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Behind the HARDI TWIN system
For more than 30 years, HARDI has been the world leader in air-assisted spraying for control of drift. The outstanding performance of our powerful TWIN system has been confirmed by numerous end-users, field trials and studies. Here, we take a closer look at what rightfully is the world’s best application system.
The concept
The HARDI TWIN system comprises a boom with a conventional liquid system and airbags incorporated into the boom construction. The design, with air supplied by a blower with hydraulic drivetrain is unique to the TWIN. The smaller booms have the blower driven by the tractor’s hydraulics: the larger booms have a hydraulic pump powered by the PTO via a gearbox to drive the blowers. The airbags produce a curtain of air to guide/transport the spray droplets into the crop to reduce drift and improve coverage.
The power of air
TWIN allows for the use of nozzles that produce a finer spray. The smaller spray droplets give the best coverage, but they also take longer to reach the target and, therefore, have a tendency to drift. Using an air curtain to help transport the drops to the target will inevitably reduce drift. It will also ruffle the plant to give better coverage on the back of leaves and better crop penetration. In dense crops, the angling of the air curtain also helps by opening the canopy for better penetration. The name ‘TWIN’ is derived from the option to adjust air volume from no air to maximum air, in effect turning a TWIN sprayer into two sprayers in one.
Benefits to the farmer
Recovery time from an illness is shortened if it is medicated as soon as possible. The same goes for crops. The quicker you address a problem, the quicker the crop recovers. Early application also opens the possibility to use lower dosage rates. Spraying in windy conditions is often impossible with conventional sprayers. Thus, a potential crop problem may develop to such a degree that it damages the crop. TWIN puts a stop to this situation. The fact that it is possible to spray in windy conditions, in combination with TWIN’s superior crop coverage means an increase in spray capacity of up to 100%. It also reduces drift by up to 90%, water volume by at least 50% and consumption of plant protection products by up to 30%.
The inspiration
HARDI’s agronomists work with most forms of application. Back in the 1980s, agronomists working with mist blowers in orchards and vineyards noted the challenge of penetrating fruit trees and vines also applied to strawberries and vegetable crops. Utilising the fact that mist blowers use air to improve spray penetration, HARDI developed the MINI Variant. It was a 6-metre sprayer for small fruit trees and strawberries with one blower and 10 individual spouts angled according to the crop. Its name reflected its diverse capability of spraying anything from trees to strawberries. With obvious advantages, the MINI Variant was developed into the TWIN broad-acre sprayer with booms of up to 18 metres. The TWIN was released for sales in 1988. Today, TWIN is available in boom widths of 12 to 36 metres.
The HARDI TWIN grew from observations in orchards to success in broad acre. It is without doubt the world’s best application system; a fantastic tool for meeting the demands on farming – and a good example of our quest to be the world’s best crop care partner. As a curiosum, the MINI Variant still exists. Despite being discontinued for 15 year, it was reintroduced in 2013 as the HARDI ZENIT.
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