Feldspar thread

[Feldspar]

Things I learnt today:

• Choosing farm management software is very complicated. Can see why people just resort to pen and paper.
• New tractors are expensive, and I feel rather attached to keeping the current ones. The new ones aren't that much better anyway.
• Horsch SP sprayers are really expensive. Can't see why you'd get one over a trailed.
• 36m Horsch trailed sprayers with quite a few options are only about 12-15k more than a 24m version with less options. Generally seem quite good value and much less than a SP, even assuming the tractor on the front was only ever used for spraying.
• The man at Bateman had a heart attack when we said how few hours we had done with our 9 year old RB17.
• Horsch depreciation unproven, whereas low depreciation of Batemans is a major plus.
• Batemans much more simplistic and less advanced than Horsch -- not necessarily a bad thing though.
• Bateman cab better than old one, but not as nice as a tractor IMO.
• Batemans still have the sight gauge in a very annoying place.
• Bateman's 3000l are literally 3000l. Why haven't they added a bit of spare capacity to avoid spills?
• The RPA don't want to answer Mid-Tier questions.
• It isn't a good idea to leave after 5pm.
• It is a good idea to get up late, and then arrive at a gentlemanly time and miss lots of traffic.
• Farmers' sense of fashion is definitely out there.

 

[Wiking]

What tractors do you run currently?
Is Horsch steeper than Chafer?
And how common are air-assisted sprayers in the UK, looks good on paper if you could cut your water usage in half you would have great capacity from a 5000l sprayer...

 

[Feldspar]

What tractors do you run currently?
Is Horsch steeper than Chafer?
And how common are air-assisted sprayers in the UK, looks good on paper if you could cut your water usage in half you would have great capacity from a 5000l sprayer...

Currently running MF tractors.

Horsch and Chafer 36m around the 90k mark as a guide.

 

[Brisel]

What tractors do you run currently?
Is Horsch steeper than Chafer?
And how common are air-assisted sprayers in the UK, looks good on paper if you could cut your water usage in half you would have great capacity from a 5000l sprayer...

What do you mean by air assisted? Twin fluid, injecting air into the nozzle to run at 60-80 l/ha? Ordinary nozzles can run at 100 l/ha with good coverage and half the expense of these. Back when 200 l/ha was standard water volume Airtec (twin fluid) was worth looking at but not now.

By air assisted I think of one of these for work in big canopy crops like potatoes

 

[Feldspar]

If air assisted were so good, there would be more of them.

 

[dontknowanything]

So are you going to get a Bateman and keep spraying 1m above the crop?

 

[Feldspar]

So are you going to get a Bateman and keep spraying 1m above the crop?

1m is an exaggeration. Cost-wise it depends on the assumptions of the relative depreciation rates. If we could keep our existing RB17 and get another one, it might be that their combined depreciation is less than a trailed Horsch and a £90k tractor.

Do you need air on the tractor to run your Horsch? The Horsch chap was saying the cleaning system uses compressed air. Do the brakes realistically need to be air rather than hydraulic? If so, then we may end up needing a new tractor which I'd rather not do.

 

[Wiking]

If air assisted were so good, there would be more of them.

I agree, that's my thought aswell, there are no air-assisted around here just curious if they were more common abroad.

What do you mean by air assisted? Twin fluid, injecting air into the nozzle to run at 60-80 l/ha? Ordinary nozzles can run at 100 l/ha with good coverage and half the expense of these. Back when 200 l/ha was standard water volume Airtec (twin fluid) was worth looking at but not now.

I saw this danish spray manufacturer danfoil claiming drastic reduction in chemical and water usage and it seems like a load of BS to me, if this was true wouldn't everyone and their mother be running this system?
http://www.danfoil.dk/en/why_danfoil/danfoil_sprayers_and_the_environment/

Anyway I will probably get some quotes for Dammann (German I believe?), Dubex (Dutch) Amazone, Chafer, John Deere (since everyhing else is green...)

 

[dontknowanything]

1m is an exaggeration. Cost-wise it depends on the assumptions of the relative depreciation rates. If we could keep our existing RB17 and get another one, it might be that their combined depreciation is less than a trailed Horsch and a £90k tractor.

Do you need air on the tractor to run your Horsch? The Horsch chap was saying the cleaning system uses compressed air. Do the brakes realistically need to be air rather than hydraulic? If so, then we may end up needing a new tractor which I'd rather not do.

The cleaning system is rubbish, ignore that. But all of the valve shut offs are pneumatic (assuming they haven't changed since our one), so yes you do need air. On our old Berthouds one of them had a compressor built in, as it was on a JD without air.

A sprayer's main job is to get stuff onto plants, you need to buy the machine that does that best, it has to be worth some depreciation.

Good price or good value?

 

[Feldspar]

The cleaning system is rubbish, ignore that. But all of the valve shut offs are pneumatic (assuming they haven't changed since our one), so yes you do need air. On our old Berthouds one of them had a compressor built in, as it was on a JD without air.

A sprayer's main job is to get stuff onto plants, you need to buy the machine that does that best, it has to be worth some depreciation.

Good price or good value?

Do you have the top spec cleaning option? It sounds like there's different levels, and the LT has newer cleaning programmes.

That's the key trade-off, what value do you attach to superior boom control? I need to do some calculations on that front. Will be difficult to do though.

 

[dontknowanything]

Do you have the top spec cleaning option? It sounds like there's different levels, and the LT has newer cleaning programmes.

I don't think there were options for that 2 years ago

 

[SilliamWhale]

me and my father often work it like this if were flat out. He will get up at 4am (he likes getting up early) do a couple of loads then I will take over at 8 and spray for another 12-14 hours. Can get serious amounts done. And we would rather do it ourselves than pay someone to do it. We need to pay for lots of shooting in Wales anyway!

4am? That's a bit late isnt it? I'd be spraying by 3am.....

 

[Feldspar]

4am? That's a bit late isnt it? I'd be spraying by 3am.....

Real men don't sleep at all. Anyone not putting 3000 hrs plus a year on their sprayer is a hobby farmer in my book.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Real men don't sleep at all. Anyone not putting 3000 hrs plus a year on their sprayer is a hobby farmer in my book.

Pah I do that on my knapsack

 

[Feldspar]

Pah I do that on my knapsack

Presumably you have a bowser to back you up.

 

[SilliamWhale]

Presumably you have a bowser to back you up.

Yes it's between my legs

 

[ajd132]

Some people like getting up early. dont mind working harder when we need to. Bugger all to do from November until beginning of March in terms of long hours.

 

[dontknowanything]

The cleaning system is rubbish, ignore that. But all of the valve shut offs are pneumatic (assuming they haven't changed since our one), so yes you do need air. On our old Berthouds one of them had a compressor built in, as it was on a JD without air.

A sprayer's main job is to get stuff onto plants, you need to buy the machine that does that best, it has to be worth some depreciation.

Good price or good value?

Apparently Horsch read this forum, as I've ben told we must not be using the cleaning system correctly - which is entirely possible. So maybe it is great, I'll have to report back when we have been educated.

 

[Feldspar]

Apparently Horsch read this forum, as I've ben told we must not be using the cleaning system correctly - which is entirely possible. So maybe it is great, I'll have to report back when we have been educated.

They way the top level option seemed to work did sound quite advanced. It uses compressed air to purge the system, removing nearly all liquid from the sprayer. A subsequent rinsing therefore has very little dilution of existing chemical. You have two pumps, the main one and one that only has clean water going through it. The clean water one starts by rinsing the system and then the main one takes over, although I'm not super clear on this bit. As each part of the plumbing system is cleaned it shows a progress bar on the screen until everything is cleaned. With the LT the cleaning cycle happens pretty much at the touch of a button.

That's how it was explained to me anyway.

 

[Feldspar]

Some people like getting up early. dont mind working harder when we need to. Bugger all to do from November until beginning of March in terms of long hours.

Presumably you've only just got up?