PRACTICAL TEST Danish firm Hardi is one of relatively few global players in the specialist crop sprayer market. Last summer we tested a Commander Plus 2800 trailed unit on the Continent over several weeks – to try to pinpoint reasons behind the sprayer’s success as well as to find areas for possible improvement
The trailed sprayer is, without doubt, one of the machinery success stories of recent years, coming in at significantly lower cost than a selfpropelled unit but, allied with wider booms and bigger tanks, boasting an output potential that, in some cases, is almost on a par.
Our test Hardi Commander 2800 Plus, for example, would have once been considered a monster with its 24m wide boom and 2,800-litre tank. Not today, though. A now growing acceptance of 36m/3,000-litre+ sizes means our 24m/2,800-litre level of spec is no longer up in the flagship territory but located firmly in the mainstream, in terms of price and overall performance. Nonetheless, even this trailed machine size is still capable of covering big areas. Our test Commander 2800 comfortably managed a mean output of 10ha/hr across fields that rarely topped 10ha in size. Not bad, at all.
Efficiency is clearly the key factor in maximising output. And that efficiency starts right back at the hitching up process. Of course, this is particularly pertinent to the trailed sprayer concept, where it is quite likely that the towing tractor will come off and on through a sizeable part of the season.
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