Rademacher Dairy Relies On Kuhn Knight Spreaders For Over Two Decades
Rademacher Dairy, located in Sun Prairie, Wis., has been using a KUHN Knight ProTwin® Slinger® on their operation for over 20 years.
The farm today is operated by Alan and Fran Rademacher along with the help of their daughter, Heidi, and her husband, Stuart Meier.
The farm has slowly grown over time. Up until 2005 the family was operating out of a stanchion barn and milked about 120 cows. They then built a parlor in 2005 and by 2008, a freestall barn was put up and the family added another 30 cows.
Since then, the herd size and overall operation has continued to grow.
Today, the family is milking about 200 dairy cows in a double-12 parallel parlor and they’re housed in a 170-stall freestall barn. The farm is home to about 600 total head of cattle, including 100 head of beef cows. In addition, the family also grows about 900 acres of wheat, corn, soybeans, alfalfa and sorghum.
To handle the manure on the operation, they turn to a KUHN Knight SLC 141 ProTwin Slinger commercial manure spreader.
“We have had a Knight Slinger here on the farm for probably 20-plus years. We actually had the model before this one, the 8141, but upgraded this year."
The KUHN Knight SLC 141 is a newly redesigned model, so new in fact, that Meier and Rademacher had not seen the new design prior to purchasing the machine from Carl F. Statz and Sons Inc. in Waunakee, Wis.
“We have always liked the product and we had good faith that KUHN was going to continue to make a good product, so we agreed to buy one. We didn’t even know what the new model was going to look like or what was going to change."
The SLC 141 has a capacity of 4,100 gallons. The unique twin-auger design, continuously welded V-body tank, and steep, slanted sides allow the SLC to handle the widest variety of materials of any spreader on the market. This includes both wet and dry materials.
“This model is better than the previous model. They made some changes to some of the drive components and the chain cases and put everything in an oil bath, which is better."
By enclosing the system in an oil bath, higher reliability is achieved through constant lubrication of the chains, bearings and sprockets. The three drive shafts can be easily removed for equipment maintenance.
“The most improved feature of the new model is that there is no longer a chain and chain case in the rear, only a cover to protect the bearings. We also like the size and the way it handles the material."
Consistency is important for a manure spreader and KUHN accomplishes this with the twin-auger design, where one auger moves material rearward and the other moves material forward. This design works to eliminate material bridging that occurs with other v-body spreaders and provides a continuous supply of material to the wide, 18-hammer discharge.
Along with the consistent material flow, the discharge on the SLC is fully adjustable, which helps maintain an even, consistent spread pattern and extend the life of the hammers.
The hammers themselves have also been redesigned to achieve longer life with less wear.
“The SLC 141 is reliable and it is a time-proven design."
In addition to the SLC 141, Rademacher Dairy also uses a KUHN Knight VSL 150 single-auger mixer.
“We have a vertical mixer that is built the same as the Slinger. It is very reliable, very well built and it is cost effective. We have had that system for four years and have had absolutely no trouble with it at all."
The KUHN Knight brand is something Rademacher Dairy relies on and looks to continue purchasing in the future.
“I would say the biggest and best thing about KUHN is that their products are always high quality. They tend not to produce a piece of equipment that is not worthy of their name.