Tractor-mounted, high-spec sprayer fits the bill

Having persevered with an ageing Audureau 600-litre, 12m hydraulic folding boom sprayer, with top-fill hopper, single nozzles and a boom height adjustment system that needed to be unbolted and repositioned as crops grew, Richard Nichols is more than pleased with the conveniences and simplicity of his latest sprayer.

“I can finally get the cab windows closed,” he says, pointing to an electric in-cab control system that runs his Garford Fitosa 1,000-litre, 12m sprayer.

“Our 16-year-old sprayer still passed its MOT, but there was going to come a time when it just wouldn't be acceptable in use anymore.”

Mr Nichols runs the 140-hectare Hill Place Farm at East Grinstead for his employer, Tony Hobbs, who handles the family's construction industry business.

The pair headed to Sprays and Sprayers with an open cheque book and were surprised at just how difficult it was to do business.

“I was taken back by just how difficult it was at this year's event to get prices out of sprayer firms,” recalls Tony Hobbs. “I took my cheque book and wanted a deal there and then, and after a day walking around, only Garford and Team Sprayers were in the running to supply us with a 1,000-litre, 12m machine.”

With little more than a handshake of trust, the deal was done. That faith was soon rewarded.

“The first time I went to use the sprayer, the tank leaked,” says Mr Nichols. “There was a fault in the moulding, but within 24 hours, Garford had a new tank installed and I was impressed with the way the firm quickly rectified the problem.”

With 35 hectares of winter wheat, eight of winter beans, 10 of spring barley plus grassland and 8.5 hectares of willow as short rotation coppice, Mr Nichols's workload is varied. But with hydraulic boom height adjustment on the new sprayer, being able to immediately fill-up and go to take advantage of available spraying conditions is now so much easier.

“It's easy to just tweak the boom from the cab and immediately get the correct spraying height,” says Mr Nichols. “I no longer have to climb onto the sprayer and fill the tank through the top, too.”

Using 150 litre/ha water volumes, Mr Nichols has the ability to cover more ground between fills, but says his John Deere 2650 tractor can get light on its front wheels if the spray tank is filled to its full capacity.

“I can add front-end weights, but if there's small amounts of spraying to carry out, its often easier to just part-fill the tank,” he says.

“But the tractor is due to be changed, and I hope that a slightly heavier model will give me the improved balance I need to fully exploit the sprayer's extra capacity.”

With vertical folding booms and road lighting, the machine is easily placed to travel around the roads of East Grinstead as outlying land on two other holdings also has to be treated.

“And folding the boom at the rear of the sprayer means there's no risk of being beneath a nozzle when operating or working around the machine,” he says.

At spraying speeds of about 12kph, Mr Nichols reports that boom stability is good, and the triplet nozzle body holders are suitably protected within the boom's folded frame construction.

“I used air-inclusion nozzles on the old model and have yet to install a set on the Fitosa – they make a huge difference to reducing spray drift.''

While Mr Nichols reckons that sprayer output is now somewhat improved, partly through on-board conveniences and partly through the larger tank capacity, he says an 18m boom width was also considered.

“We decided to stay at 12m simply because of our field sizes,” he says. “We have plenty of fields under six acres in size, and our fertiliser spreader is set to run on 12m tramlines, so we decided that the gains didn't justify the extra investment in a larger boom.”

It's a viewpoint that Mr Hobbs agrees with, accepting that the Fitosa's specification is perhaps already a little excessive for a 141-hectare farm.

Though he believes that the conveniences of the sprayer's features and its build quality should ensure it lasts as long as the previous Audureau Plastojet model.

“If the Garford sprayer lasts 16 years, then it will have proved to be a cost-effective purchase,” he says.