North Yorkshire contractor Mark Harper will be showing off his new umbilical hose and slurry equipment at this year’s Lamma show.

He started the contracting business in 2006 with a cheap second-hand system for use as a backup system or to hire out. He then built a spreader bar, followed by a reeler and started picking up second-hand pumps and pipes to complete the systems.

As more and more farmers looked to invest in their own systems, he started selling 15-20 set-ups a year. However with second-hand umbilical pipe getting hard to find, he started buying new hose to put on systems, and began to go down the route of manufacturing a new range of pipe himself.

As more farmers look to use systems on 24m tramlines, he says, pipe wear and tear is becoming an increasing problem, especially when pulling 500m up a field. Pipes split because of the drag on the heavy clay soils, he adds, and even new pipe seems to suffer after a few months of hard use in the wrong conditions.

Six years on, his new Alligator pipe is made from a high-grade NBR/PVC compound, unlike some brands which are rubber nitrile only. It is made from a woven design where the reinforcement is completely encapsulated within the thick rubber compound that forms the case and lining rather than using three layers glued together.

This protects the hose against damage, he says, and stops the jacket separating from the inner reinforcement. The inner surface of the hose also has an increased PVC-to-rubber ratio providing a smoother surface compared to other makes giving increased flow rates.

The hose is available in 200m lengths in 100mm (4in) yellow, orange or black and he is also now selling Cryman pumps.

More on this topic

See our Lamma page for more kit due to be at the show and details of the event.