A post-harvest line next to the field.

A mobile post-harvest handling line in the field.

This unit is of particular interest to those countries or regions where bulbs do not need to be stored because the majority go straight from field to market, as is the case in Mexico, Argentina and India.

A mobile line to pre-clean, top, inspect, grade, weigh and pack 12 tonnes of onions per hour, in the field.

All of these machines are installed on a 40 ft. trailer (which can be second-hand).

In other words: In a mobile post-harvest handling line, the handling line goes to the harvest, instead of the harvest going to the handling line.

There is no need for a packing house and there is no need to transport the harvest from the field to facilities. Imagine the savings!

A mobile post-harvest handling line in the field.

The produce is separated out from foreign bodies such as stones, clods and under-sized produce.

1. Even-flow is a container where the freshly harvested onions from the field trailers are deposited. A conveyor belt then transports them in a steady and controlled flow, to the elevator belt.

2. The elevator belt takes the produce from the even-flow to the pre-grader/cleaner. During transportation it remains fixed to the topper.

3. Pre-grader/cleaner: A pre-cleaner that separates off clods and stones attached to the bulbs.

4. Topper: A machine that tops the stem of the onion and removes the surplus outer layer from the bulbs. In this case, it has a capacity of 12 tonnes per hour.

5. Inspection belt for quality control.

6. Rubber belt grader, which separates up to 15 tonnes of onions into four sizes in just one hour.

7. Four rotary packing turntables are manufactured locally.

8. The 40kw diesel generator means that this mobile unit is completely independent to work anywhere.

9. The waste conveyor tips the waste from the pre-cleaner and the topper into a box.

Topper.

A compact, high capacity grader, which gently handles the delicate onions.

This equipment works best when combined with the following machines:

A haulm (field) topper.

An onion harvester.

An onion loader.

The three or four tipping trailers to transport the harvest from the field to the mobile unit are hired locally.