Philip Walker and his son Guy formed the family firm of Walkers of Fridaythorpe, Independent Commercial Grain Stores, some 18 years ago. They now have two grain storage warehouses centres, one in Fridaythorpe and the other in Pocklington, with a total capacity of 40,000 tonnes, plus a fleet of vehicles collecting crops, mainly corn and rape, from a wide area including Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. They recently replaced their existing stainless steel on-floor crop ventilation facility with the Polydry System manufactured by Polypipe Civils and are delighted with the results, finding the lightweight pipe not only easier to move, assemble and handle but also stronger and less liable to deformation.

The Polydry horizontal cooling, drying and ventilation system consists of a series of ducts corrugated on the outside for high impact resistance and stiffness but with a smooth bore to maximise airflow within the pipe. Slots in the ducts allow diffused ventilation but are specifically designed to prevent the entry of small crops such as rape, an important factor for companies such as Walkers. Each 3 metre length of pipe is fitted with an anti-roll coupler and the ducts are in four standard sizes from 225 to 600mm diameter. Easily achieved push-fit pipe connections plus the lightweight of the ducting mean that assembly and disassembly is a simple and speedy task and the durability of Polydry components is underlined by a lifetime guarantee on all parts except fans.

Philip and Guy Walker have accumulated a great deal of experience in storage and they clearly believe that Polydry goes with rather than against the grain.