Getting the slurry out with the Collins brothers and their umbilical system

Umbilical slurry spreading tends to be a service offered by contractors who specialise in umbilical spreading.

Advantages of an umbilical system include high work rates, lighter traffic on fields with light impact on soil compaction and reduced overall traffic from yard to field. Umbilical systems are ideal where ground conditions are poor. This is either because the terrain is hilly or the ground cannot support the weight of a tanker and tractor, or a combination of both.

It is not just used for problem terrain, as we discovered when we spoke to David Collins of Collins Bros, Oughill, Redcross, Co Wicklow. Collins Bros is operated by brothers David and Nigel Collins, who offer a variety of contracting and slurry spreading services, including umbilical spreading.

David says: “We farm around 150 acres. About half of this is rented and we keep 50 suckler cows. We bought the first tractor after I finished in Warrenstown Agricultural College in 1996. The rest is history; we’re contracting ever since.”

The brothers offer many agricultural contracting services, including slurry, dung and lime spreading, grass and maize silage in partnership with other contractors, baling, wrapping, reseeding, and more.

Umbilical slurry spreading represents half of all contracting operations carried out by the firm. “It keeps three of us, sometime four of us, busy for long periods of the year,” David says.

Collins Bros has been umbilical spreading a long time, as David explains. “An opportunity arose to provide an umbilical slurry spreading service in the area. We started umbilical slurry spreading back in 1997, which kept us busy. Before the slurry ban, you would start spreading in the beginning of October and finish in April.”

The initial umbilical system was splash-plate only. David says that, seven years ago, Graham Sage of Tank Storage Systems supplied Collins Bros with a demonstrator umbilical 6m Bomech trailing shoe unit. “We never sent it back and have used it ever since,” David says.

Around the same time, they invested in an 11,000-litre Joskin tanker equipped with a Joskin 6m trailing shoe. Since then, Collins Bros offers both conventional spreading with a tanker or umbilical system and a trailing shoe with a tanker or umbilical system.

In total, Collins Bros cater for about 35 customers using both umbilical and tanker systems. To meet customers’ demands, the company operates from Redcross as far west as Kilcullen, as far south as Enniscorthy and as far north as Brittas.

This is a large area to cover and David has developed the umbilical system to allow it to be transported and used by just one tractor. Up to 1,400m of lay-flat hosing is carried on a Spreadwise reeler mounted on a trailed unit.

The slurry pump is carried on another trailed unit, which hooks to the reeler unit. The spreading tractor tows the entire system to the spreading jobs.

David explains that when spreading at a long distance from base, one driver moves the ‘‘spreading system’’ from farm to farm, while the other brings a 4x4. This means the spreading outfit doesn’t have to come home from a great distance. The operators can travel home each evening without having to wait for a lift.

Both the Spreadwise reeler and Bauer slurry pump were supplied by Tank Storage Systems. The Bauer pump has its own independent drive. A second-hand 300hp Cummins engine was mounted on a trailed unit and the Bauer pump mounted directly behind it. It has its own fuel tank and control system, and is set to operate the Bauer pump at its optimum capacity.

Slurry preparation

David leaves the slurry preparation for his umbilical system up to the farmers themselves to agitate and prepare, adding water as necessary. “Slurry needs to be very good and ready [for pumping]. It needs to be able to run,” David says. “Our customers at this stage know what they need to do to make the slurry ready for our umbilical systems.”

The pump is set up at the slurry tank and the hoses reeled out and joined as necessary. The hoses connect the pump to either the splash plate or trailing shoe umbilical spreading unit. The tractor is only required to carry either spreading unit, and drag the hose, keeping the weight of the spreading system to a minimum.

The capacity of the umbilical system is around 90,000 to 115,000 litres/hour (20,000 to 25,000 gallons/hour). A number of factors affect capacity, in particular the distance and height the slurry is being pumped, plus the quality of the slurry.

David explains that capacity of the trailing shoe system is slightly lower than the conventional splash plate. It has a fixed working width of six metres, while the double splash plate can spread to around seven metres.

There are 30 spring-loaded trailing metal shoes on the Bomech unit. An outlet mounted on each applies the slurry in strips across the six-metre working width.

David says that approximately half of their customers specify the trailing shoe system. “Farmers like it for certain situations, particularly where there is some grass cover. You can put out slurry without covering the grass completely with slurry. A bit of grass cover is best because the legs put out the slurry under the cover of the grass. Spread in strips, the slurry stays in place better if it rains and nutrients are not as inclined to be lost.”