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For those growers on the smaller side looking to make life a little easier, STILT.PRO recently introduced the GROUND GRINDER mini – a semi-automatic, bale breaker, soil mixer and flat/pot filler designed with the small grower and garden center in mind.
Load your DIY potting mix in the front through the integrated soil return grate and automatically return unused potting mix. This soil mixing machine will provide an effortless job and a clean workspace.
Change WHO can do the job of filling pots and flats. Normally, you would find the strongest person and let them suffer through breaking up and properly mixing the soil, and then scooping the material into containers. Not anymore, with the GROUND GRINDER mini, all that is needed is to load the bale, add ingredients and turn on the potting soil mixer.
Rick Player, Business Development Manager for STILT.PRO expects this machine to be a staple for small growers. Measuring at 36” wide, and a relatively shallow depth, it’s size allows it to be pushed up against a wall or corner of the greenhouse and work right where the work is. Saving even more space, the material is loaded through the return inlet of the hopper without requiring access two sides of the machine, further saving on floor space and versatility.
With a chain and mixer system, you can break up 3.8 cu ft compressed bales, add water, fertilizer, soil amendments and any other secret ingredients to your soil mix. There is additional cost savings by moving from the smaller loose fill bags up to the less expensive 3.8 cu ft compressed bales.
Even with its small size, it carries all these features at an inexpensive price, not much of a risk there.
Looking at standard potting machines, the space needed, manpower required, training, and the high price point; it is easy to see how this garden soil mixer machine could be right at home in your greenhouse. There are a lot of important jobs to do, this machine can save your back and free up your team to focus on growing those great plants.
For more information, or to get in touch with us, head over to our product page: Greenhouse Soil Mixer
If you are interested in a larger machine, or a comparison of equipment, check out the potting and tray filling comparison page: Potting Machine and Tray Filling Comparison
Here are some common batch mixer sizes and the number of common containers / pots / trays that they can fill each batch. Typical batch mixing time is 3 to 5 minutes to fully mix media.
| Mixer Volume (Cubic Feet) | 0.25 | 0.5 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| Container Type | Containers / Trays | Containers / Trays | Containers / Trays | Containers / Trays | Containers / Trays | Containers / Trays |
| T.O. Plastics PL-50 | 34 | 68 | 137 | 275 | 551 | 1102 |
| T.O. Plastics PL-72 | 64 | 129 | 259 | 518 | 1036 | 2073 |
| T.O. Plastics PL-128 | 59 | 119 | 238 | 476 | 952 | 1905 |
| T.O. Plastics LIN-32 | 31 | 62 | 125 | 251 | 503 | 1006 |
| Summit Plastic Company Round Janor Pots 3.5″ (9 cm H) | 530 | 1061 | 2123 | 4247 | 8494 | 16988 |
| Summit Plastic Company Round Janor Pots 6″ (15 cm T) | 154 | 308 | 616 | 1232 | 2465 | 4930 |
| Nursery Supply PF250 #1 | 80 | 160 | 320 | 641 | 1282 | 2564 |
| Nursery Supply PF400 True #1 | 50 | 100 | 201 | 403 | 807 | 1615 |
| Nursery Supply PF800 True #2 | 25 | 50 | 100 | 201 | 403 | 807 |
| Nursery Supply PF1200 True #3 | 16 | 33 | 67 | 134 | 269 | 538 |
| Nursery Supply C2000 #5 | 13 | 26 | 52 | 105 | 210 | 420 |
| Nursery Supply C2800 #7 | 8 | 16 | 33 | 66 | 132 | 265 |
*reference info taken from these manufacturers: http://www.nurserysupplies.com/ | https://www.toplastics.com/horticulture | http://www.summitplastic.com/
3 Year, Unlimited Hours Warranty – INCLUDED
Includes: Problem identification, remote trouble shooting of issue, support and instruction for proper repair, and providing replacement of failed parts.
Excludes – Misuse of equipment (including using non horticultural potting mixes with high sand and field soil content) or improper care, such as leaving fertilizer in machine for an extended period of time. Wear parts (chain, slats, wear plates or surfaces). External physical damage inflicted on the machine. Labor repair costs.
Yes, we keep inventory of most all parts. Most all of the components are either US Sourced or a common off the shelf component. We are having some supply chain issues on components, but we are working through the best way to manage that.
All of our machines are designed right here in the US. We design these machines to be easily repairable by an inexperienced worker. Should a problem arise, you won’t need to weld or fabricate a new part. The entire machine is bolted together and you can simply bolt in a replacement part.
We have heard that concern, I get it, you won’t be able to load a machine up and let a person pot plants for a day.
Some perspective – The rear load machine holds about 3/4 – 1 cubic yard which is up to about 200 gallons of material. That gives you about 15 minutes of runtime without stopping.
The reason for the smaller equipment size is to primarily keep the price and complexity down.
-Increase horsepower requirements which means increased power – now you have to have dedicated power for the machine.
-Increasing the hopper size also increases the physical size of the machine which increases the overall cost and reduces portability
You may have not made a purchase on a potting machine in the past because of the overall cost.
From time to time, we hear that our production rates appear slow. Look at it this way though. You have 5 or 10 workers running a high-speed line. SOMETHING GOES WRONG, you now have all these people standing around and/or you need to find a different job for them.
If you have a machine problem with a high-speed line you’re completely shut down. With a cell-based design, you have a small part of the potting operation down. Your efficiency is similar whether you have 1 or 4 people operating STILT.PRO machines.
Help shape our future and be the first to know about new products