“It’s a future-proof purchase that is delivering cost savings and efficiency for us, and to assist Alfie who will eventually take over the business. I wish we’d bought one sooner.”
“I wanted the very latest in application technology, along with more output and capability,” says Wayne of Long Sutton, Lincs-based DE Dye. “So we bought the highest specification trailed sprayer we could find – and our search led us to the Kverneland iXtrack T4 from Irelands Farm Machinery. Nothing else compared to it with price and specification, and the dealer back-up is second-to-none.”
Wayne (pictured, centre), along with his son Alfie and his father Derek, grow a combination of cereals and potatoes from Brown’s Gate Farm. The wider boom was bought for more output.
“We had been spraying our potatoes at 82in centres with a 27m boom, but using a contractor for cereals at 72in centres on 36m tramlines, to make the most of timings,” he explains. “Now we can also standardise our tramlines at 82in centres.”
With individual nozzle control, overlaps are not a problem. He reports that one 12-acre field with 11 corners, is saving the equivalent of one acre of overlap - around 8% - thanks to individual nozzle control.
“None of our fields are square, so we’re expecting quite a saving across the farm with our chemical costs over the year,” he says. “And we’ll be producing far better crops as a result.”
Complete with 4,600-litre tank and 36m boom, he says sprayer specification is impressive with iXspray software, iXclean Pro one-touch rinsing, Boom Guide Pro, IsoMatch Grip programmable joystick, steered and suspended axle, drawbar suspension, boom line recirculation and a two-year warranty.
And the switch to a trailed model has made use of available tractor power – a four-cylinder Fendt 516, which has been fitted with an IsoMatch Tellus PRO dual screen universal terminal, alongside the Vario terminal.
“Adding the IsoMatch Tellus PRO makes so much sense,” he says. “I can watch the sprayer functions on the top part of the screen, and the application map on the lower part. It’s a superb combination that compliments the tractor screen, and I can use it with my e-drill Maxi power harrow drill combination too.”
Wayne says the attention to detail with the sprayer also stands out.
“I like the way the induction hopper is protected from dirt and debris when closed; the boom sensors automatically fold with the boom for added protection; you can move precise amounts of water from the clean water tank, and using autofill, you’ll always get the tank contents correct for the area being sprayed. It’s brilliant.”
“Not only is the sprayer easy to use and extremely accurate, it’s also aesthetically pleasing and modern-looking too,” he says. “It’s a future-proof purchase that is delivering cost savings and efficiency for us, and to assist Alfie who will eventually take over the business. I wish we’d bought one sooner.”
