When Padman stopped

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By Dwain Duxson - An Ag Enthusiast

When Padman stopped - Read the interesting reply below I got a day or two ago about the Padman Stops company. Read it first for context.

The Padman Stops have been what the Irrigator below described as the White Knight for Irrigation in this country. They have developed and evolved something that makes Irrigation much more efficient and less time-consuming for the people involved.

What looks like has happened here is that Padman Stops has segmented the market and decided that that's the part of the market they want to focus on. Nothing wrong with that. But in the meantime, they have a bevy of customers who are using their older products that still want to be serviced and to be able to purchase more of the older type relocatable timers. But it looks like the company only wants to service the customers with the new fully automated internet reliant models, which has angered this Irrigator and others too.

They have opted to digitise their system and make money from selling products but also a subscription for the use of the software costing around $600 per unit (bay outlet) annually (John Deere and others are heading this way, too). Maybe a different Farmer would see the direction they are heading more favourably than the Farmer below. However, if they have reached a point where they are not answering emails, then that's a problem. Are they the White Knight still? You be the judge of that.

PS - I invite Padman Stops the right to reply.

PPS - They have a ripper video on their website of how it all works (looks like the new system). Great marketing. Reply to dwaind@farmtender.com.au

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Hi Dwain, In response to asking more of those that service us in Ag, one area that I would like to alert you to is what has happened with Padman Stops. This company was the white knight to us Irrigators many decades ago with the design of their bay outlet coupled with the slide in version into the traditional concrete bay outlet, accompanied by a timer.

This allowed us to irrigate much more effectively and get uninterrupted sleep through the night.

Padman then developed a good outlet, so they didn’t need to have the slide-in version and improved the timers no end. These timers being able to move from one bay outlet to another.

Of late they have absolutely DUMPED the broad acre Farmer in not making the timers anymore and not adequately servicing the timers that are in the system.

Instead, replacing the option to going fully integrated via the internet with an excessively expensive automated system that us broad acre Irrigators cannot justify the capital involved, yet alone the absolutely huge ongoing annual service fees.

It is all good for the well-to-do Dairy Farmers who have permanent pasture or consistently summer crops and Irrigate in the same location right through the Irrigation system every year. Us broad acre irrigators vary our locations of Irrigating and do so only seasonally.

I believe Padman has canned the transferable timer to force Irrigators to use their automated system. Time for somebody to step up and make a replica. On top of that bitch, I have outlets they made about 40 years ago that are still fine, yet also have outlets less than 10 years old that are suffering from concrete cancer. I have contacted them about it with no response. So much for our white knight. Reply to dwaind@farmtender.com.au

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