Reconditioned, Second hand, Refurbished. These are all words that most of us would associate with warehouse sales, factory rejects and sub quality products with faults and flaws.
But this is not the case here. At Icon we take a different approach to ‘Second Hand’.
At Icon Equipment, Second hand equipment is a core aspect of our business and offering. It is an area that we pride ourselves on. We take traded in used equipment, strip it down and refurbish it with new parts and tooling. Our refurbished equipment works just as well as a brand new machine. In fact most of the time it difficult to tell the difference.
In the photos above you can see an old 18/5 Fogg gravity filler. For many years this served a long-time customer very well but eventually they out grew it as their demand required them to upgrade to a larger machine. As you can see by the time we received it at our factory the old girl was looking a little weathered and worn out despite still running quiet well. Even in the last image after been cleaned up it is still clear that the filler has been extensively used. An image that comes to mind for most when we think of ‘second hand equipment’.
A couple of months’ time, some elbow grease and some new parts later, this 18-5 gravity filler turned into the pristine, top quality machine seen below. As good as new, literally.
After some hard work this machine was completely refurbished and is now on its way to its new home where it will be filling milk for an on the farm dairy producer in Queensland.
“But if someone has traded it in, doesn’t that mean that it’s not working or too old to function effectively?”
No, in fact in most cases the opposite is true. Quiet often we supply producers with basic entry level type machines and before you know it they increased production and grown so much that their original filling solution isn’t enough anymore. They will then trade in their old machine for a discount on a larger piece of equipment that can meet their higher demand. We then strip the first machine and refurbish it completely. After a while the process repeats as business continue to grow and expand, trading in their older equipment for discounts utilising Second-hand equipment as the go.
A pattern like this is proof of the quality of the machines and their effectiveness to help growing producers be successful. We have no desire to provide our customers with anything less than the best possible equipment. We want to see them succeed just as much as they do.
In some cases yes, certain parts of the machines can degrade over time or even break but these parts are always replaced. We never offer a Second hand machine that isn’t in just as good a condition as when it was first manufactured.
Even the oldest most worn down and used machines have the potential to be stripped and upgraded with new electricals, valves, tooling, guarding and consumable parts. And if a machine is that far gone that it isn’t worth refurbishing we can always strip it for reconditionable working parts.
“If Second hand machines are the same quality as a new ones, then why should I buy them?”
It can be considerably cheaper to purchase a second hand machine rather than an entirely new one. It is much more cost effective to strip, clean and rebuild an existing machine than it is to source and manufacture new equipment from scratch. The money and time we save on reconditioning tested and proven equipment doesn’t end up in our pocket. Those savings come straight off the sale price of the equipment to the benefit of the customer. The price isn’t less because the machine isn’t as good as a new machine or isn’t of the same quality. No, the price is cheaper because it’s less man hours and raw material for us then starting from scratch and that equals benefits for our customers.
Most machines can be re-purposed across many industries too. Fillers that were originally used to fill milk and dairy products can be reconditioned to suit water, juice, oils even spirts. Once stripped the machines can be repurposed and reconditioned to suit a range of different industries. We then refurbish and customise them where necessary to meet the requirements of our customer.
Second Hand Equipment is not always available to every customers specifications and availability is highly dependent on what we have on hand. But if you believe a second hand solution could potentially benefit your filling operation we want to help. You can see some of our Second- hand equipment here on our website, or call to find out what we have available.
