SSS Irrigation's Story
SSS Irrigation was born out of necessity, one man’s vision and ability to think outside the square.
Our story began in May 2004, when Stuart McNeill purchased a dryland farm property in Central Otago to develop it into a deer unit. At the time, the farm was very unproductive, and Stuart needed to improve the use of the available water, which led him to search for alternatives to the current irrigation systems on the market.
He began enquiring and soon realised there were no sprinklers available that met his requirements of having a long-throw radius, high water volume and soft watering of crop and pasture.
His background in mechanical engineering led him to design and fabricate his own units in stainless steel. The initial phase involved a good deal of trial and error and ongoing development during the next few years. These units proved to be very efficient but not commercially viable, as they were complex and time-consuming to manufacture.
The results
However, the on-farm results were nothing short of spectacular. The creation of storage dams, sprinklers and ancillary system parts meant that carrying capacity rose from 530 stock units to 3,500 stock units over four years, with the farm’s water rights staying unchanged.
A chance introduction resulted in a shift to injection moulded, fibre-reinforced plastic bodies, which formed the basis of what has evolved into the PF24 and PF30 models that we produce today. We still maintain a strong R&D focus and continue to make minor modifications and performance improvements to keep us in front of the copiers. In most cases, these are designed to retrofit the earlier models allowing owners of earlier models an inexpensive upgrade path.
At SSS Irrigation, we're innovative leaders in fixed grid / solid set irrigation systems. We believe there's nothing that can compete with the overall combination of performance, durability and cost-effectiveness that our system offers.
As specialists in the design and build of agricultural irrigation systems, we can help you with:
- design layouts
- system performance
- pipe size selection
- pump duty cycles
- pressure and delivery requirements
Get in touch to discuss your next irrigation project.