Extending brush polishing to smaller growers
A new ‘economy’ version of the vegetable brush polisher is being introduced by Tong Peal for the smaller pre packer.
Last year the company introduced a new generation of brush polishers, reducing the cost of proving the bright finish to carrots, parsnips and potatoes that appeals to supermarket customers.
Now Tong Peal is making the technique available to smaller pre packers by launching a model with a capacity of up to eight tonnes an hour at around half the cost of the full-scale version.
This economy model has the normal Tong Peal ‘U’ formation of the ten 3m long rotating brushes. Rocking of the brushes (as in the larger model) is not necessary due to the smaller capacity and so big cost savings are made. This new model offers the user a budget price machine which achieves the same polishing quality as its 'big brother' but at a lower capacity.
“The concept of brush polishing is gaining wide acceptance among both packers and retailers,” says Barry Ledger, sales manager of Tong Peal. “It promises to revolutionise the presentation of potatoes as it has done with carrots. We have a number of machines now with customers and will be pleased to take potential buyers to see the machines at work.”
Manufactured in stainless steel and with a water tank with recirculation pump available the economy brush polisher sells from £23,500.
News Release
|
 |
|
TAKING THE DROP OUT OF FILLING BOXES
We have just introduced a new model of the Easy-fill box
filler using ‘finger’ belts to eliminate drop.
Introduction of the finger belts — the first on a
UK manufactured box filler — is a further advance
in gentle handling of the crop to eliminate damage.
The technique has been pioneered on the compact
model, the Micro-fill, where the potatoes descend at
a steeper angle into the box. Now the finger belts
are being introduced to the standard Easy-fill range,
eliminating the need for the hoods to hold back the
crop.
News Release
|
 |
|
Optical sorting a ‘win win’ for potatoes
The hi-tech optical sorting of potatoes at the Branston packhouse near Lincoln is bringing all-round gains not only for the company and its customers but also for growers.
Branston, one of the UK’s leading potato marketing and packing companies, invested £2 million in an advanced grading system using colour and infra-red technology to identify surface defects on potatoes from scab and scurf to bruising, greening, mechanical damage and rots.
Anxious to use the latest technology to maintain a competitive advantage — but equally to handle the crop with a delicate touch — they turned to a leading manufacturer of fresh fruit sorting equipment to develop a system for potatoes.
News Release
|
 |
|
SPILSBY FACTORY EXPANDS AS MERGER COMPLETED
With the new merged company Tong Peal officially
trading from April 1, the manufacturing of vegetable
handling machinery is being concentrated at the
Spilsby factory.
More than £200,000 has been spent already in
expanding the stores, design office and storage area,
and with a work force of 130 the firm is busy meeting
buoyant orders for its products.
When the merger between Tong Engineering and
Peal Engineering was announced in November,
no redundancies were envisaged and with the exception
of employees who have opted to retire the whole of the
Peal workforce has now moved to Spilsby.
News Release
|
|
|
WHAT A WHOPPER!
The largest ever hopper manufactured by
vegetable handling specialists Tong Engineering,
capable of handling 70 tonnes of potatoes
an hour, has been supplied to a French farmer.
The hopper has a holding capacity of 30 tonnes,
which is 10 tonnes more than the largest model
previously sold, and has been installed on a farm
near Dieppe which grows more than 250 hectares (618 acres) of salad potatoes.
News Release
|
|
|
NEW FORCE IN VEGETABLE HANDLING
The merger between ourselves and Peal Engineering
will make the combined company, Tong Peal, one of
the leaders in UK and global markets.
The new company, with annual sales of almost
£8 million, will have increased capacity to meet the
larger and more specialised orders, and is planning
to set up new manufacturing facilities on a
single site in the future.
Currently we employ 90 at our Spilsby factory and Peal Engineering 50 at Horncastle ten miles away, and no redundancies are envisaged as a result of the merger.
News Release
|
 |
|
NEW HIGHER CAPACITY BOX HANDLING MACHINERY
New higher capacity box handling machinery. The new range of
Tong machinery for handling two-tonne boxes has been introduced
for the vegetable industry.
With many potato growers and packers, mainly in France, starting to
move over to this approach, new Tong ‘Easy-Fill’ box fillers and
Control Flow box tippers are now available to cope with the
higher capacity.
News Release
|
|
|
A CHEAPER WAY OF FILLING BIG BAGS
We have just introduced a new economy model big bag filler which is operated by a fork lift truck
The bin is loaded by a box filler or direct from any conveying system. A big bag with a capacity up to 1.2 tonnes is attached to hook holders and with the bin at ground level the ‘bomb door’ in the bottom is opened by operating a handle. As the forklift gradually lifts the bin, the bag fills.
News Release
|
 |
|
Rock’n’roll steals show at PotatoEurope 2006
The ‘rock’n’roll’ vegetable polisher introduced by Tong Peal at the PotatoEurope 2006 show in Hannover this month attracted inquiries from throughout Europe and far beyond.
As the first of the New Generation Veg Polishers was being installed in the UK, the machine was gaining a reputation in Germany because of its unique pendulum action which contrasts with the rotary action of conventional washers and polishers.
News Release
|
 |
|
KEEPING AHEAD OF TREND TO BIG-BAGS
New machinery for filling and tipping big-bags has
been developed by Tong Engineering to cater for
growing demand, particularly for export customers.
Big-bags holding one tonne or more of potatoes and
other vegetable crops are increasingly being
adopted in mainland Europe in contrast to the
UK where pallet boxes are more the norm.
News Release
|
 |
|
High speed on the move
The largest grading line installed by Tong Peal has just completed the off-the-field handling of up to 1000 tonnes of potatoes a day for one of the largest growers in the West Midlands.
The Suckley family at Hopton, near Shrewsbury, were looking for high-capacity mobile grading facilities for their contract growing operation stretching from Cheshire to Gloucestershire.
Tong Peal designed two grading lines each capable of handling 500 tonnes a day and with capacity to function in adverse field conditions. They work in tandem with three two-row harvesters, necessitating a high grading throughout.
News Release
|
 |
|
NEW SKIPS EASY TO MANOEUVRE
A new range of self-tipping skips — ideal for
collecting general waste from vegetable
packhouses, farmyards, factory floors,
workshops and building sites has just been
introduced.
News Release
|
 |
|
SPEEDING UP SORTING OF RECYCLED WASTE
A much increased amount of waste material is being
handled by Mid UK Recycling following installation
of new sorting machinery by Tong Engineering.
Mid UK Recycling turned to Tong Engineering to
design and manufacture a sorting line installed on
a platform almost three metres high so that the
individual waste streams could be collected in
larger heaps throughout the day and then moved
with a loading shovel.
"The new machinery has dramatically increased the
speed and efficiency of the sorting," says Chris
Mountain, managing director of Mid UK Recycling. "It
is easier for our workers to sort the waste, and it’s a
great benefit being able to move the sorted waste in
bulk once a day rather than every few minutes."
News Release
|
 |
|
SKIPS NOW IN STAINLESS STEEL
We have introduced a new range of self-tipping
stainless steel skips — ideal for collecting general
waste at food processing plants.
We are now supplying the building and recycling
industries and also the food processing sector.
"We are receiving orders for stainless steel and
galvanised construction from food processors and
we feel that there is potential for us to develop our
range further to provide for their very specific
needs" says Edward Tong.
The skips fit most forklifts and have the benefit of
entry points on three sides, making them easy to
manoeuvre in awkward areas. A single lever
action discharges the load and returns to position
automatically.
News Release
|
 |
|
NEW GRADERS IMPROVE HANDLING AND REDUCE DOWNTIME
A new generation of precision made 'Easy-Grade' screen sizers, designed to improve crop handling while reducing downtime, has recently been introduced.
News Release
|
 |
|
VEGETABLE PACKERS 'GOING STAINLESS'
Stainless steel is catching on fast among packers
of fresh produce, according to Tong Engineering,
one of the leading manufacturers of vegetable
handling machinery.
The Lincolnshire-based company has seen
orders for stainless steel equipment increase
significantly and currently account for 50 per cent
of production, reflecting the increasing importance
attached to hygiene in the food industry.
News Release
|
 |
|
NEW CHALLENGE IN SORTING RECYCLED DOMESTIC WASTE
Tong Peal Engineering is helping Mid UK Recycling in
sorting glass from compostible waste collected in the
‘third bin’ by an increasing number of local authorities.
The Lincolnshire firm, which processes domestic
waste from a number of authorities, has installed a
new line at its Caythorpe plant, near Grantham,
to handle up to 25 tonnes/hour, separating compostible
kitchen and garden waste from items of glass.
The refuse is tipped into a giant ten-tonne hopper and
then passes through a specially designed ‘teaser’ unit
which spreads and levels it on a conveyor belt,
making it easier for workers to sort the two different
types of waste. The kitchen and garden waste is
pulverised and made into compost.
News Release
|
|
|
SAFETY FIRST WITH NEW BIG BAG JET-FILL
New safety features are built into the latest big bag
filler — the Jet-Fill — from Tong Engineering,
making it also easier for the operator to use.
Introducing a ‘down’ position for the filling mechanism
enables the operator to fit empty bags at an
easy-to-reach height, instead of having to use a
step to fit the bag on to the hook.
Then on pressing the start button the bag top rises to
the filling position, with the bag platform also rising.
The delivery conveyor then feeds the crop into the
bag with the minimum of drop. As the bag fills, a
sensor on the conveyor automatically lowers the bag
platform.
News Release
|
 |
|
HI-TECH ADVANCES IN POTATO SORTING
Two new advances by leading produce handling
specialists Maf Roda — precision weight grading and th
long-awaited camera quality sorting — are being brough
to the UK vegetable packing industry by Tong Peal
Engineering.
The new Oneway Weight Grader incorporates the latest
computer technology, a major factor in the continued
success of Maf Roda, allowing tubers to be weighed to
within three grams and making available as many weight
bands as required.
News Release
|
|
|
