Used Tray filling machines

About second-hand Tray filling machines

A tray filling machine fills trays with soil, so that growers can raise young plants from seed or cuttings. The machine ensures that the soil fills the tray evenly and to sufficient depth, creating a good growing medium for the young plant.

How does a tray filling machine work?

On most tray filling machines, the trays are conveyed on a belt underneath a soil hopper. As the tray passes under the hopper, soil falls into it and a rotating roller, also known as a butterfly, presses the soil down. A brush then sweeps the excess soil off the tray for a clean, neat finish. At the same time, this brush presses the soil slightly more firmly into the tray. The surplus soil usually returns to the machine's soil hopper or buffer hopper, so it can be reused.

Some tray filling machines, such as the Javo Rotofill, also vibrate the tray from underneath during filling. This distributes the soil even better throughout the tray, which is a clear advantage especially for trays with many small cells.

Suitable for different types of trays

By shifting the cover plates and adjusting the height of the soil hopper, a tray filling machine can easily be set up for a wide range of trays: from cutting trays and multicell trays to sets of pots and seed boxes. This allows you to fill multiple products in your nursery with a single machine. To sow the filled trays, you will often use a separate tray seeding machine, and to transplant young plants into a pot, a potting machine.

Javo Rotofill: tray filler with vibration unit

The Javo Rotofill stands out from many other tray filling machines thanks to its vibration unit. During filling, the vibration motors ensure homogeneity and the right compaction of the soil. This is a clear advantage for trays with many small holes in particular, as the soil is distributed better across the tray.

Buying a used tray filling machine: what to look out for?

When buying a second-hand tray filling machine, it is especially important to carefully check the elevator chain and the soil belt, as these are the parts that suffer most from intensive use and are the most expensive to replace.

Elevator chain with paddles

This steel soil chain with paddles carries the soil up to the hopper and is fairly expensive to replace. If you replace the chain, you usually need to replace the sprockets as well.

How can you tell whether the chain needs replacing?

Look at the tensioning adjustment on the side of the chain. A steel chain stretches after frequent use, so there must still be enough room left to tension it further. Also check that the elevator chain still has enough room at the top to be adjusted further upwards. If it has already been adjusted too far, the steel paddles will hit the top of the frame.

The soil belt

Check that the belt that carries the soil in the bunker to the elevator chain is not torn, that the vulcanised joint is not coming loose and that there are no holes in the belt. If there is a hole, soil gets trapped inside the conveyor belt, which hampers its operation. If the belt needs to be replaced, the tray filler has to be dismantled quite extensively, which makes this a costly repair. A small hole can sometimes be fixed by patching it, much like repairing a bicycle tyre.

Different tray filling machines and brands

There is a wide variety of tray filling machines, from compact machines for small-scale nurseries to machines designed for large volumes and a high filling speed. Which machine suits you best depends mainly on the desired speed, the number of different tray types you want to fill and the extent to which you want to automate the process or prefer to be able to make manual adjustments.

Brands such as Javo, Visser, Demtec, Heto, Da Ros, Mosa and Urbinati each bring their own version of the tray filler to market, with differences in, for example, the elevator chain and drive, the filling width and capacity, the adjustment options of the soil hopper and cover plates, and – as with the Javo Rotofill – whether or not a vibration unit is fitted. Some machines are designed as a standalone unit that can easily be integrated into an existing potting soil line, while other brands offer complete filling lines in which the tray filler works together with, for example, a tray seeding machine or potted plant conveyor.

When buying a used tray filling machine, it is therefore particularly important to look at what the specific brand and model can handle in practice: the filling capacity per hour, the minimum and maximum tray size, and whether the machine is suitable for the mix of products you grow. Because brands differ in construction and maintenance requirements, it is also wise to ask about the maintenance history of a used machine and the availability of spare parts for that specific brand.

Are you also looking for additional machines for your nursery? Then take a look at our range of tray seeding machines, potting machines, paperpot machines, soil blocking machines, soil mixers and soil bunkers, or our complete range of machines for potted plants and flowers.