A new trailing shoe which has flow-optimized liquid manure discharge and an innovative precision distributor for its spreading booms, is new from specialist manufacturer, Vogelsgang.

The BlackBird trailing shoe linkage is aimed at better regulation of spread, especially in growing crops. “When it came to developing this new technology, we took into account the findings from our flow simulations as well as the flow rates of the liquid manure and tested a number of different shapes,” said Henning Ahlers, head of sales Germany for Vogelsang.

“The result is an ideal combination of a flow-optimized discharge that deposits the liquid manure more precisely and a new skid geometry that separates the crops even better.”

The new, long, beak-like shape – hence the BlackBird name – ensures a controlled and even flow of liquid manure through every discharge, thus preventing crops from being contaminated during manure spreading. By actively applying pressure, its pointed skid is better able to penetrate the soil, ploughing a small furrow for directly depositing the liquid manure under the crops.

This new shoes has been launched at the same time as the next generation of Vogelsang’s macerator and precision distributor, ExaCut ECQ. This is located in the centre of the boom and uses large diameter flow distribution plates to control flow and distribution accuracy.

A new large maintenance port allows direct access to all the system’s internal components for servicing.

Design changes also mean that its power requirement has been reduced by up to 50%, said Vogelsgang. This is due to the new rotor design and lower speeds.

A revised hose layout also features for the first time in its new trailing shoe linkage, while the booms new leaf springs and vibration cancellation technology keep things stable while working and reducing vibrations during transport on the road.

Hydraulic cylinders, with end-position damping, keep the strain in the frame to a minimum during folding processes. The new trailing shoe linkage is available in working widths of 12m and 15m and can be folded up to a transport width of 2.99m. Folding the linkage upwards activates the DropStop principle, which prevents the headland, streets and agricultural roads from getting contaminated.