“No experiments”. That could have been the motto for the engineers that designed the Amazone ZA-M mounted, twin-disc fertiliser broadcaster. The spreader’s design is clearly based on wellproven predecessors but with some key improvements, notably to the spreading discs which have adjustable vanes to give accurate application to working widths up to 36m
The ZA-M has been in the Amazone range for about four years and, as the successor to the ZA-U, has become the manufacturer’s ‘standard’ model. In Great Britain, the spreader comes as a 1000 litre ‘fullspecification’ model capable of spreading at up to 36m and being expanded to 3000 litre capacity, and as the ZA-M Special, a 1500 litre model with simpler specification, fewer options and spread widths up to 28m.
List price of the 1000 litre ZA-M is £4005 to which one or more of the three spreading disc sets must be added – between £270 and £460, plus a trimmer kit at £985 for spreading beyond 24m working widths. Three hopper extensions take capacity to 1500 litres, 1800 litres or 2000 litres, at between £455 and £650, with the 3000 litre option listed at £1425.
This extension, and an alternative version of the 2000 litre size, also increases the width of the hopper to allow filling from a wide tractor loader or telehandler bucket. All of which means that from a starting point of £4005, buyers can choose from a range of hopper sizes and spreading widths up to a 3000 litre/36m specification priced at more than £7000 before any electronic controls are fitted. This means each machine can be built-up to match the specific requirements of individual farms.
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