MECHANICAL TRIMMERS

Press, Volume CVIII, Issue 31782, 12 September 1968, Page 26

MECHANICAL TRIMMERS

Use Welcomed

By Union The use of mechanical wheat trimmers at Lyttelton was the first practical attempt there to eliminate a particularly hazardous, ardous, and obnoxious part of the loading of bulk wheat, the secretary of the Lyttelton Waterside Workers’ Union (Mr M. J. Hollander) said yesterday. The bulk-wheat trimmers, imported from Australia by the Union Steam Ship Company, were used for the first time on the largest bulk-wheat ship on the New Zealand run, the Kaimai, on Tuesday afternoon.

“If the capacity of the trimmer could in some way be increased to cope with the flow of wheat from the wheat silo at Lyttelton, I think that it might well be responsible for eliminating some of the unsavoury conditions watersiders encounter in wheat loading," Mr Hollander said. Overheating caused a temporary break-down in the two trimmers when they were used for the first time, but this was put down to “teething troubles.”

“In the initial stages they seem to be handling the position quite well,” Mr Hollander said.