Sulky-Burel fertiliser spreaders ahead of seed curve

VISITORS to the Mallee Machinery Field Days at Speed this week will have the chance to look over the latest fertiliser spreaders to come from French farm machinery manufacturer Sulky-Burel.

Broad range: Sulky-Burel’s fertiliser spreaders: the X40+ and X50+ Econov models offer working widths of 18-50m, hopper capacities (level) of 1900-4200 litres and flow rates to 520kg a minute.

VISITORS to the Mallee Machinery Field Days at Speed this week will have the chance to look over the latest fertiliser spreaders to come from French farm machinery manufacturer Sulky-Burel.

Founded in 1936, the company specialises in the design, production and marketing of fertiliser spreaders, seedbed preparation tools and seed drills, though these last two don’t come to Australia.

Designed principally for handling granulated fertiliser, the X40+ and X50+ Econov models offer working widths of 18-50m, hopper capacities (level) of 1900-4200 litres and maximum flow rates of 520kg a minute.

Sulky has been distributed in Australia for many years by Muddy River Agricultural, of Echuca.

Manager, service training, Jan Moens said the X40+ and X50+ arrived in Australia this time last year and had enjoyed good market response.

“We went to new self-folding tarps on that machine, whereby you simply pull a handle to operate it, as well as opting for larger, plastic mudguards at the front,” Mr Moens said.

“The target for the X50+ is the bigger growers and the main feedback we get from people is that they are very easy to set up and use.

“You really want to have a machine that’s going to do the job properly, otherwise you can get striping in the crop.”

Fertiliser is spread in a curve, rather than a straight line, with Sulky claiming to be the only manufacturer in the world to manage this curved shape from its ISOBUS (Quartz 800) and non-ISOBUS (Matrix 840 GS) terminals.

Studies conducted for French agricultural research organisation Irstea found a 9 per cent reduction in fertiliser input in favour of Econov compared with manual mode, with over- and under-applied areas virtually eliminated.

Hydraulic drive enables the spreading disc rotation speed to remain constant and to work with low tractor engine speed (1500rpm) in all situations, separate from PTO speed.

This allows even spreading distribution, even in areas where land is sloping, and reduces fuel consumption, particularly for the higher-capacity machines coupled to high-powered tractors.

Pricing starts at $31,198 (inc GST). For details, visit the Muddy River website.