Haith’s Wash Line for Scutt’s Farming Improves Efficiency
Haith’s Wash Line has been in operation at Scutt Farming for aproximately 15 months, during which time the specialist potato grower reports increased flexibility for marketing its produce, as well as an improved capacity which now allows them to supply Morrisons.
Until this year Scutt Farming’s only outlet were foodservice fish and chip shops. A change in focus, triggered by the COVID pandemic, when the lockdown forced its customers to close, saw Jonathan Scutt approach Morrisons, which now sells his potatoes in its Wonky Range.
The new line consists of the Haith Rota-tip S which is an adequate replacement for hydraulic tippers, boasting numerous unique features. The machine doesn’t lift the box, instead when in-situ, the Rota-tip pivots around a centre axis, so there’s no pressure on the box.
“Scutt Farming is exactly the type of farm that we had in mind when we designed the Rota-Tip S,” says Ken Hollingworth, who oversaw the installation. “The box isn’t ejected as with other models in our line-up, but Scutt and his team don’t need this functionality, they wanted the most cost-effective solution to their needs and the S series is just that!”
Further down the line, soil from the crop is removed by a fixed centre coil soil extractor with four sets of 750mm wide, 100mm diameter coil springs and a fixed speed three-phase shafted mounted gear drive. The produce then gets in a Haith Flume Destoner, before entering a 3m x 900mm Supa clean Washer, which can handle between five and 10 tons of produce each hour. The crop is then washed in a three-metre Haith Semi-submerged Washer, with a stainless-steel barrel and fully pintle lined barrel. The fully enclosed sludge removal ensures the machine is extremely easy to clean. Finally, the potatoes enter a Haith Sponge Roller Dryer, with 12, 1200mm wide sponge rollers. An integral drip tray ensures that none of the water from the crop hits the floor.
“Some people think Haith are only interested in working with the really big boys, but they’d be wrong,” says Scutt. “We found them to be really passionate and committed to delivering the best solution possible. The quality of our finished produce is so much better now. The new wash line from Haith has increased our flexibility, and it definitely helped us secure our contract with Morrisons.”