The purpose of this article is to compare sprayers «Rosa», «Vodoley 1» and «Vodoley 2» that are available today on the market of Ukraine. All three models are equipped with ultra-low pressure tires, due to which they can move along the wet soil and perform foliar feeding for the plants. Low pressure on the soil (no more than 160 g/cm2), causes they do not damage winter crops with a stem height less than 50 cm.
The engine of all three models is a Japanese turbocharged Kubota. This is a proven trademark, whose products are well suited for highly loaded operation under different temperature conditions.
The principal difference here can be seen in the «Vodoley» line. «Vodoley 1» is equipped with a Kubota engine of 1.5 liters (as a «Rosa» sprayer), while «Vodoley 2» has a 2.4-liter engine. «Rosa» and «Vodoley 1», for processing of 1 hectare, consume 0.2 liters of the diesel fuel, while «Vodoley 2» consumes 0.3 liters and shows a higher rate of work.
The engine location is at «Vodoley 1» and «Rosa» in the middle part of the frame. To more evenly distribute the load between the wheels when the tank is full, «Vodoley 2» has the engine moved to the front axle. Therefore, when the tank is fully loaded, «Vodoley 2» has a more even distribution of the load on the wheels.
The performance of sprayers depends on the power of its engine: from «Rosa» you can expect processing of 16-23 hectares per shift hour, for «Vodoley 1» this figure can reach 30-50 hectares, for «Vodoley 2» 60 hectares. Comparison of sprayers should also include the possibility of their outflow speed - for «Rosa» and «Vodoley 1» it is 30-300 liters of working fluid per hectare, when «Vodoley 2» with a decreasing of speed can pour 500 liters per hectare.
The capacity of the main tank of the «Rosa» sprayer is 800 liters, while both types of the «Vodoley» are equipped by the tank on 1000 liters capacity. The system of quick filling with working fluid is available for both models «Vodoley». «Vodoley» can be equipped with a system of self-refueling, which further simplifies all operations, because there is no need to use the fertilize transporting technics with its own pump.
At the request of the customer, both sprayers «Vodoley» can be equipped with hydraulic drive of the rods. This modification can switch the booms from the moving mode to the working mode and back automatically, which further speeds up the processing of the territory.
Summarizing, it can be argued that self-propelled sprayers «Vodoley» should be more interesting to the domestic (ukrainian) buyer, since the main elements of the undercarriage and the body are made of the units of domestic cars. Therefore, in case of need to repair the necessary parts can be found in a regular car dealer. The higher fuel consumption of «Vodoley 2» is compensated by higher productivity and the possibility of pouring out the working fluid to 500 liters/ha.
Installed on «Vodoley» spraying computer with GPS module does not just synchronize the rate of outflow with the speed of the movement across the field. The processing data is transmitted via GSM channel to the «Agrosystem» database. Thanks to this, after the work, it is possible to determine exactly where and in how much of the liquid fertilizers were poured. Thus the spraying computer, installed by default on the sprayer «Vodoley», prevents the possibility of the theft of liquid fertilizers (PPP).
