Hawke’s Bay farmer “can’t speak highly enough” of the Hustler’s Applic8r EagleTech® boom

Awanui station is a 683-hectare farm, 12 kilometres south of Hastings City in Hawke’s Bay, New Zealand. Due to balanced contour with a third being flat land, half being rolling and the rest being steeper country, the station is the perfect place for a mixed livestock and crop operation.

Depending on the years, Awanui’s reasonably large cropping programme includes maize, squash, beans, peas, barley, sweetcorn, beetroot, fodder beet and green feed oat. 

As the stock is integrated as part of the cropping rotation for winter grazing, Awanui station needed a versatile boom sprayer able to be used on flatlands as well as on rolling terrain. 

Max Hall has recently invested in an Applic8r LX1150 with a 14-m EagleTech® hydraulic-fold boom and he “can’t speak highly enough” of it. To his credit, Max is a farmer who wants to work with quality and efficient equipment. “Sometimes I like to find fault, just so I can wind the salesman up but I won’t be winding any salesmen up on this one,” he admitted. 

“Sometimes I like to find fault, just so I can wind the salesman up but I won’t be winding any salesmen up on this one”

With his Applic8r LX1150, Max achieved a lot of savings on chemicals. However, in order to be even more efficient, Max “would recommend, if you bought one, not go without the Auto Rate.” It is commonly accepted that adding an auto rate controller to your sprayer allows you to save up to 10% on your chemical bill. As you increase or decrease your speed while spraying, the rate controller will automatically change the pressure of the spray system to keep the application rate as constant as possible.

The Auto Rate comes particularly handy to avoid any chemical waste, Max noticed that the “price of chemical these days” has been skyrocketing, so choosing the right equipment can actually pay for itself in a very short time. 

Having to spray on a flat but also rolling terrain, Max is very satisfied with the generous sump size being part of the Applic8r‘s design. He can spray on steep terrain without sucking air and leaving missed patches. The deep sump is particularly useful when you don’t have a full tank to spray. “The volumes you have to put on, whether high or low, it’s doing it perfectly so I can’t speak highly enough of it,” Max said.

“The way the boom folds, with a lot of the smaller sprayers like this, sometimes you’ve got to get out and do the end section, this one you don’t”

Max is particularly impressed with the new Hustler’s EagleTech® boom. “The way the boom folds, with a lot of the smaller sprayers like this, sometimes you’ve got to get out and do the end section, this one you don’t,” Max explained.

The end sections are also suspended separately from the intermediate section, therefore reducing the weight from the boom and increasing longevity and boom stability. In addition, the hydraulic boom dampeners on the end section suspension create a supple boom ride – which is unique in a boom of this size (usually, this kind of equipment is found on much bigger booms). 

The full individual wong-lift from the hip of the boom makes is quite handy when working on undulating to steep country and is an absolute pleasure to operate!

For Max, “having your boom on a separate ram coming up and down is quite good instead of altering the hydraulics on your tractor,” Max said. When “you get in a rough paddock, you can have your hydraulics a little bit higher and lower your boom, which is another good feature.”

“The induction hopper saves a lot of mucking around climbing on top, tipping chemical in… and you’re washing your containers and it is mixed evenly through the tank”

Another great feature of the Applic8r range is its induction hopper. The new optional 20L ErgoMax™ induction hopper and premixing system allow the operator to pre-mix powders, chemicals or fertiliser and fill from waist height for extra convenience.  “The induction hopper saves a lot of mucking around climbing on top, tipping chemical in… and you’re washing your containers and it is mixed evenly through the tank,” Max said.

The ErgoMax™ induction hopper is designed with a smart sluce feature and container rinse nozzle to simplify clean up. Of course, the hopper is also fully sealed to prevent dust from entering the hopper during transport and contaminating your spray! 

All in all, the Hustler linkage boom sprayer range Applic8r – with the industry’s best warranty, unique best-in-class agitation and mixing, toughest design on the market, user-friendly low profile – is simply one of the best compact mounted boom on the market today.

Customise your Applic8r online and contact us today, you’ll be glad you did!