How to Choose a Garlic Sizing Line: A Technical Guide for Producers

If you process garlic in volume, there comes a point where cleaning and grading by hand can no longer keep pace with the season. A well-chosen sizing line delivers clean bulbs separated into commercial sizes, in continuous flow, at the scale of your plant.

This guide is for growers, packers, and cooperatives evaluating whether to mechanize garlic sizing. We’ll walk through each module of the line, Albion’s three configurations, how to choose based on your volume, and what you need to know about warranty, shipping, and financing.

Why mechanize garlic sizing?

1. Consistent grading criteria. The sizer grades every bulb with the same criteria from the start of the shift to the end. Manual grading depends on the eye — and the fatigue — of whoever does it.
2. Cleaning and presentation in the same flow. The pre-cleaning screen — and, on the T 900 CMZVC, the brusher — clean the bulb within the same line, before sizing.
3. A commercial matrix ready to sell. The sizer separates garlic into commercial sizes — 5+1 or 6+1 depending on the configuration — ready to offer each size separately.

How a garlic sizing line works

All three configurations follow the same sequence in continuous flow.

1. Bin Tipper

Receives garlic in bins and discharges it without impact onto the screen.

2. Pre-cleaning Screen

Separates loose soil, root remains, and detached scales before the next stages.

3. Brusher (T 900 CMZVC only)

Rotating brushes that finish cleaning the bulb and enhance presentation.

4. Roller Loader

Separates clumped heads and aligns them for sizing — the key step for the line’s precision. On the T 1200 CMZIV 7T, the loader and the inspection table form a single module — the Roller Loader with Illuminated Inspection Conveyor — with a work platform, light bar, and space for multiple operators in parallel.

5. Garlic Sizer

Grades bulbs by size. The T 900 CMZVC delivers 5+1: five commercial sizes plus a reject fraction. Both T 1200 lines use a sizer with a larger cross-section that delivers 6+1 sizes.

The three available configurations

Albion manufactures three garlic sizing configurations. The difference between them isn’t just capacity: the modules each one includes also change.

Model	Capacity	What it includes / who it’s for
T 900 CMZVC	2,000–2,500 kg/h	5 modules, with brusher; 5+1 sizes. Growers who work with pre-sorted garlic.
T 1200 CMZV 7T	3,500–4,000 kg/h	4 modules, no manual inspection; 6+1 sizes. Large packers and cooperatives receiving pre-sorted product.
T 1200 CMZIV 7T	3,500–4,000 kg/h	4 modules, with illuminated inspection conveyor; 6+1 sizes. Packers selling export product to premium markets.

T 900 CMZVC — essential sizing

The T 900 CMZVC is the mid-capacity line without manual inspection, and the lowest investment in the garlic catalog. It’s the only one of the three with a brusher, so cleaning is handled within the line. It’s sized for most growers in Mendoza’s Horticultural Belt.

T 1200 CMZV 7T — industrial capacity

The T 1200 CMZV 7T takes sizing to industrial scale: 3,500–4,000 kg/h versus the T 900’s 2,000–2,500 kg/h, with the same operational simplicity. It’s designed for large packers and cooperatives that receive garlic pre-sorted by an external system or by mechanical harvesting with technified drying. It’s the natural upgrade path from the T 900 CMZVC as your volume grows.

T 1200 CMZIV 7T — industrial with manual inspection

The T 1200 CMZIV 7T is the most complete line in the garlic catalog: the capacity of the CMZV 7T plus illuminated manual inspection. The conveyor is sized so that human control stays effective at high flow. It’s the option for packers serving premium export markets.

How they differ

• T 900 CMZVC vs. T 1200 CMZV 7T: scale (2,000–2,500 vs. 3,500–4,000 kg/h), sizing matrix (5+1 vs. 6+1), and the brusher, which only the T 900 includes.
• T 1200 CMZV 7T vs. T 1200 CMZIV 7T: same capacity and the same 6+1 sizes. The difference is the CMZIV 7T’s illuminated manual inspection.

How to choose based on annual volume

To work out the capacity you need, start with this calculation:

Required hourly capacity = annual volume ÷ (hours per day × days per year)

As a reference assumption we use standard operation of 8 hours × 200 days a year = 1,600 hours/year.

Reference table (standard operation, 8 hrs × 200 days)

Annual volume	Equivalent kg/h	Configuration
Up to 4,000 t	Up to 2,500 kg/h	T 900 CMZVC
4,000 – 6,400 t	2,500 – 4,000 kg/h	T 1200 CMZV 7T or T 1200 CMZIV 7T
Over 6,400 t	Over 4,000 kg/h	Contact us

Orientative example

If you grade 2,400 tons of garlic a year under standard operation: 2,400,000 kg ÷ 1,600 h = 1,500 kg/h on average. The T 900 CMZVC covers that volume and, running at 2,000 kg/h, gets through it in about 1,200 hours.

Now, if that same volume has to go through the line in 100 eight-hour days (800 hours), the math comes out to 3,000 kg/h on average: that’s where the choice moves to a T 1200, which at 3,500–4,000 kg/h gets through it in roughly 600 to 690 hours.

Important: these figures are orientative. Between the two T 1200 lines, volume isn’t the deciding factor — your product is: if your garlic already arrives pre-sorted, the CMZV 7T is enough; if you need manual inspection for export, the CMZIV 7T is the option.

Equipment you can add

Our Equipment page lists Albion’s individual equipment: the VB 500 bin tipper with an independent hydraulic power unit, elevators for vertical transport configured for the throughput and product type, and the inspection conveyor with adjustable speed, dedicated lighting, and side bins for non-conforming product. If any of them interests you, we’ll go over it when we quote.

Warranty, pre-assembly, financing, and support

• 12-month warranty on mechanical parts of Albion’s own manufacture. It doesn’t cover normal wear of consumables or damage caused by improper maintenance.
• Pre-assembled in our workshop: the line ships pre-assembled, ready to position in your plant.
• Financing: many customers finance the investment through Banco Nación credit lines for domestic industrial machinery. You handle the application with the bank; Albion issues the necessary documentation.
• Support: after-sales technical support is concentrated in Latin America, but we ship equipment anywhere in the world. Albion equipment operates today in 18 countries across 6 continents.

Behind every line is a family company from Mendoza: Albion was founded on April 20, 1966, by Atilio César Dal Pozzo. Today the second generation leads it — with the third already joining — and it has more than 50 in-house experts.

Next step

Every plant has its own reality. To get started:

1. Send us your basic data: estimated annual volume, how you receive your garlic, target market (domestic or export), and the space available in your facility.
2. Get a proposal with the configuration your case justifies.
3. Review financing through Banco Nación credit lines, if applicable.

See photos and components of each configuration on our Garlic Lines page, or contact us to start your quote.