Part I: Go-Bagger® 250 Design & Capabilities
When we launched the Go-Bagger® 250 more than 10 years ago, it immediately opened new opportunities for our customers to diversify into retail bag markets. In the last few years, companies that produce landscape mulch, animal bedding, compost, and other commodities have placed even greater emphasis on diversifying their businesses, making the Go-Bagger® 250 more popular than ever.
When people inquire about the Go-Bagger® 250, their questions about the machine’s capabilities usually come down to two main issues:
- Will it bag my products?
- Will it match my production needs?
Will it Bag My Products?
This first question is usually pretty easy to answer, since we have experience with a broad range of products. If we don’t have customers bagging a certain product, we may run tests to determine how the Go-Bagger® 250 performs with your materials, but that is rarely necessary.
What Can I Bag with a Go-Bagger® 250?
- Landscape Mulch
- Topsoil
- River Rock
- Compost
- Sand
- Animal Bedding
- Corn Cobs
- Cold Patch Asphalt
Here are some basic guidelines for what works well in a Go-Bagger® 250:
Density
Products need a certain density to flow through the hopper and bag filling assembly. For example, river rock, compost, and mulch flow well because they are reasonably dense. By comparison, light fluffy products like wood shavings typically do not work very well.
Product size
The Go-Bagger® 250 is designed for products commonly sold in bags, which are generally two inches in diameter or smaller.
Versatile Bagging
The Go-Bagger® 250 is intended to bag a wide range of products, such as the ones listed above. Will it bag everything? No. But what it does bag, it does extremely well.
What Kind of Bags Can I Use?
In our 10 plus years of bagging materials we have used many different style bags. While 3 – 6 mil poly bags are typical, the Go-Bagger® 250 can fill everything from woven bags to rigid containers, such as plastic buckets.
How Does the Go-Bagger® Seal the Bags?
An impulse heat sealer operated by foot pedal control. The High Performance package for the Go-Bagger® replaces the impulse sealer with a roller sealer. We do not offer bag stitchers but can assist you in locating one to integrate with the Go-Bagger® 250.
What Do I Need to Operate the Go-Bagger® ?
- Diesel fuel (an electric configuration is also available). The diesel engine powers the whole system.
- Skid steer or comparable equipment to load the hopper.
- Operating crew of one to six people, depending on production needs.
- 1/2 ton pick-up truck, if you want to transport the Go-Bagger® 250 off site.
Will it Match My Production Needs?
In general, the Go-Bagger® 250 will fill and seal 200 – 500 bags an hour, depending on the product consistency, bag size, number of operators, and several other factors. For example, a two-person crew doing landscape mulch in 2 cubic foot bags could fill and seal 250 bags an hour. Some Go-Bagger® 250 owners get substantially more than 500 bags an hour, but that is not the typical target customer we had in mind for the Go-Bagger® 250. I will look more closely at production capacity in more detail in part two of this series.
Given the unique position that the Go-Bagger® 250 occupies in the bagging market, this question comes down to a comparison to other types of bagging systems. We designed the Go-Bagger® to stand in its own class apart from the large form-fill-and-seal systems. We set out to create a machine that would assist our customers in gaining entry into retail bag markets.
When we developed the Go-Bagger® 250, we used the same R & D formula as we have used for each of our industrial grinders—identify a need and provide a unique solution through input from our customers. To fill this need we focused not only on capital costs but more importantly on the features and capabilities lacking in other bagging systems. As a result the Go-Bagger® is more versatile than most bagging systems on the market today.
A Practical Bagging Solution
Bottom line, the Go-Bagger® is simply a very practical approach to bagging. A unique combination of versatility, mobility, and ease of operation separates the Go-Bagger® 250 from other systems. We’ll compare the Go-Bagger® 250 to other bagging systems in parts two and three of this focus on the Go-Bagger® 250.
As always, if you have questions about the Go-Bagger® 250 or Rotochopper industrial grinding equipment, feel free to contact your regional Rotochopper representative.