Martin Lishman Launches New Green Crop Storage System

Martin Lishman announce the introduction of a new range of high output Pile-Dry Fans, a high strength addition with increased airflow to their Pile-Dry Pedestal range and further advances in their Barn Owl Wireless automatic fan control system. After more than 40 years as pioneers and experts in grain storage technology, Martin Lishman has taken another important step forward in supporting crop storage customers in their fight to achieve energy cost savings while still preserving grain quality, and significantly expanded the options for customers with fast-changing demands.

New ‘Green’ range of crop ventilation fans
The new Martin Lishman ‘green’ range of high performance crop ventilation fans is equipped with the latest energy efficient IE3 motors and improvements in design which have increased air output performance to maximise the energy used. By supplying the highest airflows at the highest pressures available in the market, these changes will ensure that target temperatures are reached more quickly when conditions are suitable for cooling, and help to reduce energy costs.

“Faster cooling at less energy cost is the key to success,” says Managing Director Dr Gavin Lishman, “but our climate no longer provides a steady supply of cold air when needed. That is why we have looked again at our systems and made improvements to help maintain premium quality.”

The new ‘green’ Pile-Dry Fans are manufactured with hard-wearing powder-coated aluminium bodies and, in a bid to help users prolong their life, they feature an easy-access maintenance system. They are suited to all types of Pile-Dry and FloorVent Pedestal and Trouble-Dry hot spot spears used in grain, rape and most other stored crops. The range extends from 130W to 2.2kW in both single and three phase versions.

New heavy-duty Pile-Dry Pedestal
Recent trends in crop storage, with faster filling systems and some stores reaching 15 metres deep, are setting store managers some interesting challenges as they try to make existing ventilation systems meet their changing needs. Martin Lishman’s response is to introduce the new P4 Pile-Dry Pedestal. Aimed at grain stored deeper than 7 metres, where fast overhead filling can cause grain to exert considerable force, the P4 is built 50% stronger to withstand this pressure and with an airflow increased by more than 30% to cope with much deeper grain and to match the increased capabilities of the new ‘green’ F3 Pile-Dry Fan.

“After more than 40 years,” says Gavin Lishman, “the successful P2 and P3 Pile-Dry Pedestals, together with the under-floor P3 FloorVent Pedestal, will continue to meet the needs of most crop storage customers. The P4 adds an extra dimension to our range and proves that we can still respond to customer needs and live up to our company moto by meeting change with innovation!”

“We are proud of the reliability and quality of our storage systems, but we want customers to know they are buying the best. That is why our name is embossed into the fan bodies and inscribed into components of our Pile-Dry and FloorVent Pedestals.”

Leading energy efficient crop control systems
Well-designed storage systems ensure the most energy-efficient airflow passes through the crop, but good ventilation systems don’t just start and end there – controlling airflow, reducing temperature quickly and maintaining crop quality, while also reducing the cost of energy used, are all factors that have driven Martin Lishman product development.

The company’s increasingly popular internet-based Barn Owl Wireless crop temperature monitoring and automatic fan control system has shown the potential for fast cooling in cold weather, even in a warm Autumn. One user who installed the Pile-Dry system with Barn Owl Wireless cooled his grain to below 10°C in September with only 3 nights of cold weather. Any type of fan can be controlled and in appropriate conditions the system can also be used to dry grain – yet another cost-saving feature. As evidence of its versatility, storage customers have used Martin Lishman equipment with grain from 2m to more than 12 meters deep and in stores from 1000 to more than 70,000 tons capacity.

Says Barn Owl Wireless specialist and Martin Lishman Sales Director Ian Clayton-Bailey, “Martin Lishman’s ethos of continual development makes without question our complete range of automatic fan controllers the leaders in the market, taking innovation and efficiency to a new level. This is an exciting area for the company and a lot of development is ongoing to ensure that our customers keep achieving storage targets quickly whilst using the least amount of energy possible.”