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AMPC MLA
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VIP Shoulder Puller

Description
The VIP (Variable Independent Path) Shoulder Puller is a fully automated system that removes the pelt to the sheep/lambs waist.

Benefits
The benefits of the VIP Shoulder Puller include:

  • Improved occupational health and safety
  • Reduced labour costs
  • Increased pelt quality

Payback period for a typical two shift processor is expected to be under 2 years.

Availability
Both manual and fully automated VIP Shoulder Pullers are available now through Milmeq (formerly known as Realcold Milmech) and are widely used in New Zealand.

An automated version of this system that suits Australian conditions is currently under trial.

More Information
Pulling pelts is a strenuous job where plants may use 6-7 people per shift, despite the fact most of the operations use up to two different machines in the same plant to aid in the process (typically a conventional Shoulder Puller and a Final Puller).

Conventional mechanical shoulder pullers require at least one full time operator to load them, and the other alternative found in the Australian industry is the totally manual process where two strong operators pull from the flanks of the carcass, with very aggressive and injury prone movements.

Pelt removal is an active area of development for MLA, due to the labour demands of this operation. The first steps in that direction include new technologies currently underway like gas de-pelting, as well as complete new concepts that could originate from future collaboration between NZ and Australian organisations.

Another step of that vision to fully automate sheep pelt removal is the adaptation of current puller systems, which for several reasons have not been successfully implemented in Australia yet.

The Auto Load VIP Shoulder Puller from Millers Mechanical, a company from the RealCold group, falls in that category. This technology is successfully running in several plants in New Zealand, but only a manual version has so far been installed in Australia.

A project is underway to adapt the manual version currently working in a WA processor so that it can run in full automatic mode.

The biggest challenges this initiative will face, and the reason why the technology has not been successfully automated in Australia compared to NZ, are the different animal sizes, in particular when processing mutton, wool lengths and chain speeds.