Checking fertiliser spreading pattern is now easy

AMAZONE has updated its EasyCheck calibration system to enable the lateral spreading pattern of fertiliser to be quickly and easily checked in the paddock. The technology, which comprises a set of 16 collection mats and an app that automatically evaluates the results, won a silver medal for innovation when it was released at Agritechnica in 2015.

CLAAS Harvest Centre Product Manager – AMAZONE, Craig Hopkins, says the new collection mats are in a fetching purple. “Ongoing testing throughout 2016 and 2017 found the black mats were unsuitable for dark-coloured fertilisers, so AMAZONE has changed the colour of the mats to provide the best contrast,” he says.

To use EasyCheck, the user places the lightweight rubber mats across four rows at specific distances from the tramline. The user photographs each mat using a smartphone. A free app then automatically compares how much fertiliser has been collected on each row and the ratio between each row.

The app then automatically suggests a correction to the spreading disc speed or of the delivery system on AMAZONE ZA-TS trailed spreaders or to the spreading vane position on its ZA-V or ZA-M mounted spreaders. Craig says the process is considerably quicker than the conventional approach of using hard plastic trays and then weighing the contents.

“It takes only a few minutes to lay out the mats, do the test spreading, photograph the mats and then calibrate the spreader,” he says. “The collection mats take up very little space and can be easily transported in the spreader or on the tractor. “One person can easily carry all 16 mats at once.” AMAZONE farm machinery is distributed in Australia by the CLAAS Harvest Centre network.