FARGO, N.D. – A unique, triangular, rubber-track configuration from Alliance Top Air gives the manufacturer’s new pull-type sprayer 33 inches of ground clearance.
The Ohio company said this clearance, along with the big tank and big boom, make a good combination for desiccating wheat.
Conventional rubber track systems on sprayer and grain cart trailers form a parallelogram, according to Top Air representative Eric Myhre.
“Both sides of the rubber track loop are parallel to each other and to the field,” he said.
“They’re horizontal. The axle line runs through the mid point of the hubs.”
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Myhre said the geometry of Top Air’s new system is simple. By forming the rubber tracks into a triangle and putting the axle line through the top hub, the entire trailer is lifted to create a 33 inch gap between the ground and the undercarriage.
“We wanted that much ground clearance for wheat, but we also wanted a shorter track base. With the more conventional long rubber track, you ridge up a lot of soil when you do your turns in the headlands. We’ve got it down to a 60 inch track base so now we ridge up very little soil doing our turns.”
The triangular belted sprayer really shines in muddy fields, Myhre said. It lets a producer put his big four-wheel drive or rubber track tractor to work when it would normally sit in the yard.
“You can go spraying in all kinds of places where you just cannot go with a self-propelled high clearance sprayer,” he said.
“Some of our customers just spray right through the potholes and ponds. They don’t even bother to change their driving pattern to drive around them.
“The belt is 14 inches wide, so we still get pretty good flotation.
“When we have the 2,400 gallon tank plum full to the top with liquid fertilizer, we get only 16 psi on the soil surface.
“That same sprayer on rubber tires with the same load has double the pounds per sq. inch ground pressure. They register in the low 30s. So if compaction or mud is a concern, this might be worth looking at.”
Top Air builds the undercarriage at its Ohio plant, but Myhre said the track system uses off-the-shelf parts. The rubber belt is commercially available, as are all bearings, shafts and other components.
All tire and track Top Air sprayers feature suspension systems on the trailer as well as the boom. The systems use self-tensioning springs, high-pressure nitrogen accumulators and hard rubber springs.
“There’s actually several layers of suspension on each sprayer,” Myhre said.
“We go to this extra trouble on all of our sprayers because we think the trailer needs the smoothest ride possible. A smoother ride on the trailer means a smoother ride for the boom.”
The trailer uses hard rubber springs and a shock absorber type system plumbed to the nitrogen accumulator. This is engineered to take most of the severe shock out of the machine. The boom has another similar apparatus to filter out shock and help keep it a constant distance from the ground.
“The boom has 16 inches of vertical movement that is totally independent of the sprayer chassis,” he said.
“That means that on a rough field, the sprayer trailer chassis can absorb 16 inches of up and down bounce before the boom will start to take the abuse.”
He said the boom also has its own hydraulic yaw suspension system to control for and aft movement. When the boom senses a forward or backward force of 3,000 psi, it releases the pressure so the springs take over control of the boom. When the incident is over, the springs bring the boom back into the normal working position.
“All these systems work together to eliminate the boom shock and that rapid boom jitter. That translates to a better job of spraying because the nozzles maintain the same distance to the ground. It also means longer boom life because the shock is dampened out.”
Myhre said the company’s sprayers have a new feature called the Top Air Flo-Bak ball valve. Developed in conjunction with Tee Jet, this innovation immediately returns all liquid in the plumbing back to the tank the moment the operator shuts off the ball valve. The liquid does not flow out the boom, which reduces chemical loss and saves money.
“The tips all shut off instantly,” Myhre said.
“Top Air has exclusive rights to this for the next two years; then Tee Jet will make it generally available after that.”
Top Air sprayers are available as 1,200, 1,600 US gallon and 2,400 US gallon sizes. All tanks are designed with three or four staged sumps so the liquid is contained in progressively smaller bowls as it’s used up. This keeps the pump primed on hills and slopes and ensures a complete clean out.
The three boom models have a trifold design, allowing the operator to fold in the end sections and turn them off, which gives the operator the choice of boom sizes. The smallest boom is 60 and 110 feet. The middle size is 90 and 120 feet. The largest is 88 and 132 feet. In transit, all sprayers fold down to 12 feet wide. All wet booms and hardware are stainless steel.
Controls are situated in the tractor and Myhre said Top Air hydraulic components are compatible with any tractor sold in North America.
The two-point hitch is a popular option with farmers who want the high clearance feature, he added. The two-point hitch eliminates the need for a drawbar, which is usually the limiting ground clearance factor.
Myhre said Top Air is working with dealers in Alberta and Saskatchewan where the attraction seems to be in-crop spraying.
“Producers we’ve talked to up there are very interested in the idea that they can double or triple the capacity of most self-propelled sprayers. If you can spray at eight or 10 mph with a 2,400 gallon tank and 132 -foot booms using a tractor you already own, then it’s worth looking at.
“In the crop, you’ve got the sprayer tracks following your tractor tracks, so there’s less crop damage. The width is infinitely adjustable from 60 inches to 120 inches, so you can always get it lined up with the tractor. And if you put it on rubber tracks and keep your ground speed down to eight or 10 mph, you’ll see very little crop damage.”
Prices on the 2,400-gallon sprayer start at $50,000 US. The triangular rubber track system is a $19,000 option on any of the Top Air units.
For more information, contact Myhre at 888-545-5276, ext 621.
