Lot less bother with a hoverTaking low ground pressure to the extreme… German hovercraft manufacturer KaiserKraft has developed a vessel for agricultural applications. Extensive testing last spring allowed the company to evaluate its Grosse Luge Mk1 as a vehicle for fertiliser spreading. “Initially it was found that the propulsion fan disrupted the spread pattern too much,” says project director Prof Diettrich Loda-Pollocks. “But our design team soon turned this to an advantage – fertiliser is fed through the fan, which distributes it across an 18m working width.

” The same technique has been used to spread other materials such as cereal seed and slug pellets. Particular success was achieved with pelleted manure from housed bullocks, reports Prof Loda-Pollocks.