VIDEO: Patz mixers blazing the trail in Oz

Born out of a family operation in a small town called Pound in Wisconsin, USA, Patz is a highly reputable ag-brand that's synonymous with quality feed mixers and livestock feeding equipment in the United States.

In Australia, the brand is distributed by Dalby (QLD)-based DOM Distributions and is building a solid reputation among farmers in Australia.

At the recent FarmFest field days in Toowoomba (QLD), the company had on display a range of Patz mixers, including the new 6-tonne Patz 510 from the 1800N series.

"This is our new 'containerised' mixer, which we can fit straight into a container," says Patz Australia product manager, Jim Ryan.

"You simply roll it in and out of the container, and that cuts a lot of our cost down and we can forward that on to our feedlot farmers."

According to Ryan, Patz sets itself apart from the others with its mixing technology and higher baffles.

"A lot of our competitor's baffles are lower so it takes a lot longer to mix. We're very fast mixing, so that's pretty much our claim to fame, we got good baffles," Ryan says.

While the machines are made overseas, DOM Distribution works closely with Patz to customise the mixers for the local market, which includes installing lower screws and locally manufactured elevator feeders.

"We prefer to use the lower screws here in Australia than the higher screws in America.  There they use 44-inch screws, here we use 34-inch ones.

"We just find that we fit more in them and they mix faster that way. That's been a real big ticket item for us and we've even proved it with Patz in Wisconsin. They didn’t believe it then, and they've actually got on board with us now and enjoying the smaller screws."

Customers can opt to install customised elevator feeders on either or both sides of the mixers, to feed into low line bunks or higher paddock feeders.

"We can fit two doors each side with this mixer which gives us the opportunity to fit our 3m high paddock elevator and 36-inch bunk elevator on the other side," Ryan says.

"We get all that designed here in Australia by a local supplier and that puts us a little bit above the rest to help out."

The Patz 510 mixer is designed to run at PTO speeds of 540 or 1000rpm. Heavy duty steel floors and overlapping wall seams ensure longevity and rigidity of the machine.

It has a standard capacity of 15 cubic metres, but rubber extensions can be added to increase the capacity to a maximum of 17.5 cubic metres.

Pricing for the Patz mixer range starts from $A55,000 for the smallest model in the range, the 3-tonne Patz 350. A Patz 510 with no options added carries a price tag of $95,000.

The largest mixer in the range, the triple-screw 3600 has just touched down in Australia. It features a mixing capacity of 44.7 cubic metres and is designed to handle a wide variety of total mixed ration (TMR) ingredients.

The 3600 features six super single truck tyres and self-steering axles that improve turning radius as well as minimise tyre wear, stresses on axles, hubs, spindles and suspension.

"It'll pretty much be the biggest mixer sold in Australia," Ryan claims.

"That's for a big feedlot operation that feeds up to 50,000 or 100,000 heads, and will be taking out about three feed mixers those operations might have now.

"You add that up over time, plus labour and cost, the mixer becomes very cheap over a 12 month period."

Pricing for the Patz 3600 Series II Triple Screw vertical mixer starts from $280,000 for a standard model.