Bath
Rugby Club has recently added a Martin Lishman Compact Sprayer to the
extensive range of equipment at their well-known ground "˜The Rec'.
Darren
Ball, Head Groundsman at the club, commented, "We decided to
upgrade to a larger tank to reduce the number of re-fills during the
spraying day. The 300 litre Tractor Mounted Sprayer is the ideal size
for our applications and fits perfectly on to our John Deere Compact
Tractor".
The
PTO drive with 70 litre/min AR70 twin diaphragm pump has proved an
added benefit, "The added power from the larger pump has made the
job much easier as we are able to apply a wide variety of soluble
fertilisers without blocking the spray lines".
Key
features of the 300 litre Tractor Mounted Sprayer include circuit
rinse and eye-wash tanks, 3-point linkage frame for Category 1
fixings, 3-section balanced valve block with pressure regulation,
agitation and an isolator for each boom section. The club upgraded
the boom from a standard 4 metre boom to a 6 metre 3-section folding
boom to allow them to control the amount of spray within the existing
cutting lines on the pitch. The air inclusion nozzles, fitted as an
optional extra, have proved to be an excellent feature of the sprayer
due to the reduction in spray drift.
"With
selective weed killers, we mix 3.5 litres of product to 300 litres of
water. The rates do vary depending on the type of fertiliser or
herbicide we are applying", commented Martin Hobbs, Assistant
Groundsman, "and this sprayer enables us to very simply change the
settings to suit".
The
sprayer, purchased through Lister Wilder Ltd, is currently being used
on two pitches. The grounds staff will continue to spray the pitches
up until October and already plan on increasing the usage of the
sprayer for the next season. As Martin Hobbs comments, "It is so
much more efficient and saves a significant amount of time as we have
halved the number of tank re-fills. It is one of the best pieces of
kit we have bought!"