Vicon spreader is fitted with axle and a 1.5t hopper (Volume 5 - 1996 Winter Edition)

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Ross
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All the great and good are now emphasising the need for soil quality to be enhanced. Conferences are arranged on the future of agriculture and you can be certain that nearly every speaker will tell the audience of the imperative need to look after soils, how they are such a thin layer on the surface, how many million trillion bugs there are in a teaspoon… and so on.

Practical Farm Ideas has been on the case for more than 20 years, talking particular rather than generalising, and here’s a case in point.

Co Cork farmer John Burchill used his Fordson Dexta to spread 7cwt of fertiliser at a time using his mounted Vicon spreader, and he now uses the same tractor - and the same machine - for 1.5 tons at a time. He fitted an axle and tow frame to the original Vicon, and then built a plywood hopper. The hopper is mounted above the spreader mechanism, and there's a slow moving auger that feeds the spout by moving the fertiliser to the back of the machine. A hydraulic ram is used to open and close the control shutter.


viconfert.jpg

A small light tractor handles 1.5 t of fert easily

Inside the hopper is a length of 4in galvanised grain auger on which the auger runs, and he's fitted a length of 2.5in galv angle above, to keep the weight of the fertiliser off the auger.

Trailed spreaders are still rare in comparison to mounted spreaders, which get ever larger and need bigger tractors to handle them. In comparison the trailed machine distributes its weight over six wheels instead of four, and only needs a lightweight tractor despite the load.

Getting the auger to turn slowly needs a series of reduction pulleys and belts, and an on-off handle which applies tension to the drive belt, so the auger only works when required.

These days there is the option to make the same machine using a spreader mechanism that throws it wider, and axles which are fitted with wider tyres.

Note From Practical Farm Ideas

If you don't already subscribe to PFI, then you can Subscribe here for £16.50 a year. However, if you have a specific problem and you wonder if this has already been covered in PFI then you can read a list of all the project covered over the past 20 years in our Index document.

And finally if you have a project you have done, that you would like featured in PFI, then please email Mike Donovan at [email protected]
 

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