An increase in the amount of blackgrass appearing in arable fields across East Yorkshire presented an opportunity for contractors Stuart and Derek Dyson to upgrade one of their existing two Horstine TMA4 applicators.
“The spread of blackgrass has become a huge problem here in East Yorkshire over recent years, and there has been increasing demand from arable farmers for us to apply Avadex granules to their crops,” says Stuart. “For the best results the granules should be applied in a small window immediately after drilling. Consequently, we need to cover a large area in a small period of time and our existing TMA4’s were unable to cope with the demand.
“I explained the situation to Horstine that our TM4’s could no longer cope with the workload and we needed more capacity which could come from a wider boomed machine. Ironically, we were told that they were already working on a larger capacity mounted TMA4 called the Cascade which offered a boom width up to 24m and a hopper capacity of 1500 litres.
“We bought one of the first machines available, straight off the production line in September 2015 and within one day of arrival it was in action. The Cascade is mounted on the back of a John Deere 7800 with wide flotation tyres.”
One concern for the Dyson’s was application accuracy from a wider boomed machine for all future operations, particularly with the issues of tightening environmental regulations. Horstine’s design upgrades ensured that the Cascade was every bit as accurate as its smaller predecessor.
For example application accuracy across the full working width of the boom is guaranteed using four application sections, each with hydraulically driven metering, where each distribution outlet on the boom is fed by its own individual metering rotor.
The product is delivered from the metering rotors to the distribution outlets via a pneumatic system, featuring a high capacity hydraulically driven fan and individual venturi’s for each outlet. The layout of this system is such that once the product is metered into the venturi, it travels along a perfectly straight pipe, with no bends or kinks to delay it along the way.
“The double overlap spread pattern from the distribution outlets guarantees cover over the whole of the area, but without ever propelling product further two metres.
Boomed application also has an advantage over spinning discs for granular fertiliser application, especially in windy conditions. This widens the application window for growers. Auto section control gives growers greater control at the headlands too; reducing the chances of lodging and ensuring product is not wasted.
“One of the best features of the Cascade is not only the improved accuracy but the fact that it uses RDS technology. This maintains application accuracy which automatically increases the rate as the forward speed of the tractor increases.
“One TMA4 is on the back of a Frazer Agribuggy which allows us to apply Avadex in less than ideal conditions and the other is on a two wheeled axle which is towed behind a quad bike. After the success using the Cascade, we are thinking of getting another one to cope with demand.”
To find out more about this applicator on the Horstine Cascade product page.
