Sprayer MOT cost

Bloders

Member
Location
Ruabon
For livestock assurance you dont need an annual test its every 3yrs. Could I contract spray for other livestock assured farms on a 3yr test? Been doing annual mot just to cover myself for the contract work. The sprayer has anything it needs as it needs it but would save the cost of test and the many phonecalls to remind them its running out/ run out
i would suggest if your spraying for livestock farms who are not RT for crops, 3 years is fine.
If your spraying for farms who are RT against spraying, you need it 12 monthly
 

bravheart

Member
Location
scottish borders
We mot sprayers and there is more cost to the job than you maybe appreciate.
For a start the training course is quite expensive.
Then there are the annual training workshops.
The equipment required adds up to a significant amount (we don't just have a plastic measuring jug).
There is an annual membership fee.
The master pressure gauge has to be calibrated or replaced annually.
Each test sheet and sticker is £28.
There is a man to pay.
A van to run including diesel!

You say your man was there for 45 minutes. But how long did he have to travel too and from your farm?

So when you look at all that objectively it maybe doesn't look that expensive when you consider the number of sprayers all that cost will be spread over?

Bumble Bee
Only playing devil's advocate here but when you read that list and compare it to an exhaust emissions tester, rolling road brake tester, headlight beam tester and all the other equipment and training/testing required including the premises and paperwork along with a government rate for the job then maybe some of the posters here might have a point.
Suppose the quantity of sprayers re. work for each tester and lack of market forces keeps the price high.

Edit. Didn't know the cost of a sticky label which is always faded away before the next test so next to useless was £28. If the label requirement was done away with do you think the charge be £28 less?
 
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Bumble Bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Only playing devil's advocate here but when you read that list and compare it to an exhaust emissions tester, rolling road brake tester, headlight beam tester and all the other equipment and training/testing required including the premises and paperwork along with a government rate for the job then maybe some of the posters here might have a point.
Suppose the quantity of sprayers re. work for each tester and lack of market forces keeps the price high.

Edit. Didn't know the cost of a sticky label which is always faded away before the next test so next to useless was £28. If the label requirement was done away with do you think the charge be £28 less?
A car mot tester will definitely be able to spread his/her costs over a larger number of tests. They will do several per day every day. It's also worth bearing in mind that most sprayers are tucked away full of anti freeze in winter. So very few tests can be conducted then.
The stickers do not cost £28. As a tester we have to pay NSTS £28 per test. As part of that a sticker is included.
 

David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
I doubt you would want to pay to set up a new MOT bay, the earning capacity of which is about £450/day.

Unless you are one of the unscrupulous operators who always seem to need to fit new shocks and brake discs in order to pass a vehicle..
 

Bumble Bee

Member
Arable Farmer
I doubt you would want to pay to set up a new MOT bay, the earning capacity of which is about £450/day.

Unless you are one of the unscrupulous operators who always seem to need to fit new shocks and brake discs in order to pass a vehicle..
No I wouldn't. But I guess it's a service that they have to offer if they are going to get the more profitable repair and service work?
 

bravheart

Member
Location
scottish borders
The stickers do not cost £28. As a tester we have to pay NSTS £28 per test. As part of that a sticker is included.
The plot thickens and as I say I'm just playing devil's advocate here as I think testing is probably a good thing but I'm interested in what my hard earned goes towards, so-

Are you saying that along with all the equipment and exams you have to go through to be a tester you have to PAY nsts for the privilege of carrying out a test!

Obviously your in the enviable position of being able to pass that cost on but what do we get for the £28. Seems like a licence to print money for a monopoly to me unless you can advise otherwise.
 

Bumble Bee

Member
Arable Farmer
The plot thickens and as I say I'm just playing devil's advocate here as I think testing is probably a good thing but I'm interested in what my hard earned goes towards, so-

Are you saying that along with all the equipment and exams you have to go through to be a tester you have to PAY nsts for the privilege of carrying out a test!

Obviously your in the enviable position of being able to pass that cost on but what do we get for the £28. Seems like a licence to print money for a monopoly to me unless you can advise otherwise.
Correct.
We used to have to pay for a pad of 10 test sheets and stickers. But now we have to pay for the digital test sheets that are carried out on the i-pad and they post us 10 stickers.
We also have to pay an annual membership fee.
 

Bumble Bee

Member
Arable Farmer
I'm not a fan of red tractor and some of their pointless rules such as Mass balance calculations.
But I do think one of the good things to come out of the scheme is that it has brought a lot of very poorly maintained sprayers up to scratch.
When we startedtesting, some sprayers would be constantly leaking. Pressure gauges wouldn't work. The on/off valve wouldn't work so instead they would just turn the PTO on or off. And something that was unbelievably common..... different sized nozzles across the boom.
We tend to find that usually (not always) the people that quibble a couple of hundred pounds to test a sprayer or ask us "can't you just put a ticket on it"are the ones who resist paying a few hundred pounds to replace warn out nozzles or replace a faulty pressure gauge stating "I know it doesn't say 3 bar but I know where it needs to be to put roughly the right amount on"
 
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David.

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
J11 M40
Of course, when I did PA1 about 40yrs ago, the instructor said to put a sock over the pressure gauge because it was irrelevant.
TBH, I thought he was a bit of a knob at the time.
 

Highland Mule

Member
Livestock Farmer
Could a farmer pass their own sprayer IF they could demonstrate that they understood the requirements and had the skills to perform the test? Is it a legal requirement?
No, not unless they have their name on the list.

 

Barleymow

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Ipswich
Used to spray next door with his old alman sprayer pressure gauge never did work but always put right amount on never had any left on the tank
 

Andy26

Moderator
Arable Farmer
Location
Northants
I'm not a fan of red tractor and some of their pointless rules such as Mass balance calculations.
But I do think one of the good things to come out of the scheme is that it has brought a lot of very poorly maintained sprayers up to scratch.
When we startedtesting, some sprayers would be constantly leaking. Pressure gauges wouldn't work. The on/off valve wouldn't work so instead they would just turn the PTO on or off. And something that was unbelievably common..... different sized nozzles across the boom.
We tend to find that usually (not always) the people that quibble a couple of hundred pounds to test a sprayer or ask us "can't you just put a ticket on it"are the ones who resist paying a few hundred pounds to replace warn out nozzles or replace a faulty pressure gauge stating "I know it doesn't say 3 bar but I know where it needs to be to put roughly the right amount on"
Completely agree re raising the standard of on farm sprayers. Saying that the standard of everything has improved, not many old trailers with no brakes and lights trundling about as their used to be.

Still feel that gold plating the three year EU/UK law to yearly is unecessary when all imports almost without fail will only be tested tri-anually at most.

Might only be a few hundred pounds for a test and of course the opportunity cost of tying a tractor/sprayer and man up for a morning/afternoon, but these things all add up.
 

Hilly

Member
there are what 20 million cars on the road... and about what 20,000 sprayers... The mot car garage doesnt generally come to your drive then lay in dog sh!t for an hour testing your car..... Bit of perspective back at you
Has to go on their own lift in a rate payed garage and covers in dirty water dripping on you and any work done is above your head , bit of prospective for you .
 

Bumble Bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Has to go on their own lift in a rate payed garage and covers in dirty water dripping on you and any work done is above your head , bit of prospective for you .
Well if you want the other side....
Car mechanics don't generally have to test cars outside in wind, rain, mud etc. Cars are also not generally covered or contain chemicals.
You'd be surprised how many people tell you "oh yes, it's had a good wash out" only to find your measuring jug is foaming up, orange or stinking of MCPA.

We once did a testing day for a farmers group when the 3 year tests came in.
The group arranged for the tests to be done at an auction mart. Despite 2 lots of correspondence being sent to them stating the sprayer must be clean AND washed out, not to mention a call to each one of them individually by the lady who was organising the day to remind them of the fact. 4 sprayers turned up containing sheep dip!
 
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Bumble Bee

Member
Arable Farmer
Completely agree re raising the standard of on farm sprayers. Saying that the standard of everything has improved, not many old trailers with no brakes and lights trundling about as their used to be.

Still feel that gold plating the three year EU/UK law to yearly is unecessary when all imports almost without fail will only be tested tri-anually at most.

Might only be a few hundred pounds for a test and of course the opportunity cost of tying a tractor/sprayer and man up for a morning/afternoon, but these things all add up.
Surely at some point you would be checking the sprayer over yourself so opportunity cost is clutching at straws a bit. Plus you surly get to chose a conveniently quite time to test your sprayer, not in the middle of T1?
 

Andy26

Moderator
Arable Farmer
Location
Northants
Surely at some point you would be checking the sprayer over yourself so opportunity cost is clutching at straws a bit. Plus you surly get to chose a conveniently quite time to test your sprayer, not in the middle of T1?
Check the sprayer before every use without fail, much sooner find a problem with clean water in the tank than a tank mix of chemical.

Always an opportunity cost, be it work, rest or leisure.
 

Hilly

Member
Well if you want the other side....
Car mechanics don't generally have to test cars outside in wind, rain, mud etc. Cars are also not generally covered or contain chemicals.
You'd be surprised how many people tell you "oh yes, it's had a good wash out" only to find your measuring jug is foaming up, orange or stinking of MCPA.

We once did a testing day for a farmers group when the 3 year tests came in.
The group arranged for the tests to be done at an auction mart. Despite 2 lots of correspondence being sent to them stating the sprayer must be clean AND washed out, not to mention a call to each one of them individually by the lady who was organising the day to remind them of the fact. 4 sprayers turned up containing sheep dip!
😂
 

Zippy768

Member
Mixed Farmer
Location
Dorset/Wilts
Well if you want the other side....
Car mechanics don't generally have to test cars outside in wind, rain, mud etc. Cars are also not generally covered or contain chemicals.
You'd be surprised how many people tell you "oh yes, it's had a good wash out" only to find your measuring jug is foaming up, orange or stinking of MCPA.

We once did a testing day for a farmers group when the 3 year tests came in.
The group arranged for the tests to be done at an auction mart. Despite 2 lots of correspondence being sent to them stating the sprayer must be clean AND washed out, not to mention a call to each one of them individually by the lady who was organising the day to remind them of the fact. 4 sprayers turned up containing sheep dip!
The testing day is always scheduled with a caveat of "weather permitting" from the testers.
I'd much prefer it pi55ing down on the day.
 

DrWazzock

Member
Arable Farmer
Location
Lincolnshire
With the price of chemicals and crops as they are, does anybody seriously believe that anybody would just carry on spraying with leaks or wrong application rates?
For me, sprayer maintenance is a kind of self regulating Darwinism kind of thing surely? You won’t be in business for very long operating a faulty sprayer. And seriously, you wouldn’t wait till the MOT to put faults right would you? If there is leak you have to fix it asap.
It always seems a bit of a farce really.
 

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