In the self-propelled sprayer market, monster high-capacity machines may grab all the attention – and the bulk of the sales – but there are farms, large and small, where the lighter footprint, nimbleness and high spraying speed capabilities of a smaller LGP unit make it the preferred option. Martin Rickatson drives Alanco’s latest and largest Sprayranger model, the 250D.
So, what’s the proper definition of a low ground pressure sprayer? When fitted with the appropriate tyre equipment, most SP sprayer makers would claim that their machines offer ground pressure down as low as comparable machines of similar capacity.
But it’s the sub-2,000l/under-4t sprayers that really lay claim to this label, and they tend to fulfil something of a Cinderella role in the farm tackle world. It’s only when a wet spring comes around that they get to go to the ball, with sales of new units peaking in these years and existing LGP types on larger farms being dragged out of sheds to back up their bigger sibs.
Among the machines that sit undeniably in this sprayer category, the Chaviot has long since departed the fray, leaving the sector pretty much to two firms: Kellands, with its Agribuggy 1000 (profi 7/04), and Alanco – the Kent firm featured here.
Alanco’s Sprayranger, and the company itself, trace their roots back to the Wilmott Lightspray SP machine of the early 1980s, an LGP sprayer to which the 250D clearly owes a significant number of its design cues. The company md and Sprayranger designer Keith Wood previously worked for Wilmott, hence the heritage.
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