Hardi has made the Saritor 62 Active sprayer a solid investment for WA farmer Paddy Barber
WA pastorialist Paddy Barber says his new Hardi Saritor 62 Active sprayer has given him greater levels of spray accuracy and control.
Barber farms 4,700 hectares of land near Gibson, 22km north of Esperance, with his wife Sharon and their sons Nick, Samuel and Jake.
Having owned two other self-propelled sprayers over the years, they invested in a new Hardi Saritor 62 Active in September last year – and the differences have been notable.
“I wanted more boom stability,” Barber says. “That was the main thing that got me interested in the Saritor … That, and it ended up being very competitively priced.
“Plus the technical support from Hardi Australia and my local dealer has been excellent. I’ve been extremely happy.”
Barber selected a 36.5-metre Hardi Paragon Aluminium TR5 boom and hasn’t been disappointed with the Saritor 62 Active’s remarkable boom ride.
“I wouldn’t be without Hardi AutoHeight boom control now,” he says. “I’m finding everything very good, but that’s the stand-out feature for me. The boom height is very accurate.”
He’s found his Saritor 62 Active’s OnRate technology delivers equally precise rate control.
OnRate uses an infinitely variable proportional hydraulic valve to manage changes in pressure, pump speed and flow input, which the Saritor’s ActiveAir system delivers via instant, dripless nozzle switching with continuous fluid recirculation.
Barber compares the new fluid system to his two previous self-propelled sprayers with their 3TS set-ups and finds it much better.
“They were pretty good,” he says, “but you had to turn the line on to recirculate so that was always stirring things up.
“The accuracy of this spraying system is excellent,” he says. “I mean, the pump has constantly got that pressure right there. We spray at 60 litres and it’s just instant all the time.”
The Barbers have used their Saritor 62 Active for some 130 hours over the between-seasons period, and Barber says he is sure it will enable them to cover 600 hectares per day when they need to.
Their boom set-up includes Hardi Pentajet five-head nozzle bodies at 250mm spacings. This provides them with a flexible choice of nozzle heads that works perfectly with the more accurate rate and AutoHeight controls.
“Our ability to change nozzles and the fact that we can keep the boom very low and it’s very accurate means we can spray safely in higher winds,” Barber says.
“I think that nozzle selection and boom height control on the Saritor 62 Active has given us a lot more spraying power.”