Farm Information: Equipment: Sprayer
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We run a 2003 John Deere (JD) 4710 sprayer. This machine was purchased with a 90' boom and JD parallel tracking. In 2004, we installed an AutoBoom system (now owned by Raven) and a JD Auto-Trac system. These were critical improvements to the sprayer that allowed us to do a much more accurate and more efficient job spraying while enhancing the operator comfort level significantly. According to the KSU Overlap spreadsheet, moving to Auto-trac effectively saves us $0.20 per sprayed acre over using foam or a lightbar. Additionally, for the 2006 season, we added an Ag Leader Insight with Auto-Swath functionality. This saves an additional $0.57 per sprayed acre when compared to whole boom operation.
Spraying continuous wheat ground in April of 2003. This was before we had an Auto-Boom system.
Spraying continuous wheat ground in April of 2003. We tender this sprayer using our Freighliner FLD 120 and a flatbed trailer which carries all chemicals along with roughly 3000 gallons of water.
Sprayer in the shop for the winter
Close up of Auto-Boom wheels. These wheels don't actually roll on the ground but rather act as sensors to automatically control boom height. When a wheel impacts the ground, the system sends a signal to slightly increase boom height until the wheel sensor no longer trips. This system allows a contast and low running boom height which allows us to run faster on terraced ground and allows us to spray in higher wind conditions as compared to not having a boom sensing system.
On the far right (partially covered by the steering wheel) is the Auto-Boom control box. The next console is a GreenStar 1 console that controls the Auto-Trac system. To the right of that is another GreenStar 1 system that provides feedback on the spray system as well as basic sprayer information such as oil pressure, fuel, rpm, etc. The console on the right is the Ag Leader Insight which automatically controls the five boom sections found on the 4710 sprayer.
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