A golden opportunity

In celebration of the Golden Anniversary of the Amazone ZA spreader in 2008, the German manufacturer has produced a 'Golden' version. The broadcaster will be featuring at agricultural events throughout the year with the first outing at LAMMA in January. There will be an opportunity to win the distinctive spreader; staff at the stand will be able to provide details.

The principle of the ZA broadcaster revolutionised spreading technology by incorporating two counter rotating spreading discs, connected through a fixed mutual drive, and driven via the PTO shaft by the tractor engine resulting in a mirrored identical spread pattern to the left and right in the direction of travel. This driveline with its spreading discs and hopper on top was mounted on the 3-point linkage of the tractor making the complete machine not only able to be lifted and lowered but also angled via the top link. The constant, adjustable PTO shaft speed enabled a controllable spreading disc speed. This meant that the spreader could be accurately matched to different types of fertiliser at different working widths.

Simon Brown, Amazone Brand Manager comments, "The basic principle is still the same and has allowed us to sell over 700,000 twin disc spreaders since the ZA was first introduced, although we weren't spreading to 48m tramlines in 1958! But we haven't rested on our laurels; we have made continual improvements to the ZA range of spreaders over the past 50 years. For example, most recently the Argus camera system that constantly monitors the spread pattern of the fertiliser as it leaves the disc and adjusts the disc speed to compensate for changes in product quality. This invention won us a Gold Medal at Agritechnica 2007. This golden version is a very distinctive way of us saying thank you to one lucky farmer or contractor for keeping us where we are in the market place today."