Last week, Major Equipment, based at Ballyhaunis, Co Mayo, held an interesting factory open day to showcase the range of slurry spreading machines it offers to farmers and contractors who want to avail of the grant options under the TAMS II environmental scheme.

The company reported that the new environmental scheme, where the purchase of a low-emission slurry tanker with trailing shoe or dribble bar can be eligible for a 40% grant aid up to an investment ceiling of €40,000, is encouraging a significant increase in interest in new machines.

The company used the opportunity to show the trailing shoe and dribble bar low-emission slurry spreading choices and announced a new marketing arrangement with Cavan-based Mastek.

Under this deal, Major will offer the option of fitting a patented Mastek dribble bar attachment to its range of slurry tankers.

For those seeking a shallow injector or a trailing shoe system, Major will offer the Vogelsang slurry system.

The Vogelsang unit is considered to be the European market leader and is used by a number of slurry tanker manufacturers as their trailing shoe attachment.

The Mastek dribble bar unit can be fitted to any slurry tanker without welding or fabrication. Simply remove the existing rear inspection plate and bolt on the Mastek universal 7.5-metre wide dribble bar.

This unit comes with an integrated macerator that feeds 28 dribble bar outlets. The Mastek unit weighs just 425kg, so it is not a significant extra weight on the slurry tanker axles. The unit costs €14,000 including VAT.

Major also used the occasion to show one of the larger slurry tankers that it has manufactured for the Irish market. There appears to be increasing interest in tandem-axle slurry tankers as contractors seek more output, coupled with improved wheel and tyre systems.

Roscommon-based contractors Kennedy Bros from Ballyforan is taking delivery of its new 4,000 gallon (18,000 litre) tandem-axle tanker this week. This tanker was purpose-built to suit their needs.

This impressive galvanised machine comes with a separate tanker chassis and high-speed truck-type axles, the rearmost of which has a steering system.

Major’s Michael Toughey said that the tanker has been fitted with a separate chassis for strength and was designed for high-output slurry spreading with a splash plate system.

The tanker pump is hydraulically driven rather than via a PTO shaft drive to allow for safer working conditions. The 13,500-litre Battioni vacuum pump can be easily driven by modern hydraulic motors where the tractor oil flow capacity is in excess of 100 litres/minute.

The hydraulic pump drive mechanism also allows for a tighter turning circle, giving the large machine greater manoeuvrability in smaller, tighter farmyards. The tandem-axle system uses four BKT 710/50R26.5 low ground pressure tyres to match the tanker load capacity.

The overall price of a large Major 4000 tanker will be from €35,000 plus VAT, depending on specification.