Retrodrums for MacDon, John Deere, Honeybee, Midwest and CNH fronts.
Turbodrum parts.
Phone orders and enquiries: Call Phillbourne on (08) 90412066
Introducing the Retrodrum earlier known as Turbodrum
This is what real farmers are telling us about our very first, 2016 Retrodrums!
- “Shes loving the big canola. Not even a stutter at the feeder”
- “Pretty exciting how much it is pumping through. Like it should be from the start. Massive stuff”
- “Actually driving machine to engine capacity now for first time in canola”
- “In heavy barley it just loads the header up good, no fluffing and no noise”
- “All good, works like a dream, cheers!”
- “Before we were driving on the edge of the seat with the feeder slip clutch constantly going off in big lupins. We’re actually loading the engine up now, and the slip clutch hasn’t gone off once!”
- “Our retrodrum was matching our Vario tin front in canola at 11 clicks on wheeltracks. With the retrodrum fitted, I honestly think our drapers are just a better all round front”
- “In she went and away it went. Awesome so far. In some 7 ft canola, smashing it in!”
Retrodrum is a complete plugout-plugin replacement feed spiral to suit Macdon D60 and D65 header fronts. If you are reading this then you already know the frustration of slow harvest speeds in bulky crops like canola, and even worse, the blockages and breakdowns caused by the standard feed drum in these fronts.
Retrodrum is an instant fix to these problems, allowing you to go faster and get the crop off quicker.
Retrodrum is a heavy duty feed drum, and comes complete with all internal components fully welded and assembled. Fitting the Retrodrum is quicker than fixing your original one, and comes at a fraction of the price. Don’t wait until yours is broken to fix the problem once and for all.
Why do I need a Retrodrum?
Every day lost at harvest is up to 1% loss in value. (SEPWA, 2007). Even one day lost with breakdowns or bad feeding in a 5000t program equals 25t of lost yield. That’s more than the cost of a Retrodrum.
Like so many farmers, we love a lot of things about Macdon fronts, but there is a lot “not to love” about this particular component. So much so that a lot of people are trading out of what is otherwise a pretty good front. Common issues caused by the original feed drum include:
- Blocking and jamming in canola, pulse and heavy cereal crops.
- Restricting harvest speeds to less than half header capacity in canola.
- Crank shaft bending, resulting in fingers going inside the drum then pounding it from the inside.
- Having to remove the whole drum and crankshaft just to replace retractable finger supports.
- Internal reverse clutch: where do we start? Jamming in reverse position, falling apart, very expensive and time consuming to repair, causing fires if not installed correctly.
- Cracking end plates and bending stub shafts from lump feeding and regular reversing.
- Wearing out the adaptor slip clutch from constant blockages.
- Incredibly expensive to repair or replace, not to mention lost valuable harvest time.
The Retrodrum by Phillbourne Manufacturing, built in Merredin Western Australia. The first Turbodrums rolled onto farms in late 2016, and new Retrodrums are now available on a first in-first served basis.
How does the Retrodrum work?
There is no one feature of Retrodrum that makes it work so well. The huge capacity and reliability farmers are getting out of the Retrodrum is a combination of a lot of hard learned farmer experiences!
A much more aggressive pattern. It literally grabs crop and pulls it through in a constant and steady flow
A smaller barrell with taller flighting creates a huge gap for pulling through bulky crops.
Less flighting and more fingers, so now you can use the full width of your machine.
Retrodrum’s unique paddle flights prevent repeating issues by eliminating the usual “dead zone” under the drum.
Large diameter, fully welded crankshaft.
Infinitely adjustable finger timing, to suit any conditions.
Eliminates the problematic and unnecessary reverse clutch.
Field-fit clamp-on retractable finger holders
Easy installation with clear instructions provided
Extends the life of the rest of your expensive machine by reducing shock loading and plugging.
Last year was a challenging one for Phillbourne Merredin (WA).
Demand for Retrodrums carried the business from 11 sales in its first year in 2016, to nearly 400 sales in 2017.
Over the past 12 months the business has also developed a Retrodrum for JD Models, Honeybee, Midwest, CNH, as well as the older Macdon models such as the 2052.
All models have been generally successful with a few small hiccups that can be expected with ongoing development work.
The good news is that several dealers around Australia are only offering new fronts with the Phillbourne-made drums from now on.
If you are thinking of purchasing one, don’t wait until the last minute to order a Retrodrum for the upcoming harvests. Place an order early!
Phone orders and enquiries: Call Phillbourne on (08) 9041 2066.