Johnston Farm Equipment from Longford will be demonstrating the Marshall VES 1500 rear discharge dung spreader. The VES ranges in size from 10t to 15t in capacity. They come standard with oversized tyres, wide-angle PTO and slurry door.

The spreader has been designed to eliminate problematic floor chain setups and associated maintenance. Material is pushed towards the rear vertical beaters using a four-stage hydraulic ram that is fixed to the front of the machine, eliminating unreliable and troublesome chains that are a notorious weakness of rear-discharge spreaders. The pushing ram’s speed is fully controllable due to the mechanical device that regulates the flow.

The whole concept behind the spreader was based on the premise that a spreader was required in the marketplace that should be virtually maintenance-free, which, according to Marshall, they have achieved.

The spreader requires a daily visual check of the gearbox oil level and greasing by means of five remote points.

Other advantages over traditional rear-discharge spreaders include the removal of a chain drive system, which allows a deeper more compact design that has a lower centre of gravity. This makes it an ideal choice for areas with narrow roads or for spreading on hills.

This gain is not at the expense of ground clearance, with all machines sporting 520mm clearance. The removal of the chain drive gearbox also allows the axle to be placed further back on the machine, reducing weight transfer beyond the axle during spreading that could cause instability of the towing vehicle.

Operationally, the design is extremely easy to use. The speed of discharge is controlled by the mechanical device which reduces the oil flow as the ram moves forward, enabling the operator to simply engage the spool valve prior to spreading.