What spreads at widths up to 50m, is all-electronic and features GPS section control? Why, French maker Sulky’s new X50 Econov, introduced at last year’s Agritechnica and handled here by RECO. We used an example of this high-capacity, intelligent twin-disc machine last spring

Econov may sound like a military aircraft from the Soviet era, but it’s actually a construct from ‘ecological’ and ‘new’. The Econov version of Sulky’s existing X40 and X50 spreaders brings electronic weighing, a GPS guidance/display unit (the Matrix 840 GS), automatic application control, clever border spreading from the tractor cab and rather more. The X50 is the bigger-capacity model of the pair, spreading from 24m to 50m and carrying up to 4t of fertiliser.

Weighing in at 740kg empty, the X50 Econov hooks up to a tractor via Cat II couplers and the choice of two lower link holes. Other connections are the 540rpm input shaft plus lines for electrical power and CANbus. The pto stores neatly when the spreader is off, but there are no holders for the electrics. As standard the spreader will sit on skids while in the barn, although wheels are an option at £670.

Capacity of a base-spec X50 is 2,400 litres (4t) in a hopper measuring 2.81m x 1.32m. Two greedy board sets are offered, each of which boosts capacity by another 800 litres (1.3t) to bring the maximum possible loading to a respectable 4,000 litres (6.6t). Individual grids set low in the double-compartment hopper fold up easily and do a good job of sieving out lumps. The divider between compartments is rather tall, however, and gets in the way should you need to level off aload with a shovel. As you might expect, the spreading mechanism and agitators are made from stainless steel; each of the latter has a baffle plate over it that forms part of the hopper grid. A worthwhile extra at £1,070 is a one-piece folding cover whose handle, though easily operated from the nearside, does take machine width marginally over 3m.

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