NEW SPRAYER IS LONG TERM INVESTMENT

In fact, it was an 18-month quest, which finally ended following a trip to the Cereals Event when Rob settled on the machine that offered the necessary build quality, and sufficiently advanced technology, to give over a decade of good service. 
That was back in 2014, so six seasons later – or approximately halfway through the sprayer’s life expectancy at Park Style Farm – is the Kuhn Metris fulfilling its promise?

“My initial impression when I saw the machine at Cereals was that it looked right,” recalls Rob. “It was well-proportioned and balanced whereas so many of the other options looked top heavy.
“Other key requirements were aluminium booms and a steering axle, and I wanted auto shut-off, automatic boom height adjustment and auto wash-out. The Metris was the only trailed 24-metre sprayer available at that time that offered all these options.
“Other considerations were the reputation and likely longevity of the manufacturer. When you are buying a machine that you expect to still have many years later you want to be sure about long term parts and servicing back-up. KUHN is a company with a long history and a strong reputation for quality. They have a UK headquarters that is relatively local to me and they’ve shown their commitment to the future with their investment in people and technology. Everything down to the quality of the paintwork gave me the confidence that the Metris was the right machine for me.”

Rob bought his Metris to replace a 24-metre trailed machine that had done long service across the 1,100 acres that he farms near Ashbourne. Whilst boom width remained the same, he did opt for the increased capacity of a 3,200 litre tank (up from 2,500 litres on his old machine). This extra tank capacity, plus the auto wash-out facility that completes three cycles for a thorough clean in 15 minutes, have all helped to increase the efficiency of spraying operations.

“We’re growing around 530 acres of winter wheat and 200 acres of winter barley, in addition to about 50 acres each of spring rape and spring beans,” says Rob, “so a lot of the cropping will have four or five passes with the sprayer in a typical season. We’ll also spray the grassland for weed control. It’s a lot of work, often under time pressure, so having a machine that’s efficient and reliable provides great peace of mind.”

Advanced technology

As well as reliability and longevity, Rob wanted a step forward in technology when investing in his new sprayer, so opted for GPS section control to give levels of precision application he’d not experienced before.

“I went for the nine section shut-off, with the smaller end sections, which offered greater control and precision than the standard factory fitting,” says Rob. “It’s been worthwhile investing to get the machine that we want, given the length of service we’re expecting.”

“We have routine servicing carried out by a local dealer and an annual sprayer test carried out by Flowgrow at Burton-on-Trent,” concludes Rob. “Knowing that Kuhn has technical specialists available through the dealer is also very reassuring.”