Sprayer options and must-have features

[SpottedFlycatcher]

We have taken our arable operations back in-house and I am costing up sprayer options as the contracting bill is likely to be £7k-£8k per year and I have my PA quals, having been using a simple 12 m mounted for all our grass and stewardship stuff.

We have 90 ha of cereals in 3 blocks of 29-32 ha, plus establishing and spraying off 30 ha of GS4 each year, plus 20 ha of various rotational stewardship options. Field size 4 to 12 ha, some odd shapes and some steepish undulations.

I'd like 24 m width for versatility and we have a 3 m drill.

Budget £8-12k

Main questions:

1. Mounted or trailed pros and cons - lots of threads on this and I'm erring towards trailed, but bit scared of the tipping risk!

2. Favoured makes - sounds like Berthoud would be cost-effective (lowest price!) and the main sprayer dealers could retrofit most features. Have looked at all the UK makes and they all look decent! Esp Chafer, Knight.

3. Must-have features: what are they?! e.g. contour tracking of booms and linkage? Shut-off options etc.

4. Liquid fert - still have yara tanks but are planning on applying solid. Realise pros and cons of both, but anything to think about when buying, to leave option of applying liquid? I realise some won't buy a used sprayer that applied fert.

5. Best time of year to buy?

6. Better off not buying and sticking with contractor?!

Thanks in advance!

 

[Bobthebuilder]

What size of tractor available

 

[sjt01]

We have taken our arable operations back in-house and I am costing up sprayer options as the contracting bill is likely to be £7k-£8k per year and I have my PA quals, having been using a simple 12 m mounted for all our grass and stewardship stuff.

We have 90 ha of cereals in 3 blocks of 29-32 ha, plus establishing and spraying off 30 ha of GS4 each year, plus 20 ha of various rotational stewardship options. Field size 4 to 12 ha, some odd shapes and some steepish undulations.

I'd like 24 m width for versatility and we have a 3 m drill.

Budget £8-12k

Main questions:

1. Mounted or trailed pros and cons - lots of threads on this and I'm erring towards trailed, but bit scared of the tipping risk!

2. Favoured makes - sounds like Berthoud would be cost-effective (lowest price!) and the main sprayer dealers could retrofit most features. Have looked at all the UK makes and they all look decent! Esp Chafer, Knight.

3. Must-have features: what are they?! e.g. contour tracking of booms and linkage? Shut-off options etc.

4. Liquid fert - still have yara tanks but are planning on applying solid. Realise pros and cons of both, but anything to think about when buying, to leave option of applying liquid? I realise some won't buy a used sprayer that applied fert.

5. Best time of year to buy?

6. Better off not buying and sticking with contractor?!

Thanks in advance!

We were warned off Bethoud due to the spares being Bethoud specific. We ended up with a second hand FarmGem 24 m trailed, suits us well. Previously we had a 21m Sands SP from my father's time, with 800 acres more with veg.

 

[SpottedFlycatcher]

What size of tractor available

150 hp. Trying to keep things as light and cost efficient as possible and it's our only machine with GPS, autosteer etc

 

[fudge]

Simple trailed sprayer is what you need. I would spend on an extra set of wheels with wide tyres since this type of outfit travels better than a mounted sprayer IMO. What you want may be different to what you need!!!

 

[Hampton]

Buy a sprayer with air shut off. That way it’s an easy step to section control should you wish to go that way

 

[Hampton]

Buy a sprayer with air shut off. That way it’s an easy step to section control should you wish to go that way

Obvs the tractor would need air to achieve this

 

[moretimeforgolf]

We have taken our arable operations back in-house and I am costing up sprayer options as the contracting bill is likely to be £7k-£8k per year and I have my PA quals, having been using a simple 12 m mounted for all our grass and stewardship stuff.

We have 90 ha of cereals in 3 blocks of 29-32 ha, plus establishing and spraying off 30 ha of GS4 each year, plus 20 ha of various rotational stewardship options. Field size 4 to 12 ha, some odd shapes and some steepish undulations.

I'd like 24 m width for versatility and we have a 3 m drill.

Budget £8-12k

Main questions:

1. Mounted or trailed pros and cons - lots of threads on this and I'm erring towards trailed, but bit scared of the tipping risk!

2. Favoured makes - sounds like Berthoud would be cost-effective (lowest price!) and the main sprayer dealers could retrofit most features. Have looked at all the UK makes and they all look decent! Esp Chafer, Knight.

3. Must-have features: what are they?! e.g. contour tracking of booms and linkage? Shut-off options etc.

4. Liquid fert - still have yara tanks but are planning on applying solid. Realise pros and cons of both, but anything to think about when buying, to leave option of applying liquid? I realise some won't buy a used sprayer that applied fert.

5. Best time of year to buy?

6. Better off not buying and sticking with contractor?!

Thanks in advance!

Knight trailed… good backup, spares readily available.

 

[Fergieman]

I have a 2011 3200lt 24m GMR trailed sprayer which will be for sale after the autumn spraying.
2 sets of wheels, 3/4" SS lines, GPS auto shut off. This has a low centre of gravity and has been used on some steep ground without falling over (I've probably jinxed it now!)

 

[benferg]

Obvs the tractor would need air to achieve this

Not necessarily. If the sprayer is running a pto pump etc then maybe slave off that to run air.

currently run 9 sections on single line next rig will have twin nozzles with the ability to swap between them or both on the go. I’m looking forward to that.
Assume you will go live boom, that’s a good time saver.

 

[SpottedFlycatcher]

Not necessarily. If the sprayer is running a pto pump etc then maybe slave off that to run air.

currently run 9 sections on single line next rig will have twin nozzles with the ability to swap between them or both on the go. I’m looking forward to that.
Assume you will go live boom, that’s a good time saver.

Live boom - is that when the boom pivots and isn't fixed to the sprayer? Is that good or bad for contours? Got some humps and dips to negotiate - contractor has contour adjustment for the booms which looks really useful on our ground

 

[ollie989898]

Trailed may not suit all you fields but if it does, happy days.

Autosteer on the tractor will be the big win.

If your sprayer can handle liquid fert, it's a no brainer. Just be aware that it is very heavy if you fill the sprayer right up and you need to be hot on cleaning the thing properly.

 

[willyorkshire]

Live boom - is that when the boom pivots and isn't fixed to the sprayer? Is that good or bad for contours? Got some humps and dips to negotiate - contractor has contour adjustment for the booms which looks really useful on our ground

We got pushed into trailed JD sprayer after nightmare year with Mazzotti, mentioned in other threads. However, this one does everything it should perfectly, son actually enjoying spraying again! Go for best you can afford on your budget, look for robust ie booms that haven't had welding repairs etc.

 

[BRB John]

If you're going to save £8k a year by buying a sprayer you can afford more than £8k for a sprayer....
£24k would be much more practical.

 

[SpottedFlycatcher]

If you're going to save £8k a year by buying a sprayer you can afford more than £8k for a sprayer....
£24k would be much more practical.

Agreed, but we are starting from scratch with kit and likely need to buy a loadall for livestock work, grain loading and to free up the main tractor for spraying. Can't get everything at once. Initially I'm looking at using it for timely Glyphosate applications but still having contractor do pre-ems etc, so can't yet justify much more than £15k. Very much on the threshold of purchase or not as we are only 2 full time for livestock and arable

 

[BRB John]

Agreed, but we are starting from scratch with kit and likely need to buy a loadall for livestock work, grain loading and to free up the main tractor for spraying. Can't get everything at once. Initially I'm looking at using it for timely Glyphosate applications but still having contractor do pre-ems etc, so can't yet justify much more than £15k. Very much on the threshold of purchase or not as we are only 2 full time for livestock and arable

Sprayer £24k and a loadall £24k =
£48K over 60 months £1k a month probably. Sprayer pays the first 8 months and the loadall will pay for the other 4
Well a manitou or a Kramer would anyway... no promises about JCB...

 

[SpottedFlycatcher]

Sprayer £24k and a loadall £24k =
£48K over 60 months £1k a month probably. Sprayer pays the first 8 months and the loadall will pay for the other 4
Well a manitou or a Kramer would anyway... no promises about JCB...

Haven't found a suitable loadall for less than £40k yet, or that spare £1k a month on top of everything else yet
Definitely appreciate that bit more investment gets a lot more for longer though, hence asking the questions. Thanks, more food for thought / head scratching

 

[Barleymow]

I have a 2011 3200lt 24m GMR trailed sprayer which will be for sale after the autumn spraying.
2 sets of wheels, 3/4" SS lines, GPS auto shut off. This has a low centre of gravity and has been used on some steep ground without falling over (I've probably jinxed it now!)

Think agrilinc have 1 similar

 

[Bobthebuilder]

For older machines the series 4 boom on a knight sprayer takes a bit of beating for strength, can get them quite basic or well specified with tech and parts easily available

 

[BRB John]

Haven't found a suitable loadall for less than £40k yet, or that spare £1k a month on top of everything else yet
Definitely appreciate that bit more investment gets a lot more for longer though, hence asking the questions. Thanks, more food for thought / head scratching

I'm not the person to ask if your looking to save money
I could add after that 60 months they'd both probably still be worth £36k so really would only cost you like £24K... how can you afford not to