Danish firm Agrometer’s umbilical gear is a bit different to the more familiar kits from British and Irish manufacturers. For starters they don’t drag the hose along the field but unroll it and then reel it back up as the tractor progresses across the field.
In the UK and Ireland we are fairly accustomed to umbilical slurry systems, with most farms not far away from a contractor (or several) offering the service. Yet this application technique is still relatively new to German farmers. One of the systems on their doorstep comes from Danish neighbour Agrometer.
For those not familiar with umbilical systems, there is a bit of time consuming preparation. The pipe from the pump to the field needs rolling out and, while 100mm or 4in pipe is very common, there is now a shift towards 125-150mm (5-6in) to increase output.
The contractor we visited with the Agrometer set-up uses a team of two tractors and drivers. One tractor pulls the reeler while the other tows the pump trailer and a hook-lift with additional hose reels. This second driver is responsible for inspecting the hoses and extending the supply line by adding more pipe from the extra reels as and when they are needed.
To begin with, the AP250 pump tanker is deployed to the site and placed next to the slurry tank. The centrifugal pump is capable of moving slurry from a 5.0m deep or 4.0m high tank through the 125mm suction pipe to the high-pressure pump. This is a self-contained unit with its own 6.8-litre, 181kW/246hp DPS PowerTech engine, while the pump is a Bauer SX2000 driven directly off the crank. The supply hose is operating at a pressure of up to 12 bar.
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