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Farmers Louis and Angela English, Dipton says umbilical spreading system is more straightforward to operate.
Fifth generation farmer Louis English and his wife Angela milk 850 cows on a 335ha family farm at Dipton West, Southland.
They have employed an umbilical spreading operation on their farm to help.
Having installed a wintering barn about six years ago and seeing an increase in effluent, they employed contractors to do umbilical spreading for the first two seasons, experiencing mixed results.
At the time, they also ran an effluent tanker, but didn’t like the fact it would have taken around 500 trips to and from the paddocks to empty the effluent pond. “This would heavily damage the lanes and I didn’t want to see this happening,” said Louis.
“We found it a lot easier to go into a paddock once, do the spreading and go back out, instead of going in and out multiple times with the tanker. The splash plate system on the tanker also resulted in heavy contamination of the sward, so there was a major delay before we could resume grazing.”
They approached Webbline to look at potential solutions. Louis says, “we did the numbers and worked out it was going to be more efficient and effective to use our own gear, and ended up purchasing an umbilical system with a 9m dribble bar and 1,600m of hose”.
The system includes a Bauer pump powered by a 160hp tractor system that generally pumps around 200,000 litres per hour to the dribble bar that is handled by a 150hp tractor. At the heart of the spreading system, designed and manufactured by Mastek in Ireland, is the Supercut Macerator, a hydraulically driven cutting rotor that chops any fibrous material in the effluent.
At its heart, six knives chop the material before it passes via 45mm diameter outlets to the dribble bar. Manufactured from heavy-duty galvanised steel, with a transport width of only 2.6m, the dribble bar assembly features outlets across the full spreading width, depositing effluent from a flexible pipe close to ground level. This eliminates odour, loss of nitrogen to the atmosphere and keeps sward contamination to a minimum.
They note that it is easy to see the grass growth where they have been in with the dribble bar, compared to other areas of grass.
“It is a lot more straightforward to operate than it looks at the start; you just need a plan on how to get around obstacles and oddly-shaped paddocks,” says Louis. “With the flow meter in the cab, you can pace yourself for optimum application with the schedule supplied by Webbline, which shows speed needed for the correct rate of application.”
Massey Ferguson has announced a strategic supply partnership with International Tractors Limited (ITL), a manufacturer of low-horsepower and compact tractors, with recognised brands such as Sonalika and Sollis, to expand its portfolio with a new tractor range.
With the biannual Italian EIMA machinery Expo less than a month away, Case IH has taken out a Technical Evolution award for the Advanced Vehicle Suspension system available on its Optum 360–440 series tractors.
The Advanced Vehicle Suspension system, available on Optum 360, 390, and 440 models, responds to changing conditions, automatically adjusting how the suspension reacts to absorbs shocks and controlling vehicle movement.
In operation, sensors monitor the vibrations transmitted from the tractor chassis to the operator cabin, allowing the system to adjust suspension damping in real time. The control system incorporates key priorities, such as comfort at lower speeds and stability as speed increases, while also reacting to factors such as lower tyre pressures, where the tyres absorb more of the initial shock.
Case IH said as suspension requirements change throughout the working day, as tractors move between the paddock and road transport, the system manages suspension response in the background as tasks, speeds and conditions change, leaving the operator without the need to make manual adjustments.
Richard Hollins, Optum series tractors global product manager, said: “Pioneering technology must earn its place in the working day. Farmers and contractors will judge an investment by what it delivers, including manageable ownership costs, dependable up-time and the versatility to tackle different jobs. With AVS, we are putting intelligent control to work for comfort and stability, without giving the operator another setting to manage.”
Organised by FederUnacoma, the Italian Agricultural Machinery Manufacturers Federation, the contest has been part of EIMA since 1986, with the Technical Evolution distinction awarded to products that introduce original improvements to solutions already manufactured or patented.
www.caseih.com
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