Add-ons spread the load

24 September 1999




Add-ons spread the load

When it comes to making

practical use of your quad,

spreaders of one sort or

another provide plenty of

options. Peter Hill rounds up

whats available

OF all the implements available for ATVs, spreaders do more than anything to turn quad bikes into useful little workhorses.

After all, quad bikes could have been invented for applying slug pellets. Light and fast over the ground, they are ideal for this application in a wet autumn when heavier equipment will more than make its mark. And thoroughly economical too.

Add seed broadcasting for times when conditions work against the use of conventional sowing machinery, and there is work aplenty for a quad equipped with a broadcaster on its rump.

There are four such devices, all using plastic hoppers to minimise weight and stainless steel for key components to guard against corrosion, with C-Dax adding a high density plastic spinner to its Slug Master.

Spread pattern bias adjustment is a feature of most, including the latest version of the Stocks Fan Jet which, along with the Slug Master, can also be had with variable disc speed. This enables the spreading width to be fine tuned according to the density and particle size of different products and materials.

Standard spread width from the Evans & Pearce Electrobroadcaster and Cycle Country spreader 12m (40ft); the others deliver up to 24m (80ft) but an up to 30m (98ft) throw is possible when the more powerful motor option is specified for the Electrobroadcaster.

For emergency fertiliser spreading to field crops; a means of getting early nitrogen on to grass without churning up pastures; or simply to work more economically in paddocks and the like, rather more capacity is needed to make quad bike broadcasting a viable option.

With decent-size hoppers and spinners driven by ground wheel, mini spreaders fit the bill. Add low pressure balloon tyres and wide track settings (for stability) to make them suitable for field use behind a quad.

Port Agrics ATV implement range chips in with the 500kg capacity Spreada, which mounts a moulded plastic hopper and stainless steel spinner on a tubular steel chassis with ground drive to the spreading system.

In most cases, these broadcasters can be adapted to apply road salt (useful for keeping ice at bay on the farm drive and local lanes) or laying feed for hungry pheasants. &#42

WHATSAVAILABLE?

&#8226 ATV Direct (0113-277 8663) Cycle Country mounted 45kg spinner with polypropylene hopper, stainless steel outlet gate and disc. Spreads slug pellets to 12m. Manual shut-off. £295.

&#8226 Martin Lishman (01778-426600) Evans & Pearce 85 litre Electrobroadcaster mounted spinner. Plastic hopper on stainless steel outlet and fixed speed disc. Spreads to 12m or to 30m with heavy duty electric motor. Manual shut-off (£465) and electric shut-off (£580) versions.

&#8226 Logic (01434-606661) Logic LDS100 ground drive spreader – fertiliser/seed and sand/salt/feed versions, latter with steel liner and spout. 300 litre (approx 5cwt) capacity, swivel hitch, 7-16m spread width. Price £1225.

&#8226 VC102 and VC502 single and tandem-axle chassis to take Vicon 303 and 603 waggling spout broadcasters for fertiliser and seed. Complete with 5.5hp engine-driven pto £1175-£1595; with spreaders £2695-£3095.

&#8226 System 40 single and tandem-axle chassis to take Vicon 503 waggling spout broadcaster. Adjustable mounting height and axle track; 5.5hp engine, optional centrifugal drive clutch. £1715-£2500.

&#8226 Evans & Pearce Electrobroadcaster mounted spinner for slug pellets, micro-granules, etc. 24m (40ft) spread, infinitely variable application rate. £465 with manual control, £580 electric.

&#8226 Port Agric (01892-783424) Spreada trailed fertiliser broadcaster; 500kg moulded plastic hopper on steel tube frame with ball hitch. Spread width up to 12m (40ft), manual on-off control, optional pheasant feeder kit. £1200.

&#8226 Richard Stocks (01945-464909) Stocks Fan Jet MkIV broadcaster. Mounted 65 litre tipping (for emptying) plastic hopper on stainless steel body and spinner, attached using universal fitting bracket. Spreading width set at 12m to 24m by fixed disc speed and deflectors or variable disc speed. Feed-point adjustment fine tunes left-right balance. ATV model with manual shut-off £541; Super (electric shut-off) £541; Vario (variable disc speed) £643. Mounting bracket £67 (included with ATV model).

&#8226 Micrometer metered feed fixed width broadcaster in 1m modules for mounted (up to 2m) or trailed (typically 3m-4m) applications of herbicide granules, seed, etc.

&#8226 Tri-Ag (01953-605151) C-Dax Slug Master ATV-mounted broadcaster with electric shut-off, rate and spread bias adjustment, and optional spinner motor speed control (£94) for variable spreading width up to 24m. 75 litre plastic hopper. £490 or £556 with Quick Smart attachment frame.

&#8226 C-Dax Spread Master ATV-mounted 75 litre fertiliser/seed broadcaster. 15m nominal spread width. £455 or £521 with mounting frame; variable spinner speed £94.

&#8226 C-Dax GD300 ground drive spreader for fertiliser, seed, salt etc. 300 litre moulded plastic hopper on galvanised steel frame. Manual on-off. £995.

&#8226 DW Tomlin (01205-870535) SP250 trailed ground drive fertiliser spreader/seed broadcaster with steel hopper and chassis, tractor-pattern tyres and wide-track axle. 250 litre capacity, manual on-off control. £250.

&#8226 Wessex (01420-478111) Super Jet trailed 250 litre spinner broadcaster for fertiliser, seed, feed etc; spread width 6m-18m. Steel chassis and hopper with manual ground-drive disconnect by handle reached from ATV. Tractor tread or soft flotation tyres, optional skirt for road salt and pheasant feeding in woodland. Prices £1230 plus £55 for flotation tyres, £70 hopper cover, £265 spread limiter.

&#8226 Wessex Electric Broadcaster mounted pellet, micro-granule, seed spreader. 65 litre tipping plastic hopper, stainless steel disc with deflectors to set spread width. Prices £495 (manual), £595 (electric).


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