt to speed up and deliver more fruit in order to maintain a continuous flow of fruit for the batching section. The reason the weigh belt is more successful is the smaller distance between the BFI and where the fruit is delivered; this means less delay to the supply and more consistent batching.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank Wye Fruit for the order and look forward to working together again in the future.

I bet you've been wondering where we had got to....

Newmafruit just can't get enough of us and the feeling is mutual. Not long after they have installed an iFA system for their existing Geosort grader, they go and purchase a new Combisort too, replacing their faithful servant of an MSE. Fear not though, we never put a good grader down and pledge find it a new forever home somewhere.

The new Combisort will jump in the grave of the MSE as it sits exactly where it used to, but with 6 lanes instead of 4. This increases capacity of the machine but more importantly gives them increased longevity, whilst the design also allows for modular increases if they decide to uproot it and move it into roomier surroundings. The old machine was fed by a BURG POLS-AP infeed and the new one will too. We love it when our suppliers work seamlessly together and our customers do too.

This new machine means Newmafruit will continue to be able to efficiency and gently grade pears and Bramley for many years to come (as well as apples). We hope to have many more articles dedicated to Newmafruit in the future and would like to thank them for our ongoing partnership.

In the meantime, click the link below for a wonderfully informative video about the Combisort:

Mansfields continue to headline our Product News page, this time with the installation of a GREEFA pre-sizer with some packing thrown on the end for good measure. This extensive project replaces the existing MAF RODA machine that is incapable of doing pears and finally brings all top fruit production under one roof at their West Site. This 8 lane GREEFA Combisort machine is fed apples or pears by a top class infeed, sorted and subsequently distributed to one of the 16 water channels or packing lines. If fed to the water channels, they're accumulated in the short water canals and inserted into a bin by a very clever, and very gentle vacuum system. Finally, a robot takes the filled bins and stacks them in their respective place ready for storage.

This project is in keeping with the modern trend of pre-sizing fruit for dedicated packing lines, 5 of which Mansfields already have; 3 were recently installed. This system increases efficiency of packing but also reduces giveaway, potentially allowing for the abolition of processes at end of line, such as check weighing.

This project was as mentioned above, to bring all top fruit under one roof, thus reducing unnecessary movement of fruit. The ongoing plan of Lee Port is coming together nicely and this is but a further piece of the puzzle. Retaining GREEFA as the supplier of the grader is very savvy as Mansfields already have a GREEFA Geosort machine, so there will be no learning lag with the program of the new machine. The planning of the project was undertaken by Lee, Gert Brouwer and Peter Kelly, with astute observations by Kuldar Sorra a welcome injection. 

As always, thanks to GREEFA for their assistance with the project, our fantastic engineers (Daniel, Mark, Matthew, Keith and Marcin) and of course F.W. Mansfields for their ongoing partnership! Keep your eyes peeled for further F.W. Mansfields news in the near future....

Do you like getting chemical powders and granules in your eyes and mouth? Well the Venturi filler isn't for you then. This wonderfully simple system makes putting the correct amount of chemical granules/powder into your main filling tank almost painfully easy. With the turn of one handle, the Venturi system begins to suck the chemical from the bucket and places it into the main tank, ready for mixing. Unless you have a particular sadistic affinity to ingesting Captan, then the purchase of this is a no brainer, and at a mere €195 it's a steal too.

Want to see it in action? Buy one. Just kidding (sort of), we have one on a sprayer at our office for demonstration (until the sprayer is sold, anyway) if you want to come and view it.

Gaskains has become the latest top, top fruit company to purchase not one, but two Munckhof 3 row sprayers. Akin to most modern fruit growers, Gaskains have planted their fruit in linear post and wire formations over the past few years; ideal conditions the 3 row sprayer. Adding to their budding fleet of Munckhof one row sprayers, the 3 rows will take the majority of the work, with the smaller one rows doing the smaller, bittier jobs.

The Munckhof 3 rows have got smarter since their inception, now deploying the VARIMAS system (optional) that judges wind speed and direction and intelligently varies the intensity of spray on either side, based on those readings. Furthermore as other optional extras, it has new cameras and LED lights but also a joystick controller that replaces the older flick switches, making operation easier than ever.

For more information, a quotation or to order yours now, please contact office@kentfruitservices.com

BURG and F. W. Mansfield & Son continue their close affiliation with another installation of yet more packing lines at Nickle Farm. The recent revolution of the way Mansfields pack and grade their fruit has meant a dramatic increase in efficiency, contributed to by two major factors; BURG's machinery and Lee Port's leadership. All top fruit grading and packing is steadily coming under one roof, reducing unnecessary movements and inefficient labour. This simple yet radical idea has once more put Mansfields at the forefront of the fruit industry. 

Following on from two packing lines previously installed (2 BURG BFIs fed by a 3D wet infeed) the current project is another 3D robot servicing 3 lines; a further BFI flow wrap infeed, a dual wicket bagger line and a forced packing line. This spans all the disciplines of fruit packing, allowing for increased capacity but also more importantly, flexibility. During discussions about the project the key was future proofing - this diversity of packing options and their layout allow for development in the future, leading to increased automation and further efficiency savings.

Every detail of Lee's plans were attended to by Joan and his colleagues, ensuring all aspects were tailor made to make working on each line easier than ever before. 

For further information about BURG and the plethora of machinery they offer, please visit http://www.kentfruitservices.co.uk/burg-machinefabriek.html or http://www.burgmachinefabriek.nl/

Loddington Farm took delivery of a Pluk-O-Trak this summer to revolutionise the way they pick fruit. With the orchards perfectly suited for the harvesting machine (post and wire set up) the picking rate has dramatically increased, allowing for picking at the perfect time. James Smith opted for our junior version with 4 picking arms transporting the fruit to a bin filler, in combination with an empty bin trailer being towed behind. 

Compared to picking trains the Pluk-O-Trak dramatically reduces the picking cost per bin, increases storage efficiency due to less empty space in the bin and reduces tractor movements in the orchard. All these combined add up to big savings year on year. Initial figures suggest that picking costs are reduced by £5 per bin, and overall costs reduced by £11 due to the reasons highlighted above.

The machine isn't just a one trick pony, many of our clients use it all year round for pruning and thinning as well as harvesting, maximising the return on the initial investment. Our harvesting equipment stays on the machine throughout, negating any chance of removal damage. Furthermore the Pluk-O-Trak perfectly balances solidity with weight; easily negotiating the worst of winters, with its 4 wheel drive without turning your orchard into a potato field.

It's just under two weeks until the National Fruit Show at Detling showground kicks off again and we will be taking up our customary position at stand K9. Our partners in crime, BURG will be just next door at K10. The usual fan favourites of Gert Brouwer for GREEFA, with Vincent Sanders and Thijs Munckhof for Munckhof will be there. We also have a special new addition of Han Smits, one of the new owners of Munckhof making his first appearance, please give him a warm welcome!

We hope to see all the familiar faces and also hopefully some new ones too. Come by and enjoy a sandwich and tea whilst marvelling at our impressive range of machines on display.

​Until then, happy harvesting.