A liquid feeding tank designed so that nobody has to climb inside it for maintenance has won a 2026 DLG Innovation Award EuroTier in silver, The Scottish Farmer reports.

The QEW mixing tank, developed by the German company WEDA Dammann & Westerkamp, targets what the report calls a major weakness of livestock housing technology: the labour-intensive and hazardous work inside the tank. With conventional tanks, workers must enter for maintenance, which means extensive safety checks, ventilation and a second person standing by, and replacing worn parts often needs lifting gear or outside engineers to raise the heavy agitator.

The QEW has a large, pressure-resistant maintenance hatch in its lower section that opens by loosening a few nuts, giving direct access at barn floor level to the bottom area and the bearing unit without lifting the agitator shaft. A split bracket lets the bearing be pulled out sideways once the screws are loosened, so it can be replaced in a few minutes from outside.

The main gain is safety: staff no longer enter the tank, which removes the risk of suffocation from residual digester gases, and there is no overhead work in tight spaces. The site manager can change the bearing without a factory technician or special lifting equipment, cutting servicing downtime from several hours to a minimum and keeping feed flowing to the animals.

The tank's conical shape and specialised agitator are also said to mix feed better, reduce residue on the walls and stop the components separating.

Photo: Guido Gerding / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Source: The Scottish Farmer