FEATURING a larger 5000-litre capacity spray tank and a new ultra-light, strong carbon fibre boom, John Deere’s new R4050i self-propelled sprayer made its debut at Cereals.

Scheduled to be in full production at its Horst factory in Holland for the 2018 season, the R4050i will join the existing R4040i 4000-litre self-propelled model in the company’s sprayer range in limited numbers from early 2017.

Weight distribution has been improved by removing around 900kg from the rear through using carbon fibre in the boom, along with an extra weight of liquid carried in the larger tank.

Able to spray at widths of 18 or 36m, the boom is much lighter than steel or aluminium designs, but the carbon fibre used is around 5.5 times stronger than steel and is able to flex. It is designed to withstand high dynamic loads from high application speeds of 20 to 30kph, even with wide booms.

The reduced weight also reduces the roll and yaw movement in wider booms, and also automatic boom levelling systems, like John Deere’s own BoomTrac, can control them with greater precision.

The R4050i is powered by the same 6.8-litre John Deere PowerTech PSS engine as the smaller machine, producing 235 rated hp (boosted to 255hp with intelligent power management).

Its centrally located, easy-access cab is on top of a chassis with dual-strut independent wheel suspension and hydraulic track width adjustment as standard. There is also a choice of two-wheel, four-wheel or crab steering.

Standard fitment is John Deere GreenStar 3 2630 touchscreen display with full FieldDoc spray documentation and ISOBUS compatibility and it is AutoTrac ready, with a free JDLink Ultimate subscription for one year.