Pioneering the drive for efficiency at harvest with a winning design

A trip of more than 1200km with the world’s widest draper front to the Henty Machinery Field Days paid off handsomely for Dalby business Midwest Fabrication, winning the highly commended in the Machine of the Year Award.

Midwest Fabrication sales and business development manager Michael Knight conceded the long trip was a challenge, particularly in tight streets of the town of Parkes.

“But we are well set up to do and have been moving these draper fronts for many years – Midwest Fabrication has been going for 27 years and is renowned for making the biggest fronts in Australia,” Mr Knight said.

The company manufactured the first 12.1m draper front and went on to pioneer the world’s first 18.3m front, still the only Australian made front. 

The Midwest Legacy features the largest diameter six bar pickup reel available on the market today giving greater crop reach and 20 to 44 per cent more finger tines. 

“We have a full-time engineer on staff and his job is to design the next series of header fronts as they become larger and with more capacity,” Mr Knight said.

“We must ensure our header fronts will physically talk to the header, and it recognises the width and length of the front, then talk to the reel, actuators, and sensors. 

“This header front is designed for a John Deere header which has 50 sensors and actuators. Our header front has zero electronics other than the lights. 

“Our fronts are for people wanting solid, simplistic technology which can be fixed in the farm workshop.”

Midwest Fabrication are regular exhibitors at Henty and are pushing into the southern NSW and Victorian markets.

“I see Henty as an opportunity to talk to our customers past and new - they can look at a front, talk to our service manager and myself about costs and parts,” Mr Knight said.

“We soft launched the Legacy last year and then officially launched in November putting it through the summer crop harvest in the north. 

“The Legacy was used to harvest about 2630ha of wheat at Barmedman on a John Deere X9 and the farmer was pleased with the number of hectares he could get through in a day.”

Mr Knight said growers were continually pushing for greater efficiency and were now inquiring about 20 and 24m draper fronts.

“We are almost at the limit now with the materials we are using. We are not saying it won’t happen but there are a few hurdles to jump including transport and strength.”

Mr Knight said the Highly Commended award at Henty was great recognition for the dedication of the owners and staff at Midwest.

“It has been 26 years since the first front rolled out and the business hasn’t faltered during drought, fire, flood, and covid. We are appreciative of the HMFD committee and judging panel for their recognition; making a large front look this sleek and impressive is no small feat.

“We have clients coming to Henty from western NSW and Swan Hill to have a look at the front so the effort to get the platform here was worth it. 

“We have created enough interest from people to get close to selling some off the site and we are now in a position where we can send them out in 10 days.”

Mr Knight highlighted Midwest’s success across Australia and mentioned the company may explore further export opportunities in Canada and the northern plains of the USA with their 12.1 to 18.3m fronts. 

This award highlights Midwest Fabrication’s remarkable contributions to Australia’s agricultural industry and underscores their ongoing commitment to innovation, quality and excellence in manufacturing.