Karinga Farms choose the HARDI CAT 3

 

 

Gordon & Jenny & Son Scott Muller of Karinga Farms, Biloela, Central Queensland are second and third generation farmers and know only to well how important it is to have their crop protection strategies in place. ‘The battle against insect pest’s disease and weeds that can harm or destroy our crops mean we need to be ever vigilant and on time with our spraying’. Says Gordon

Crop protection plays a vital role in our mixed farming operation. We are running approx 400 head of cattle and 1100 acres of winter & summer cropping which is a rotation of wheat, mung beans and sorghum. It is essential we produce a sustainable yield and of high quality.

We recently update our existing HARDI spraying equipment to a new HARDI 2000 litre CAT3 linkage sprayer and 1400 litre front tank to stay on top of our spraying program. This configuration allows us to utilize our tractor as the sprayer taking advantage of its compactness and manoeuvrability.

‘Maximising the available spraying time is important and the CAT 3 with front tank combination gives us 3400 litres total capacity to keep spraying when conditions are good to go’. Said Gordon. 'The decision to buy another HARDI was based on our past experience and we were happy with the reliable service and long life of our last HARDI'.

The shape of the front tank provides minimum visual obstruction looking forward over the tank and the 28 metre Eagle boom offers unequalled performance in rough conditions. The boom design is a two dimension construction with dynamically linked coil spring centre, which is the key to the smooth boom ride and performance.

The Eagle boom is dived into 10 sections for better chemical application. Hydraulic fold and height control is standard and with individual wing tilt option the Eagle boom provides versatility when turning on headlands and lifting over irrigation hydrants.

Boom flush taps make cleaning the boom easy and the filtration system is very effective for preventing blocked nozzles. THE HC5500 application rate controller was chosen because it was easy to understand and use. 'All we have to do is to enter the application rate and away we go'. A big benefit of the controller was the capabilities for integration with a Trimble FM1000 Auto Pilot for guidance, auto section control variable rate control. In doing this we noticed significant savings in time taken to spray and chemical used.