12 Mar 2018
WindControl takes Farmers Guide 2017 'Award of Excellence'
The ‘Award for Excellence’ is presented annually by Farmers Guide with two awards on offer (one machinery, one arable) and are designed to recognise innovations, which were released during the previous year, that the editorial team think worthy of extra recognition. Over the course of a typical year, the Farmers Guide editorial team of David Williams and Dominic Kilburn report on a huge number of innovations but very rarely have time to reflect on each one individually as they move on to the next story. And so this award takes stock of what has been reported on during the year and highlights two examples of excellence.
The WindControl system could have fallen into either the Machinery or Arable category but, on this occasion, it takes the Arable category award and shares the honour with the Machinery category winner – the Valtra A Series tractor.
WindControl is there is provide the spreader operator with the peace of mind that any influence of wind on the spread pattern is being monitored by a combination of the ArgusTwin radar system and the digital wind speed sensor fitted to the ZA-TS or ZG-TS spreaders. The wind sensor knows the strength and direction of the wind as well as the relative forward speed of the tractor so that the system works in real time. The spreader has been informed as to what fertiliser it is spreading, with obviously the bulk density, granule size and surface finish all having an influence of the ability to cope with more or less wind - the bout width is also important as narrower bout widths will be affected less.
Digesting this information, the ECU on the spreader looks at the product, width and wind and adjusts both the delivery point of the fertiliser onto the disc as well as speeding up or slowing down each individual spreading disc. ArgusTwin then ensures that the spread pattern is as perfect as it can be with the new conditions.
When spreading in gusty conditions, or where it is generally too windy, then the system knows the cut-off tolerance and keeps the driver informed as to whether it is safe to carry on spreading. The decision is left to the operator to continue or not if the system says it is too windy.
With WindControl now working out on British farms now the future is very much the present in the world of Amazone fertiliser spreaders.