Farmers across the country speak with great enthusiasm of Irrigation Unlimited’s products, service and expertise, which helps the farmer derive every drop of value from water. Allan Retief, a farmer from the Rustenburg area is one of those delighted farmers. Allan has been farming full-time in the Magaliesberg Mountains since 1996 on the farm Olifantspoort, which has been a family farm since 1884.
“Over the years we have experimented with a variety of crops, from tobacco, maize, wheat, sunflower, but for the past thirty to forty years we have totally transitioned to a Bonsmara cattle farm – both stud (Alpier Bonsmara’s) and commercial. We mainly irrigate our fields to serve as a source of feed for the cattle,” says Allan.
Irrigation Unlimited’s Ocmis irrigators give farmers all the benefits of the year’s technological development in water-powered irrigation from Italy, with systems tailored to South African conditions.
Some of the advantages of the Ocmis irrigators are that they can be easily moved to a new area on the farm and is versatile in their application to irrigate different fields.
Allan Retief, a farmer from Olifantpoort near Rustenburg, is very pleased with his Ocmis self-propelled irrigator.
After Allan saw the versatile Ocmis irrigator from his neighbour, he immediately decided that it was the answer to his irrigation needs.
He contacted Tobie van den Heever of Irrigation Unlimited, who led him in the right direction.
Allan speaks highly of the value the Ocmis irrigator has added to his farm:
“In 2012 I acquired my 75R1/1 Ocmis irrigator second-hand. It was as good as new, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. The R1/1 model’s pipe is 75 mm thick and 220 meters long.
“The reason I decided on this irrigator was because there is no electricity near my fields. One of the big challenges here with us is also theft, which made me decide on the Ocmis self-propelled irrigator instead of a pivot. I don’t have a lot of staff on the farm either. One man and a tractor are enough to make the Ocmis stand at any coupling point on the farm and make it work,” says Allan.
“My irrigator doesn’t work with any electricity at all, just with the mountain water’s gravity pressure. The pressure of the water is 14 bar, which is more than enough for the Ocmis and for my irrigation needs. The water drives the machine. The Ocmis range of machines requires approximately 5 to 5.5 bar inlet pressure to irrigate efficiently.
The irrigator uses the water flow to drive the gearbox and pulls in the cannon sprayer connected to the large pipe over the land.
“I irrigate at night, so the evaporation is less,” says Allan.
The 75R1/1 Ocmis self-propelled irrigator on Allan Retief’s farm. It works like this: You make your Ocmis stand next to the field and drag the pipe to which the spray cart is attached to the opposite side of the field. When you open the water supply, the water streams through the pipe to the cannon sprayer to irrigate the field, and at the same time drives the large pulley through a gearbox to roll up the pipe and slowly pull in the spray cart. This way, the irrigator, irrigates a broad and long piece of field. There are several Ocmis models available.
The speed of the irrigator can be adjusted: fast, medium, and slow. “I irrigate on the slowest adjustment, and that’s more than enough. If I had more volume, I could have put up a bigger machine to spray further, but at this stage, the slow speed is more than enough to keep my alfalfa lush green for the cattle.
“From time-to-time maintenance has to be done on the irrigator, but it takes little time and effort. As long as you grease the gears regularly and do the normal maintenance, the irrigator works without problems,” Allan declares.
For Tobie and the after-sales service team of Irrigation Unlimited’s expertise and service, Allan has only praise: “When I have a problem with the irrigator, I contact Tobie and he is ready to assist me and solve the problems in a timely manner, even during weekends he assists telephonically where possible.
“I would recommend the Ocmis irrigator to any farmer. I am very happy with the machine, and I am very impressed with the support I receive from the Irrigation Unlimited team.”
The farmer is the most important element in the agricultural industry and therefore his interests should always come first, believes the people from Irrigation Unlimited. Contact them today to purchase your Ocmis irrigator. Your crops will thank you.
For more information on the Ocmis irrigators contact Tobie van den Heever on 082-658-6054 or 012-736-2121, or send an email to tobie@iunlimited.co.za, or visit www.iunlimited.co.za.
[…] He decided that the system is ideal for his operation because it does not require electricity. Instead, it uses water pressure and a gear system to draw the water gun across the field. The unit can also be moved to separate sections of a property. His unit has been serving him faithfully for more than a decade. […]