Amazing Amazone drill - 75 years and counting
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the first Amazone seed drill – the 2m wide horse-drawn D1 launched in 1949.
Amazone suggests its new FT1502 front-mounted auxiliary tank can turn any modern tractor into a state-of-the-art spray rig at a fraction of the cost of a trailed or self-propelled unit.
Purpose-engineered for use with the company’s ISOBUS-compatible UF1602 (1600 litre) and UF2002 (2000 litre) linkage-mounted units, the 1500 litre tank was released earlier this year.
Claas Harvest Centre product manager – Amazone, Steve Gorman, says the combination makes a cost-effective alternative to a trailed or self-propelled sprayer.
“With Super-S2 booms from 15 to 30 metres, UF02 sprayers are highly efficient spraying units, incorporating the SmartCentre operating panel and optional Comfort-Pack system that automatically controls filling, agitation and cleaning. The addition of the FT1502 front tank extends their capacity to 3200 or 3500 litres, which makes them a great fit for medium or small cropping enterprises.” he says.
Gorman suggests that the combo set-up is far more agile than a trailed unit and significantly cheaper than a self-propelled unit, while its compact nature offers many advantages during operation and transport in odd-shaped paddocks or narrow roads.
“The well-thought out design of the tank gives a clear view despite the front tank and it complies with all relevant traffic safety standards” he says.
The FlowControl Plus system automatically monitors and regulates the fill levels of both tanks via the ISOBUS terminal, with two high-performance venturis, powered by the spray tank’s 150 L/min pump, continuously transferring liquid between the two tanks throughout filling and spraying operations.
This ensures that the spray solution is mixed thoroughly and ensures optimum weight distribution is always maintained. Alternatively, the automatic transfer function can be deactivated, enabling the front tank to be used for transporting clean water for subsequent spraying or cleaning operations.”
The front tank’s pump boosts filling speed to 400 L/minute in combination with the spray tank pump. During cleaning, the front tank sprayer utilises the 350-litre freshwater tank of the spray unit.
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