Ten years after buying his Vogelsang BackPac, contractor Paul Nixon is still using it to full effect to service farms in the Scottish borders. His innovative techniques for applying slurry umbilically sees RSN Contracting operate in a 40-mile radius from its base near Selkirk.
“When we bought the BackPac it was the best on the market and I don’t think anything has come along to match it, which is why we still use it today. It’s a 24-metre model and was the first to have hydraulic folding booms with section control,” he says.
His work is mostly helping dairy farms, and the grassland application is all carried out using RTK courtesy of a fleet of Fendt tractors. “We have a 724 Profi Plus which carries the BackPac and we use a 939, 720 and 718 to reel in and out with one of the tractors on the hose humper,” he explains.
He was one of the first contractors to work with 6-inch hose and chooses to drag 5-inch when spreading umbilically. Using a variety of pumps including a turbo filler to force feed slurry, he is able to pump separated slurry over 3000 metres. The primary pump is a Cornell HD6NH unit which he suggests is as reliable as the BackPac.
“Nothing can match the pump for output, build strength and quality. We have pumped tens of thousands of cubes with it and never had to do anything but routine maintenance,” he adds.
The tractors all run on very high flexion (VF) tyres to enable the fleet to operate at pressures as low as 7 to 8 psi. The 724 runs on 900/55 R42 rear and 710/55 R30 front tyres to minimise soil compaction.
“The main benefit of applying slurry umbilically is reducing the impact of the tractor on the land and cover large areas quickly. We won’t spread when ground conditions are too soft because of the risk of run off or slurry seeping into drainage. However, it is vital not to cause any unnecessary compaction and the combination of the relatively light Fendt, with VF tyres and the BackPac is perfect,” he says.
Keen to help his customers make the most of slurry, he engages with them about soil health and looks to equate the volume of slurry to nutrient levels in the soil.
“Slurry is not a waste product; it’s a valuable fertiliser. We aim to use and apply it as the fertiliser it is and make the most of it for our customers. This means understanding what the soil has and what the slurry can offer, to establish a balance and apply the slurry accurately to each field,” he says.
The business charges by the cubic metre and uses slurry meters to provide reports to its customers. The slurry application method varies between the BackPac dribble bar, a trailing shoe and a disk injector.
“We have two 3000-gallon tankers that run with trailing shoes or a Roelama disk injector. The macerators were switched for Vogelsang units because they are more reliable and need less maintenance. Using a trailing shoe is the best way to place slurry on the soil but we use the BackPac for the bigger jobs,” he says.
His combination of engine driven pump and a second PTO pump enables the fleet to work over a two-mile radius from the slurry source. This is also achieved in an area that is far from flat.
“We have plenty of undulating land and hills to overcome, but the pumps do the job. The BackPac is also very good on this land because it is mounted closer to the tractor than many dribble bars, which helps keep the tractor stable,” he says.
The art, or discipline, of applying slurry umbilically can cause many a debate, but Mr Nixon has developed a method that uses two tractors and hose humper to be both efficient and quick.
“We don’t want to run over our hose, so we split the field in two diagonally, creating two triangles in most cases. We lay the hose from the bottom corner to the top and then across to halfway before bringing it back on itself to start the first triangle. The spreading tractor works corner to corner, with the hose humping tractor following behind so we don’t cross the hose,” he explains.
This method sees the spreading tractor reverse at the headland rather than turn, which has the added advantage of not missing areas around the headland or doubling up.
“We always have plenty of slack in the hose because we need it for reversing. It also helps prevent any knots which could lead to a loss of pressure or a blow-out. Making headland turns by reversing is our way of making sure the correct amount of slurry is applied throughout the whole field,” he adds.
Much of his work is in 24-metre tramlines which is what the BackPac was designed for. For 10 years the dribble bar system has been working umbilically with separated slurry and Mr Nixon suggests it has done so with very few issues.
“We altered the dragging point because we run 5-inch hose rather than 4-inch but that hasn’t affected the performance. The macerators have been worked hard, even though we apply mostly separated slurry, and over the years we have only done routine maintenance including replacing the cutters and plates,” he says.
One of the first of its kind, the Vogelsang BackPac has a pressurised section control system that uses a balloon. The system works with oil on demand and Mr Nixon finds the flow rate even and dependable.
“We can run at 24, 21, 18 or 15 metre widths and the section control works better than other similar systems because the balloon is closer to the macerator, so we don’t lose pressure. I particularly like the pendulum frame which enables us to hinge the pipes to follow ground contours. It also means that when the ground has greater undulation, we don’t risk grounding the frame,” he says.
Section control is handled with Vogelsang’s control box which means dribble bar operation is separate to the tractor’s Isobus controls and screen.
“We use our older Fendt 720 S4 to run the hose humper because it has the smaller screen. The newer 718 and 724 are almost identical and have interchangeable wheels. We like having the larger screen because we split it to have half showing the flow rate and the other half split again to show GPS and the tractor settings,” he says.
The level of accuracy he has reached surpasses many, and with tried and trusted kit he treats slurry as a valuable fertiliser, choosing when to apply it and making sure that the job is carried out to improve soil fertility and maximise crop yield.
“There have been too many cases of slurry being washed into rivers and the results are shocking. Separated slurry is a liquid fertiliser that should be measured and applied when the conditions are right, and the soil can benefit. We have worked for decades to improve our methods and, with the Vogelsang kit we have today, we feel the service we offer is what farmers need to make the most of their slurry,” he concludes.