Overcoming Seasonal Challenges in Farm Weighing

Whether it’s hot, dry, rainy, humid or dusty outside, farm work doesn’t stop! That’s why it’s so important to learn how to maintain your weighing scale as the weather shifts. This blog will go into what you should be aware of when it comes to seasonal weighing, and which features make everything easier.

Why Accurate Weighing Matters on South African Farms

There’s a lot of weighing to do on a farm. Whether you’re weighing;

• the right amount of feed for livestock
• livestock to check their health and growth patterns
• harvested produce or meat to calculate price by weight
• fertiliser or seeds for proper distribution

or anything else around the farm, you’ll need to account for seasonal challenges to help extend your scale’s lifespan and maintain accurate results.

Summer Challenges

As the heat ramps up, always keep in mind these helpful tips to keep your scale working at its best.

Extreme Heat

Because scales are typically constructed from plastic and metals, extreme heat can impact how they operate as the components expand. This can make them less accurate, especially over time. Most Adam scales operate at their best when they’re used within their specified operating temperature range, which could be expressed in your scale’s manual. Keep the scale away from direct sunlight, ideally in a shady, well-ventilated area.

Dust and Dry Conditions

Dry conditions sound ideal, but if you’re in an area with a humidity level below 40%, such as the Northern Cape, you’re at higher risk of generating static electricity when weighing. Your scale will have a harder time stabilising, with the results drifting or jumping with seemingly no explanation.

While you can’t control how dry or humid it is outside, you can take preventative measures against static. This includes grounding the scale and taking care to reduce friction between the scale and the items you’re weighing, placing and picking them up as directly as possible, limiting drag.

Dust is an ever-prevalent nuisance in the summer. As the wind blows dust around, it may start to build up on or even under your weighing scale. Check your scale for debris frequently, as if dust builds up between components it can prevent them from making proper contact affecting your results.

Increased Workloads

Adam scales for agriculture are built to be durable to weather any workload – but there are a few tactics you could take to improve the longevity of your scale. The first is to avoid dropping items on the pan forcefully, which is called shock loading. Shock loading puts strain on the load cells and may warp them over time. To help load heavy items slowly, we offer Adam’s PTM platform scales, which come with ramps for use with hand trucks.

With an increased workload, ensure you’re always keeping in mind your scale’s capacity. It can be easy to accidentally overload your scale when you’re rushing around, but overloading and leaving heavy items on the scale long term can wear down the scale.

Rainy Season Challenges

In many farming regions, with cooler weather comes with rain, which leads to other challenges!

Wet Conditions & Mud

If you know you’re going to need to use your farm scale in wet and rainy conditions, you may want to consider investing in a scale with an IP rating. Scales like Adam’s Gladiator or Aqua ABW-S series that have IP68 ratings are fully protected against dust and water ingress, making them perfect for the outdoors when there’s a risk of rain.

Washdown scales with an IP rating are also ideal because you can rinse them off without risk should they get covered in mud or debris.

Corrosion Risks

Without taking proper care of your scale in the rainy season, you could start seeing signs of rust or corrosion. Scales made of corrosion-resistant materials like ABS plastic and stainless steel are less at risk. However, mild steel, while strong, can begin to rust over time if kept in wet conditions. If your scale is constructed from mild steel, keep it in a covered area outdoors so it doesn’t get wet, and keep a towel nearby to dry the pan when something wet is weighed.

Power Concerns

Farms don’t always have reliable electricity everywhere you need to be. If you’re harvesting in a field, chances are you’re not near an electrical outlet for hours at time. This doesn’t mean that weighing needs to pause! Many Adam scales offer rechargeable batteries, so you’re not tied down. That way, you can save yourself some time and weigh while you work, not after.

Top 3 Adam Scales for Farms

Here are our top 3 recommendations for farm scales.

PT Platform Scales

Capacities: 1000kg – 3000kg

Readabilities: 200g – 500g

Our largest and most heavy-duty option, Adam’s PT Platform Scales are designed for weighing pallets, crates, large items, containers and animals. The PT is designed and manufactured from thick 8mm channel tube and has full welded joins. Choose between the GK-S, GK-Plus and approved GK-M indicators for a personalised experience.

Gladiator

Capacities: 8kg – 300kg

Readabilities: 0.2g – 10g

Gladiator waterproof scales are perfect for both dry and rainy seasons. Whether it’s covered in dust or mud, you can hose it off and keep weighing. Gladiator’s large display changes colors for above, below and within checkweighing limits. Available in four different platform sizes, you can choose the best fit for your farm.

Core Portable Compact Balances

Capacities: 200g – 5kg

Readabilities: 0.01g – 1g

The Core Portable Compact Balances may not seem tough, but they feature Adam’s patented ShockProtect technology. This makes the Core more durable against overloads and shock loads, including being dropped or even kicked! The Core is also easily portable with its small size and rechargeable batteries. Take it with you wherever you need, it’s ideal for weighing seeds, feed additives and other small weighing tasks around the farm.

Have questions or need help choosing the best farm scale for your environment? Our team can help. Contact Scaletec now!