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Wiping out weed-beet case study
During 2001 a local farmer growing sugar beet discussed the problem of weed-beet in his sugar beet crop. He had been using weed wipers for many years and
accepted there was a fundamental problem in the design - they dripped chemical solution onto the desirable crop below.
The problem occurred when the weed population was relatively sparse. Consequently, the pump was replenishing product onto the wiping area before the
same amount of product had been used.
This resulted in an over saturation of the wiping area causing the unit to drip onto the sugar beet crop below.
The unit the farmer had been using was designed in such a way that it could not be modified to overcome the problem and so began the task of finding or
designing a unit that would not drip.
The solution: WeedSwiper
The WeedSwiper is unique due to the fact that there are sensors in the face of the swiping pad material which sense the amount of fluid contained within the pad material.
This takes place continually throughout the time the unit is in work. The sensors are linked to the patented Hydrostat control box and send a signal to the
Hydrostat controller only as and when more fluid is required in the pad material which maintains a constant saturation level.
The Hydrostat then sends a signal to the pump to allow more fluid to flow to the pad as required. The result of this technology means that travel speed (within
reasonable limits), and density of weeds become irrelevant as the system only replenishes the fluid content within the pad material as it is required resulting in a non-drip unit.
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