Tillage farmer James O’Reilly specialises in growing winter cereals on his farm in Co. Kilkenny. After a very successful demo of the Amazone ZG-TS trailed spreader in the spring of 2020 from local Amazone dealer Michael Eardly, James purchased one for the next season.
The ZGT-S is available in two sizes- 7500L and 10,000. James opted for the larger 10t model for his farm. The ZGTS is unique in that the hopper is angle towards the drawbar which keeps more weight on the tractor and the centre of gravity low. We don’t need a PTO with the high oil flow capacity from the tractor driving the spreader discs hydraulically.
CUSTOMER:
James O'Reilly
Co. Kilkenny
DEALER:
Eardly Agri Ltd
Co.Kilkenny
James explains what impressed him so much about the Amazone spreader,
“I really liked the ease of setting up the spreader, I liked how the Amazone mySpreader app guides you in the right direction and more importantly a dealer back up service that’s second to none, that was a massive influence in buying this machine”
MY SPREADER APP
The Amazone MySpreader app is available for free on Android and Apple phones. It is a one stop shop for setting up Amazone spreaders. It has the fertiliser service database, EasyCheck database and EasyMix functions all in one place. With most of the Irish blends already in the database, it makes initial setup of your spreader easy.
Output and accuracy are the most important features for James. With the ZG-TS, James is spreading from 30-70 ton a day depending on spread rate and the distance of draw with operating speeds up to 24kph on a calm day.
SBS SYSTEM
SBS stands for Soft Ballistic System. It combines four features to ensure the fertiliser remains undamaged so it can be delivered to where it’s supposed to go. The agitator turns slowly so it doesn’t grind the fert, the fert is delivered to the centre of the disc where it moves slowest and the fert is accelerated and ejected gently from the disc.
The beauty of this machine is that you get 100% overlap while spreading and this ensures you get a much better spread pattern with low disc speeds between 600-700rpm and still being able to spread fertiliser at working widths from 30 – 36 m without crushing grains thanks to the Amzone SBS (Soft Ballistic System)
Precise lateral distribution over the entire working width is just as important as an accurate application rate. This is the reason why Amazone uses a triangular spread pattern and double overlap for spreaders. The working width can be adjusted each side individually by changing the disc speed. The fertiliser is fed on centrally at a low speed resulting in little fertiliser damage.
Fertiliser needs to be handled with care, it’s too expensive to waste
“Don’t expect a bulk lime spreader to give you the same accuracy as a purpose built fertiliser spreader” James explains, our usage rate of fertiliser has dropped on average of 4-5% since starting to use GPS with proper section control where the spread pattern is narrowing and as you enter gearoigs or short ground, “it’s not just painting a pretty picture on a GPS screen its actually doing it, you won’t have over fertilised and potentially lodged crops or under fertilised and have reduced yield in those gearoigs”
In wedge shaped fields, the part-width sections can be switched from outside to inside and across the centre to the other side. Automatic part-width section control reduces fertiliser use by 5-10 %, depending on the field structure. In addition, the crops in the headland and wedge shaped fields are much more uniform. Lodged crops caused by unwanted over-fertilisation is avoided.
The ZG-TS trailed spreaders, equipped with the optional steering axle, provides a maximum steering angle of up to 28°. The automatic steering even allows counter-steering on slopes. As soon as the spreading disc drive has been deactivated and a speed of 15 km/h is exceeded, the steering automatically stops to ensure the safe road transport at speeds of up to 60 km/h.
Technology has greatly improved explains James, the ability for the spreader to drop fertiliser to the edge of the hedge has greatly improved, the biggest round of any field is the round by the ditch, the average area of any headland is up to 20% and that’s a lot of area to waste product on or be sacrificing yield on not to mention the cost of fertiliser at €700-€800 euro a ton it’s really getting serious that every grain you apply needs to be working for you.
AutoTS – comfortable and precise lateral distribution right up to the field boundary. The disc-integrated AutoTS border allows the user to change how far to the boarder the fertiliser goes at the press of a button – Amazone break it down to: side, border or watercourse spreading with the fertiliser spread pattern reducing more or less depending on what’s next to your field.
Small features that make operating the ZG-TS a dream, James likes its ease of use, high build quality, good paint work and it’s very easy to clean down after use with very little maintenance required to keep the machine performing to the best of its ability.
James concluded that he would be very happy to recommend the Amazone ZG-TS to anybody in the market for a new spreader.
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