Upgrade boosts accuracy
Many second- or even third-hand self-propelled sprayers are still decent and reliable machines that only lack the latest technology. Ken Topham explains how a policy of buying used and upgrading is paying dividends for a Shropshire business.
Andrew Wade Farms, based in Shropshire, is a new farming enterprise, which started in 2020 when Andrew expanded his existing agronomy business by taking on a farm business tenancy on an 80ha holding, which became available on his doorstep.
With an already high workload from Optigro, his agronomy supply and apply business, he looked around for extra sprayer capacity to cover the extra land. He found this in a tidy, 2017 Bateman RB55 – continuing his buying used and upgrading strategy.
This is now the largest sprayer on the fleet, equipped with a 36m wide boom, originally providing nine sections. Appreciating the value of precision, Andrew quickly called in Andy Parry (Parry Agricultural Sprayer Service) to bring the machine up to date.
“Having more sections and reducing scorching was a must, particularly for contracting. Andy helped with the design and installed everything, it’s made a massive difference,” explains Andrew.
Precision upgrade
While it came as standard with a CANbus control and nine air-actuated sections, the upgrade now provides 24 sections, with precise, RTK auto-section control, operated through a SIM-connected modem.
As contractors, Optigro’s Bateman often works at 24m, which means the outer sections remain unfolded. To make the 24m width a bit more controllable the two outer sections are one metre.
Andy Parry (PASS) says he’s particularly pleased with this upgrade. “I spoke to Andrew about this, we planned it out well, my concern was that adding more sections from the front of the machine would cause too much mechanical delay, so I proposed we do it at the boom.”
After removing all the original shut-off equipment, the air is now delivered to each boom box from the compressor via two, 10mm pipes. This provides ample capacity to run the new switch gear, so there’s no switching ahead of the boom.
Ag Leader swath modules, mounted on each boom, are connected to each other and to the ISObus terminal in the cab as well as to Parker air controllers, which are fed from the 10mm air supply. These control standard air-operated TeeJet nozzle bodies fitted with Lechler ID3 nozzles.
To reduce any lag, Andy also fitted dump valves into the supply to each body. Small and light they have negligible effect on the boom, but they dump the air close to the nozzle body, so the pressure doesn’t go back to the valves to be released.
The machine runs a flow-based rate system with a pressure fall-back to maintain accuracy when working with small sections. Getting down to 1m and 2m sections doesn’t require a lot of output, even at 200 litres/ha the flow can be down to double digit litres/min.
Another addition is a new Ag Leader ISO Liquid rate control module, which is required because of the switch from CANbus to ISObus.
Up in the cab is an ISObus compatible Ag Leader InCommand 1200. On the roof there’s an Ag Leader 7500 receiver and underneath is a modem with SIM card to receive the RTK correction signal. This allows the Optigro fleet to cover a large area, without needing a base station.
The system was installed with help from a Severn Trent Water grant, covering half the cost of the upgrade. With the 24 sections boosting precision, it reduces over-applications on headlands and, with this and other technology the seven-year-old Bateman now matches a modern, high spec sprayer.
More details on Severn Trent Water’s STEPS scheme can be found HERE.
Tech upgrade kit
• Ag Leader InCommand 1200 screen
• Two Ag Leader swath modules
• Ag Leader ISO Liquid rate controller
• Ag Leader 7500 receiver
• Two, 12-way Parker air valve blocks
• 24 dump valves
