Alpego eyes electric power harrow
Distributed by OriginAg in New Zealand, Italian manufacturer Alpego recently showed its three metre Alysium electric power harrow at the Italian Eima Event, taking away an innovation award.
The Nevada RainWave, originally developed by a German farmer in response to the banning of conventional splashplates in Europe, is said to result in a larger droplet size and the ability to spread wide, despite running low pressures and high flow rates.
The oscillating spreading head, not unlike the design of a traditional garden sprinkler, moves left to right as effluent hits the plate, creating large droplets that fall gently to the ground, in what is described as a “rain-like” manner. The action is said to reduce wind-drift and evaporation, so is particularly useful near watercourses or urban developments.
Spreading width can be adjusted from 6 to 18 metres, with a range of spreader heads, and the ability to deals with outputs of up to 200 cubic metres per hour. The benefits of a wide spread allows application depths to be cut to as low as 1mm, for rapid absorption and reduced ponding, while also allowing operators to reduce speeds to less than 7km/h.
The option, said to deliver more than double the output of a conventional splash plate, is “driven” by the flow of effluent, has minimal maintenance requirements other than a regular greasing and is said to create very little contamination to the grass sward, allowing re-grazing over a shorter cycle.
The RainWave is available for use with most makes of tankers or umbilical systems and able to deal with solids content up to 20%. The use of stainless steel throughout is said to offer low maintenance and an extended service life.
www.nevadagroup.co.nz
