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Kitted-out as a Canada Special, the new Dammann 3500 HS4 Profi-Class is the largest self-propelled sprayer in the North American marketplace.

While not quite the widest, at 125 feet, it takes the prize for the most capacity, at 3,170 gallons. The machine’s ability to remain in the field longer between refills makes it attractive to producers, and the 125-foot booms don’t hurt either.

That large tank needs support in the field, so the big Dammann sprayer spreads the load over three axles, two with steering.

The tires, including sizes up to 650/65 R42s add to its ability to handle the load in the field. The four-wheel steering helps avoid creating ruts during headland turns and tightens up the turning radius, getting it down to about 20 feet when the axles are set to a track width of 7.4 feet.

Depending on the tires, track width can be managed in a range from 73 to 120 inches, and can be controlled from the cab while driving at slow speeds. The six wheels are driven by a 285-horsepower, Mercedes MTU engine feeding Poclain wheel motors.

The previous 3200 model drew crowds at Canada’s Outdoor Farm Show in Woodstock, Ont., recently, as the company rolled out one of the machines. It was complete with an enclosed, downdraft boom option, which improves control of drift and allows the operator to push fungicides and insecticides deep into the crop canopy.

Jens Schmidt of the family-owned company brought the big machine to the event.

“It is big. But it only takes about 15 minutes to fill, front or back,” he said about the 210 gallon per minute, self-priming piston, diaphragm pump. The unit’s induction tool will bring in 80 g.p.m. and provides a fresh water in-flow during loading and a fast rinse once the chemical is in the tank.

“There is a shock-nozzle that helps clean the (containers) when they are emptied,” he said.

The baffle tank has nozzles and the fresh-water container built into it, keeping the machine easy to clean inside and out. Lines and sprayer-boom nozzles are also automatically flushed by the system during cleanup.

The operations terminal in the cab provides most of the controls for the big sprayer, including section, up to 14 or individual nozzle cutoffs and variable rate application. Remote, automatic nozzle selection allows producers to use different, up to four, nozzles to provide coverage. The system can enable higher capacity nozzles once the machine has reached operating speed and drop to a smaller capacity nozzle in slower areas or when approaching headlands or in turns, keeping the droplet size the same throughout.

“We think it will be a good fit for Canadian farmers. Out in the West the biggest units should be especially good where precision over large (acres) is important,” Schmidt said.

At less than about nine feet wide and 12 high, the big sprayers have to meet tight global size requirements. The 3500 has a 43-inch ground clearance and transports at up to 30 miles per hour (48 km/h), with an operating range up to 12.5 mph (20 km/h).

The first unit was sold into the Canadian market this summer to a southern Ontario producer. Pricing is similar to other sprayers of that size, said the company.

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