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*Angled conventional fan favourite in ideal conditions
* Air inclusion nozzle best when minimising drift
There's a différent nozzle among the spray tips on Steve Lake's Bateman sprayer this year as he puts a design intended to optimise the application of pre- and post-emergence herbicides to new uses.
The FSOCTY 201 1 award winner reckons the Defy tip's characteristics also suit cereal fungicide treatments so, when conditions allow, it will be his nozzle of choice right through to T3 ear sprays.
Five different spray tips may get an outing at one time or another during the 10,000ha to 12,000ha workload that two self-propelled machines operated by Mr Lake's employer Peter Knight at Burgate Farm get through on the home property and those of neighbouring farms through the Burgate Field Spray contracting service.
The 03 Syngenta Defy and a pair of Hypro GuardianAlR tips in 03 and 05 sizes will be used most; two 04 tips - a conventional flat fan and a Billericay Air Bubble Jet - are held in reserve of a high water volume application.
The five-way spray tip selection is being carried on a new Bateman RB35 sprayer this year with a shift from 24m to 30m boom width for increased output.
It has Norac ultrasonic boom height control, which is essential at 30m, he reckons, to cope with the undulating ground he sprays while keeping the boom at a height that minimises spray drift.
"Drift can increase hugely from using the boom at, say, 70cm rather than 50cm, so the sprayer needs a good height control system to keep the boom low," Mr Lake says. The Norac system is working well on the Bateman Contour boom, allowing me to spray at 12-13kph even...