Dairy Effluent Management: Right Amount at the Right Time
Good effluent management on a dairy farm combines a well-designed system with proper processes to ensure the right amount of effluent gets applied to pasture at the right time.
Granted water is cheap, but carting one tonne of it in each rear tyre when not required can be a drag on acceleration, degrade tyres and raise fuel consumption because, let’s be honest, once it’s in, it stays in.
Now comes a new range of ballast gear offered by Giltrap Agrizone, Cambridge, from the French company Althimasse; they offer interesting solutions slightly outside the norm.
For loader tractors – often the target of rear tyre water fills – a 900 or 1500kg cast steel counterweight will help bring things under control.
It will also allow the use of rear-mounted implements via its fixed, integral three-point-linkage system.
This added weight, plus a quick hitch, will allow a feed trailer to be towed, a workable solution around a feed pad.
The same units can also be used as counterweights for front-mounting to balance rear implements; they have hi-visibility extremity-marking panels.
Also designed for front-mounting is a neat system sculpted to fit between the tractor’s front link arms and embodying an adjustable mounting system. This has a base weight of 900kg and an extra cassette system to raise the mass by a further 300kg.
Further combinations can take maximum capacity to 2400kg.
Interestingly, the cassette can be picked up or dropped off quickly and safely from the tractor seat.
