SPRAYER REVIEWS
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born to fly With a wingspan of approximately 3m the mighty Condor is one of the largest birds on earth. Tom Dickson travelled to Western Australia in 2014 to find the Agrifac selfpropelled sprayer that bears its name Pluses StabiloPlus chassis Comfort and ride GreenFlowPlus spray circulation Incredible vision EcoTronicPlus control monitor Front cab/rear boom configuration Auto greasing
Minuses Steering response
The amount of unused spray left sitting in hoses along the boom is kept to an absolute minimum.
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’ve tracked down a Condor WideTrackPlus in the southern grain belt of Western Australia, about an hour and a half north of Albany. The WideTrackPlus has a 5,000-litre poly tank, 36m J-boom fitted with Green Flow Plus spray delivery technology. It’s powered by a 286hp (213kW) six-cylinder Iveco diesel engine and rides on the unique and original Agrifac chassis called the StabiloPlus chassis. The company began as the maker of a simple knapsack potato sprayer in 1939, then progressed to basic linkage sprayers in 1948. In 1973, production line manufacturing of linkage and trailed sprayers began but the real leap came in 1986, with the introduction of Agrifac’s trademark StabiloPlus chassis. The chassis is still used in all the Condor range and now includes air suspension and stepless track width adjustment to fit into a variety of controlled-traffic tram track farm practices. Keep in mind tyre selection can create variations in track width. I’ve been told the StabiloPlus chassis is the most important of the Condor’s features and is the number one contributing factor to its versatility in track widths. It also maximises driver comfort and gentle boom ride. I head underneath the machine first, to find out what is so special about the trademark chassis. My first impression is how easy it is to get under, which is due to ground clearance height on the WideTrackPlus of 125cm. I’m expecting to find a complicated structure, but am pleasantly surprised at how basic and simple it is to see how everything works. It’s a walking beam type set-up. Each side beam pivots in the centre and has air bag suspension at either end where the wheels attach. The walking beam distributes the effects of bumps and undulations between the front and back wheels which in turn halves the effect on the machine. Each side beam slides in and
out to allow track widths between 225cm and 300cm, or in this case 235cm and 315cm as it’s running larger 480/80 R46 Michelin tyres. The track width transformation takes only seconds to achieve while moving at slow speed and is done from within the cab via the EcoTronic touchscreen.
SKY DECK VIEW Time to jump in and find out what it’s like to drive and if this StabiloPlus chassis really does provide a comfy ride. Due to time constraints the sprayer has already been set up ready for work by Agrifac Western Australia territory manager Mark Slater– I don’t want to get too swamped with info on how to program the computer and prefer to concentrate more on its drivability and comfort. There is nothing to fault regarding the cabin space. It has a comfy suspension seat with all the controls mounted on the armrest but this is virtually typical of all modern machinery. The vision, on the other hand, is exceptional. The cabin is mounted out the front of the chassis so there is nothing forward or to the side to obstruct my view, giving me the sensation I’m actually suspended in mid-air out the front of the machine. From here I can see virtually straight to the ground and all around. The tank, pumps and motor are behind the cab and the boom is at the rear. This configuration makes the most sense to me because it provides unobstructed vision, reduces noise levels from the engine and minimises spray mist over the cabin and windows. For the life of me I can’t see the sense in front mounted booms. With all the windows and mirrors I’m getting a great view of the boom and for those hard to see areas there are up to three onboard cameras sending images to an in-cab monitor. A nifty feature is the folding steps. By pressing a button on the
Looking for a selfpropelled sprayer? Search for ‘sprayer’ on TradeFarmMachinery.com.au or type the TA or DIY code shown here into the keyword search field
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11/02/2021 3:50:16 PM
