El Niño Warning: NZ Farmers Urged to Plan Fert Early
Plan ahead and be patient. That’s the message to farmers and horticulturalists from the chairman of the NZ Agricultural Aviation Association, Kent Weir.
Based on a heavy duty, hot dipped galvanised steel frame, the Tornado 1300 looks like it’s built to last, and that the designers have put some thought into how it’s put together.
Any components likely to contact the fertiliser – spreader discs, vanes, guards and hopper shutters – are manufactured from stainless steel; the one piece hopper is made from polyethylene and is quickly removed for access to the guts of the unit to do cleaning or maintenance.
Adjustments are easy: spreaders vanes are adjusted by a single wingnut, and the shutter opening by a threaded nylon rod. Shutter actuation is controlled from the tractor seat by hydraulic rams.
With a hopper capacity of 1300L, one tonne can be loaded easily with little risk of spillage. Spread width, dependent on material, is up to 36m.
The drive to the central and lateral oil-filled gearboxes is by 540rpm PTO, the standard specification includes a galvanised mesh in the upper hopper to remove lumps and foreign objects, and agitators keep fertiliser moving in the lower part.
