German farm machinery company Vogelsang believes there is potential to further optimise the use of trailing shoe technology for slurry spreading.

To reinforce this belief, the company has unveiled the Blackbird trailing shoe slurry spreading system, with claims of significant power savings, in advance of its launch at Agritechnica in November.

Vogelsang took into account the findings from its flow simulations as well as the flow rates of the liquid manure and tested a number of trailing shoe shapes during the development of the system. The new trailing shoe machines deposit liquid manure even more precisely than before and use a new skid geometry that separates the crops better, according to Henning Ahlers, head of sales Germany at Vogelsang.

Beak-like shoe

The Blackbird comes with a pre-tensioned leaf-spring-mounted long, beak-like shoe that claims to ensure a controlled and even flow of liquid manure through every discharge. It is designed to prevent crops from getting contaminated during manure spreading. By actively applying pressure, the Blackbird’s pointed skid is claimed to be better able to penetrate the soil, ploughing a small furrow for directly depositing the manure under the crops.

The Blackbird also incorporates the next generation of the ExaCut ECQ chopper and distributor system. The distributor is in the centre of the boom. Vogelsang believes this is the best position to ensure the manure is distributed evenly.

Large-diameter pipes and flow distribution plates aim to keep the flow under control and ensure high distribution accuracy.

The service and maintenance system for the ExaCut ECQ has also been made easier and quicker. There is now a large maintenance opening to allow direct access to all the system’s internal components.

This means service work can be carried out without dismantling the precision distributor or dismounting the cover and the outlet hoses and feed lines connected to it. Vogelsang claims maintenance on the ExaCut ECQ can be completed in two to four minutes.

The company claims the power requirements for the ExaCut ECQ macerator/chopper have also been reduced by up to 50%. This is due to the new rotor design and lower speeds. The company claims there is less strain on the cutting blades because of the reductions in speed and the internal pressure of the distributor. It claims this extends the service life of the unit by up to 50%.

Vogelsang has modified the hose layout to prevent the Blackbird from creating a V-shaped imprint at the start of its furrows. It also uses black hoses for the first time in the trailing shoe linkage, with claims of higher UV light resistance for longer life.

The new trailing shoe legs are fitted with leaf springs which Vogelsang claims ensures stability, while protecting the structure from excessive loads, while reducing vibrations during transport on the road.

Hydraulic cylinders

Hydraulic cylinders with end-position damping aim to keep the strain in the frame to a minimum during folding. Vogelsang says the Blackbird’s supporting structures have been designed to withstand the daily strains to give a long service life of the linkage. The unit can be fitted to any make of slurry tanker, irrespective of tyre and wheel size.

The trailing shoe linkage is available in working widths of 12m and 15m and can be folded up to a transport width of 2.99m.

Folding the linkage upwards activates the DropStop principle, which Vogelsang claims prevents the headland and roads from getting contaminated.

Vogelsang

Vogelsang GmbH & Co KG is located in Essen in Lower Saxony, Germany, and was founded in 1929. The company, which has an Irish subsidiary in Galway, has become a specialist in individually configurable machines, plants and systems for the agriculture technology, biogas, industrial, transportation and waste water sectors and employs over 1,000 people worldwide.