Last year capped off another big year for sprayer and dealer development for Goldacres with yet another new model range added - the Prairie Pro Series 2 - and a new dealer network for Esperance and Great Southern in Western Australia.

The Prairie Special name was introduced to the Goldacres range in the mid-1990s,

designed as a simple to operate model with limited options, tank size of 2500 litres, Raven Scs440 auto rate controller and newly designed "high folding" delta booms from 18-24 meters.

The 2500L Special quickly established itself in the market suiting many smaller cropping and pasture spraying applications, praised for its strength and simplicity of operation.

Over the years the Prairie Special range grew for appeal to a wider range of customers, two model designations were introduced - small frame with tank sizes of 2500 and 3000L and Large Frame 4000, 5000 and 6500L still maintaining a simplistic and cost-effective design.

New beast

Today, the name lives on but it's a totally new beast. The large frame Prairie Special now consists of 4000, 5000, 6500, 8500 and 10,000L tank capacities with boom sizes 24m to 36m.

Clever in design, simple in functionality, the Special shares many design elements of its

high-tech brother, the recently released Prairie Pro Series 2.

Sprayer functions are situated on the left-hand work station, now named "Fast Fill".

Goldacres large trailers now feature possibly the quickest filling systems available today - the Fast Fill work station - which incorporates all external sprayer functions into one location giving the operator control of two separate plumbing circuits - fresh water going into the sprayer and directing flow from the pressure side to each internal system.

The fill point is 75mm or three-inch with an optional three-inch high flow hydraulic centrifugal pump offering flow rates of up to 1150l/min.

Getting chemical into the sprayer has never been simpler or quicker with the 60L induction hopper.

The hopper features a chemical probe connection point in the base, or the operator can tip granular or liquid chemical into the hopper tank.

Goldacres testing has shown this hopper can transfer water at rates of at least 150L/min.

Suction on the sprayer is done via a high-capacity three-inch suction filter, and a three-way ball valve enables suction from either fresh water tank, used when cleaning, the system or from the main product tank to a either a diaphragm or centrifugal pump.

From the pressure side of the pump, flow is directed to either tank agitation or tank rinse nozzles when sucking from the fresh water tank.

A two-inch filter is fitted for flow heading to the boom which features a flushing circuit to aid cleaning duties.

Proven

The boom fitted to the large frame prairie special series 2 is the proven TriTech in widths of 24, 28, 30 and 36m.

Tritech booms have continually raised the bar in terms of boom stability delivering outstanding spray application.

The boom features the unique TriTech suspension to dampen the forces of yaw, roll and pitch. Hydraulic yaw cylinders stiffen up the forward and backward movement of the boom while dampeners control the boom roll.

The pitch (up and down) movement is controlled via hydraulic accumulators in the lift cylinders circuit.

For greater boom control an optional five-sensor radar boom height control system can be fitted.

One-inch boom plumbing is now fitted for both higher application rates but also to reduce pressure drop along the length of the boom.

Operators can choose from the standard plumbing configuration of 500mm single line boom valves with five boom sections, 3TS offset with rapid fire and rapid flow boom recirculation or 10-section, single line rapid fire, rapid flow.

The latest Prairie Special Series 2 trailers are currently hitting dealerships around the country and will be showcased at all major upcoming field days.

Network grows

Goldacres is pleased to welcome McIntosh & Son as its Esperance and Great Southern WA to its dealer network.

With the recent acquisition of Staines in Esperance, it was a natural progression to integrate Goldacres products into an already established market, with increased servicing capacity provided by the McIntosh & Son business.

McIntosh & Son General Manager, Devon Gilmour, said: "this is a great opportunity for both companies to further develop the brand in the Great Southern."

Goldacres General Manager, Roger Richards, said there are exciting times ahead for the Australian-made sprayer range, with ongoing product enhancement to give farmers access to the latest features and benefits of locally made sprayers.

Goldacres has appointed Andrew Hill as Product Specialist for southern WA, along with Mike Hutton as WA Operations Manager to further strengthen their commitment to the region.

For more details, visit www.goldacres.com.au

Deal; Goldacres has expanded in Western Australia with McIntosh & Son now representing the business in Esperance and the Great Southern region.