46 | Cen Eng Ltd T T Aimee Wilson Innovative designs for industries Central Engineering is based in the small rural town of Omakau, — employing a growing team of 14 and recently doubling the size of its enclosed workshop space to 500sqm. “We’re all about keeping farming moving forward, and we’re really proud to be part of this project.” ENGINEERING A Central Otago engineering company is fast gaining a reputation for its innovative design and manufacture solutions across the agricultural, electrical and mining sectors. Central Engineering is based in the small rural town of Omakau, but there is nothing limited about its scope of work — employing a growing team of 14 and recently doubling the size of its enclosed workshop space to 500sqm. Husband and wife mechanical engineer team Steve and Kim Hore started out in Becks contracting to the Macraes gold mine near Palmerston back in 2009 and then expanded their business into manufacturing by purchasing the Omakau workshop several years later. “We had the design and draughting covered, and manufacture as well,” Kim said. When New Zealand transport leaders HW Richardson recently set up the country’s first hydrogen production and dual-refuelling station near Bluff, they contracted Cen Eng to design and build a new system for the tanks, to mount onto the new trucks. The system will also work on tractors once the hydrogen industry becomes more established, which was an exciting initiative for the company to be part of. “We’re all about keeping farming moving forward, and we’re really proud to be part of this project,” Steve said. The team has designed a range of new agricultural products for the market over the past few years, and Steve is stoked with his new remote controlled programmable grain trailers that help farmers feed out - by controlling the time and distance between each ‘drop.’ As well as machinery repairs, farmers are always coming to them with issues that they need solutions for - including their new rut scraper with discs that attaches to the back of a tractor. The contraption is designed to scrape excess material back into the pivot rut - smoothing the paddock without having to bring in extra stones to fill it. There’s also loader mounted skip bins, pivot crossings, wire jinker trailers, digger thumbs and hay feeders, while in the recreational space, lifestyle products such as outdoor fires, picnic tables and corten steel signs. Examples of their work are everywhere, including a cycleway clip-on extension for the Bannockburn Bridge at the start of the Dunstan Trail. While farming clients make up most of the business, the team of mechanical and design engineers, welders, fitter and turners, apprentices and technical service staff cover a huge range of engineering solutions. Kim said that everything from design and draughting, right through to manufacture and installation, was all done in-house, which gave the business a huge point of difference. There are plenty of dam projects around the district as well, helping maintain Central Otago’s aging infrastructure, including tail pipes on the Oxburn, Upper Manorburn and Idaburn dams. Steve said when the Government introduced new legislation in 2010 requiring irrigation takes to be metered, he designed an electronic system to measure the water levels over the weir. That enabled farmers to then convert the information to a flow rate that could be sent to the regional council for monitoring and compliance. “It’s quite a cool thing to be part of. I really enjoy the more technical solutions, although admittedly the creative process can keep me awake at night,” Steve said. The future looks bright for Central Engineering, now that they have expanded the business from a small workshop into a fully capable, multifaceted engineering business. “We’re streamlining the whole business,” Kim said. Distributors of: THE TEAM AT BETECH ARE PROUD TO SUPPORT CEN ENG LTD Bearings | Pneumatics | Power Transmission | Tools Cutting Tools | Lubricants | Surface Solutions | Seals Fasteners | Abrasives | Welding | Safety | Industrial Gas 26 Harrow Street, Dunedin Wbetech.co.nz WHAT WE DON’T KNOW ISN’T WORTH KNOWING 117 Clyde St, Invercargill SUPPORT YOUR 100% OWNED & OPERATED SHOP Proud to support Cen Eng Ltd www.southernbolts.co.nz 0800 723 100 | admin@southernbolts.co.nz • Bolt & Nuts • Masonry Bolts • Socket Products • Threaded Rods • Rivets • Screws • Self Drillers • Bolt Assortments • Stainless Steel Fasteners & Hardware • Hinges & Gate Fittings Taps & Die Nuts • Teng Tools
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