Profile: Hustler Equipment

Hawke’s Bay-based farming equipment manufacturer Hustler Equipment specialises in livestock feeding gear

The company celebrated its 60th anniversary last year and continues to grow and innovate.

Last April, Hustler announced the acquisition of the production facilities of McLaren Stainless with the objective of “overcoming some of the current supply chain challenges in the industry and doubling its New Zealand production capacity to keep up with the global demand for Hustler’s innovation,” said Brent Currie, CEO of Hustler Equipment.

This major step comes off the back of the opening earlier in the year of an office and assembly plant in the UK, designated for building products specifically designed to meet the needs of European farmers. The new facilities are the home of the brand-new Hurricane LX104 bale feeder and bedder for round and square bales, more suited for indoor livestock farming situations.

But the climax of the year is the largest product launch in the brand’s history with the release of nine pieces of versatile and innovative loader and tractor attachments – silage grabs, bucket grabs, manure scrapers, bale cutters, shear grabs, auger buckets, chain harrows, and more, which join the Softhands® bale handlers that secured Hustler’s reputation for durability, ingenuity, and ease of use around the world.

Hustler also launched the new product line with a giant hungry hippos-style game, Hungry Hungry Hustler. In the online broadcast launch, four Hustler players competed against one another, each equipped with a different loader attachment, including the BaleSlice bale cutter, ScoopMax bucket grab, GrabMax silage grab, and ShearPlus shear grab. Although not all of these accessories are yet available in New Zealand, they are definitely a sign of Hustler’s commitment to adapting its product range to satisfy farmers’ needs.

“Farmers’ needs for feeding and handling are becoming more and more diverse, and each of these pieces of equipment can help to satisfy those growing needs,” explains Brent. “We always base our work on satisfying a customer need or eliminating a customer problem. Because if we’re not solving a problem, if we’re just innovating for the sake of innovation, we’re not really adding much value.”

It’s this same mindset that prompted Hustler to introduce the mounted Unrolla LX104 bale unroller recently. This new unroller is available in the domestic market and sees the previous models’ key features retained and refined in a new compact version, that Hustler says has been created to be stronger, more efficient, and easier to maintain. Since it’s more compact, this new model is much easier to use in barns or with smaller tractors.

However, the Unrolla LX104 is not the first product refresh to be launched by Hustler this year. Farm Trader’s recent Tip Trailer feature included an article dedicated to the brand-new Hustler LoadMax range. “Hustler’s LoadMax tip trailer range has been completely redesigned from the original Robertson Manufacturing’s design – a company Hustler acquired in 2016. The year-long process started from a clean sheet, adding farmers’ and dealers’ feedback to develop a new design with several unique features never before seen in the category. The result is a more versatile, safer, and incredibly tough tip trailer,” says Nev Ward, Hustler senior designer. Hustler’s LoadMax tip trailer range is now available in eight-tonne, 10-tonne, and 12-tonne models.

Some recent videos on Hustler’s social media channels also tease the release of an extra-large, tridem-axle version of the EzFeed silage wagon. Although no specific date nor further details have yet been announced, there is no doubt that they’ll share more about the imminent release shortly. But in the meantime, all these Hungry Hungry Hustler projects will be at New Zealand Agricultural Fieldays^® on Hustler’s site G74 in November this year.

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