Application technology is now a must-have for trailed boom sprayers.

While wide booms increase productivity, the extra cost and yield losses of over or under spraying make automatic turn and speed compensation essential.

This October, HARDI Australia took a new lead in trailed sprayer application technology by announcing that the advanced H-SELECT nozzle control technology would now be offered with its popular COMMANDER family of sprayers.

HARDI COMMANDER is widely considered to be the world’s premier trailed sprayer, with tank sizes from 6,500 litres to 10,000 litres and height-controlled booms up to 52 metres in width.

HARDI Australia Product Manager Steve Lancaster says offering H-SELECT on the HARDI COMMANDER represents the next leap forward for the trailed sprayer segment.

“COMMANDER has been delivering unbeatable performance and productivity to Australian farmers for many years,” he says.

“Adding highly advanced H-SELECT application technology adds unrivalled precision and efficiency to the capacity and operating efficiency it is known for.”

How H-SELECT works

Previously available on self-propelled HARDI RUBICON and HARDI SARITOR 62 Active machines, H-Select nozzle control technology uses 4-head nozzle bodies arrayed in individual boom sections.

An autonomous controller monitors each boom section’s speed against the set spray rate, then selects nozzle heads rapidly and precisely in order to achieve consistent spray delivery.

Turn and Speed Compensation are integral to H-SELECT operation, rather than add-on features.

Speed sensing at each nozzle cluster ensures a constant application rate is maintained at every point along the boom and every stage of spray operations – including starting off, headland turns, and turns to follow the paddock shape or avoid obstacles.

The technology automatically compensates for the fact that nozzles at the outer tip of a 48.5 meter boom will move almost twice as fast as those on the inside tip during turns. In fact, H-SELECT continually adjusts the fluid rate for each nozzle cluster along the entire boom, to match the forward speed of that particular point at any given moment.

H-SELECT is also free from the boom size limitations that constrain other nozzle switching technologies and has been field-proven on HARDI 48.5 metre and even 54 m booms.

The benefits of accurate droplet control

Droplet consistency is critical to effective crop penetration and drift control.

Unlike pressure adjusted systems, which affect fluid velocity and therefore nozzle performance, the way H-SELECT switches between multiple nozzles means the flow rate can be continually adjusted without ever compromising the size or speed of the droplets produced.

Operators can slow down in dry or windy weather without compromising droplet size. Alternatively, they can increase their droplet size to gain better drift control on the boundary with a sensitive crop, or if the weather conditions deteriorate during the day.

H-SELECT users have observed fewer driftable fines thanks to the combination of accurate droplet size control with constant pressure.

The system can be set up to deliver and control any droplet size from Fine to Very Coarse.

HARDI Australia CEO Bill Franklin says the placement or deposition of chemical is a significant determinant of spray efficacy.

“Predictably applying the right amount of chemical in the right place is what spraying science is all about.

“Reliably achieving this goal is the holy grail for sprayer hardware and that is precisely why we have developed H-Select – to bring this extra precision and efficiency to our sprayers.”

Driving accuracy and productivity

H-SELECT integrates with the standard ISOBUS system, allowing operators to use a user-friendly run screen to set and change droplet size from the tractor cab – and adjust their spray application on the go.

Where other technologies require the operator to stop and recalibrate the system whenever they reset the spray quality, H-SELECT users can quickly alter the target droplet size whenever the crop, required rate or weather conditions change.

The flexibility of H-SELECT also saves time between spray jobs, helping to boost overall productivity. For example, it is possible to spray out a tank of insecticide at a low water rate, followed by a tank of fungicide at a high water rate, without changing every nozzle on the boom between jobs.

“HARDI COMMANDER has been at the fore-front of Australian broadacre spraying for decades,” says Steve Lancaster.

“Our new H-SELECT option means COMMANDER owners can continue to achieve the efficiency, accuracy and productivity accuracy modern farming demands.”

HARDI COMMANDER will be available with H-SELECT nozzle control technology from October 2020. Ask your HARDI Dealer how COMMANDER can benefit your farm or call HARDI Australia on 1300 042 734 now.

“H-SELECT Operators can change droplet size on the go, using the in-cab run screen”

““HARDI COMMANDER with H-SELECT is the most specced up trailer in the Australian Market”

“Unlike other nozzle control technologies, H-SELECT is not limited by boom width and has been proven on booms up to 54 metres”