For over a decade, the FireFly ProSlabs have proven to be the right design for slab harvesting. Hundreds of ProSlabs are cutting in every condition and grass variety out there, performing well over a thousand hours per year and holding exceptional value.

There have been a lot of inventive ideas for slab harvesting over the years, but we’ve done the math and proven across the world that the best way to stack slabs is through an electrically-controlled, single head machine with slab accumulation.

One challenge for slab machines, when compared to roll harvesters, is that they have much higher cycle counts. While roll machines often take years to reach a million cycles, slab harvesters routinely do so in less than a year. When a stacker with rough motions exceeds a million cycles, wear and tear can be a real problem. We solved that problem with the ProSlab’s SynchroStacker. Its electrically-driven stacker is unmatched for accuracy, speed, and durability. Its smooth movements are key to the ProSlab’s longevity despite its high cycle count. Electrically-driven smooth motion prevents fatigue and failures over time.

While electrically-driven mechanisms are key, the physics of the stacker is also important for speed and efficiency. A single-head design is efficient and durable because you can have the right amount of power for the weight of the stacker. If you try to double the input by adding another cutter head, you also have to double the size of the stacker to maintain the same speed. While this may seem like a great idea, power doesn’t scale linearly. In other words, it would take an enormous amount of power to move a stacker twice as large at the same speeds. You’ll either give up speed with an undersized stacker or efficiency with a larger, power-hungry stacker. The ProSlab’s single-head architecture hits the sweet spot of speed and efficiency, delivering the high productivity that modern turfgrass producers demand.

Another reason ProSlab harvesters are so productive is their patented slab accumulation. Slabs are traditionally cut in small sizes, such as 16”x24”, and these small pieces travel up the main conveyor with gaps between them. Through our patented system, with proprietary sensing and logic, the ProSlab SynchroStacker brings the pieces of turf together on the pickup conveyor and stacks them as one block. This accumulation happens without slowing down, significantly boosting productivity and the life of the stacker. This accumulation—or gap close, as we like to call it—can be configured for 2 to 4 pieces of varying sizes to allow farms to produce their pallets to their exact specifications without compromising productivity.

At FireFly, our number one goal is to improve people’s lives by solving problems, and we’re proud of the ProSlab’s impact on turfgrass production of warm season grasses across the world. From the small farms with a single harvester to the operations running dozens of FireFly ProSlab machines in their fleet, the investment makes sense. In any condition or grass variety, the ProSlab harvesters’ proven single-head design, with electric stacker and gap closing system, delivers unmatched efficiency and productivity.