English family business A & R Cramphorn has relied on Vredo Trac technology for ten years to spread slurry and digestate. Three three-axle machines cover a working area stretching across central England. “Thanks to the capacity of the VT7138, we never have to drive through the crop again,” says employee and driver Craig Barnes.
The Cramphorn family, based in Oakham (County Rutland), has spearheaded manure harvesting since the 1980s within their agricultural contracting business, which also focuses on forage harvesting for livestock farms and biogas plants. For manure transport, they have their own transport branch. Regular Vredo driver Craig Barnes has worked for the family for more than 30 years and has become fused with the business. Together with Thomas and Rebecca, son and daughter of owner Rob Cramphorn, he organizes all the activities surrounding the manure operation.
No dead load
Since 2006, the company has been using self-propelled spreaders for manure and digestate spreading. In 2017, the first Vredo was purchased. “The big advantage of a TRAC, compared to a tractor with a trailed tank, is that you don’t drag a dead load across the field,” Barnes explains. “We sometimes have pretty steep fields to work, where adequate grip is essential. Because the weight rests on the axles with the self-propelled tanker, there is no wheel slip. The 90-centimeter-wide Mits tires are equipped with an air pressure changing system, which is certainly an added value when fertilizing corn.”
Unique transport width
Barnes says the farm drives 99% of the manure and digestate over the grains in the spring period. “For this, we always fertilize from the spray tracks. Thanks to the 36-meter-wide drag hose boom, the machines never drive through the crop. We can also cope with a spray track width of 24, 30 or 32 meters. Thanks to the Flex tank, the transport width never exceeds 3.5 meters. That is truly unique and a great advantage on our very narrow roads.”
Fertilize by value
The TRACs are not only equipped with GPS control from John Deere, but also use HarvestLab NIR sensors. “With more and more farmers, we no longer fertilize by volume, but by nutrient value,” he explains. “For this, we usually use nitrogen as a guide value. You set that to, say, 100 kilograms and the machine itself controls the application rate and driving speed.”
Gravity
The Flex tank has another advantage, Barnes knows. “The 7m³ manure bag, on top of the tank, is emptied first during spreading. This lowers the machine’s center of gravity, making it more stable in the hills. The total capacity of 32m³ fits the tank trailers exactly, so we can empty them in one go. The machines are equipped with a telescopic suction arm, so we can easily reach over a hedge or ditch and use the docking coupling on the transport tank.
Reliable and comfortable
The Cramphorn fleet currently consists of three machines built in 2020, 2022 and 2024. The newest machines run between 1,100 and 1,200 hours annually. The third about 800, mainly to accommodate work during peak periods. “We’ve hardly had any problems, at most a minor breakdown,” Barnes knows. “Importer Kirby Ag and Vredo have always managed to solve that quickly. We are very pleased with the service. They seem like big machines, but from the cab you certainly don’t have that feeling. Visibility is fine and the controls logical and clear,” he concludes.
