Please tell us about your farm.
We farm 2,328 ha of land across five rural settlements: Głogówek, Biedrzychowice, Wróblin, Kotków and Zawada. That’s 455 ha of rapeseed, 450 ha of corn, 700 ha of wheat, 140 ha of winter barley, 180 ha of spring barley and 120 ha of alfalfa, as well as a pig farm and 1430 head of cattle, 730 of them dairy cows.
Can you tell us a bit about your BERTHOUD self-propelled sprayer?
We settled on the large BERTHOUD RAPTOR 5200 self-propelled sprayer. With its 240 hp engine, the machine works hilly terrain with ease. It’s very comfortable to work on slopes. To save time on frequent refills, we chose the configuration with a 5200 l main tank and 36 m booms. With this high-output sprayer, we easily cover 250-300 ha over a 12-hour working day.
What speed do you work at?
The BERTHOUD CONDOR booms’ excellent stability lets us work at a fairly high speed, around 14 km/h. We also use Total Control boom sensors – so the operator no longer has to constantly look back and get distracted from driving. The system itself adjusts each boom’s position depending on the ground’s terrain.
Is the pump powerful enough for high application rates at such a high speed?
The RAPTOR is fitted with a centrifugal pump rated at 550 l/min at 3 bar. No diaphragm-piston pump can match that. What’s more, this pump is very reliable and requires no regular maintenance.
And what about ground clearance?
1m 40cm. That was an important criterion when choosing the sprayer. We farm 455 ha of rapeseed, and desiccation is a truly critical period for us. With this ground clearance, losses have been minimised. Ground clearance also plays an important role when growing corn. Among the configurations BERTHOUD offers, the machine with a 5200 l tank and 1m 40cm ground clearance is a perfect fit for our farm.
Is your RAPTOR fitted with any systems that reduce operator fatigue?
Yes, the e–tech GPS section-control system. It’s very easy to use thanks to the large touchscreen and Polish-language menu. When turning at the field’s edge, the operator only has to focus on steering, while the e–tech system automatically switches off sections and prevents overlapping the field. Panoramic cab visibility also noticeably eases work in the field.
What are the sprayer’s transport capabilities?
On public roads the RAPTOR travels at 40 km/h, minimising travel time. The machine’s width doesn’t exceed 2m 55cm, which is very important on narrow country roads.
