Top Tailer – Proven Preparation for High-Quality Produce
RPS-Machinery are proud to represent the Nicolson top tailer Built by Nicholson Machinery, it is used worldwide by packers who need to maintain consistently high presentation and quality standards, ensuring produce meets customer and market preferences.
Designed for demanding packhouse environments, many operators run these machines for up to 12 months of the year. The robust build quality reflects this requirement for continuous operation with minimal maintenance, delivering long-term reliability and dependable performance.
The Top Tailer is a highly versatile machine, featuring variable speeds and adjustable pitch, allowing it to be set accurately to suit different crops, conditions, and output requirements. It is capable of handling main crop onions, short-day fresh onions, beetroot, and selected varieties of garlic, making it a flexible solution for mixed produce operations.
A range of working widths is available, offering outputs from 2 to 30 tonnes per hour, depending on crop type and quality. This allows packers to select the most suitable configuration for their throughput needs while maintaining consistent trimming quality.
All machines are supplied complete with an in-feed conveyor, ensuring correct product presentation into the Top Tailer. This is critical for achieving uniform trimming results and protecting product quality throughout the process.
Field Onion Topping
For most growers, storing and drying too much top means underutilised storage space and the potential for increased fungal and parasitic infection. Nicholson Toppers help overcome these problems by accurately topping to the highest standard.
Unlike many toppers that cut and discharge tops to the side — where material can circulate within the hood and cause mulching — the Nicholson Machinery Field Topper is designed to deliver a cleaner cut and improved crop presentation. Conventional designs can lead to staining, particularly in green crops, as tops are repeatedly recirculated before discharge. The Nicholson Field Topper overcomes this with a unique plenum chamber design, allowing the blades to throw the tops clear immediately after cutting, leaving a cleaner crop ready for harvest.
Accurate depth control is critical for consistent topping performance. The Nicholson Field Topper uses ground sensors linked to a PLC control system, enabling precise and repeatable depth settings. This allows operators to maintain cutting accuracy typically within ±8 mm, even across varying field conditions.
Built for demanding field operation, heavy-duty drive systems are used throughout the machine. High-tensile steel blades rotate at high speed to ensure effective cutting while maintaining operator and machine safety. The drive system is fitted with overrun and slip clutches, providing protection against shock loads and reducing wear on key components, contributing to long-term reliability and reduced maintenance.
Nicholson Machinery Windrowers are designed to lift onions cleanly, remove soil from the roots, and gently place the crop back onto the ground in a uniform windrow.
This controlled handling enhances natural drying ahead of harvesting, helping to improve crop condition, reduce damage, and support consistent lifting and collection.
Nicholson manufactures a wide range of windrower models to suit local soil conditions, crop types, and required outputs, ensuring the correct machine can be specified for each application without compromising product care.
Available Configurations & Capacities
Row widths from 60 inch (1.5 m) to 88 inch (2.25 m)
Row configurations from single-row 60” machines up to three-row 88” machines
Discharge options including:
Single rows
Three rows into two
Three rows into one
Standard features include:
Adjustable discs and ploughs on both sides
Rotating bar for controlled soil movement
Depth Control & Agitation Options
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