An Australian manufacturer of spraying equipment has been using Allison automatic transmissions to ensure smooth, simple operation and cost effectiveness in its range of specialised self-propelled spraying equipment.
Goldacres is considered the leading manufacturer of self-propelled sprayers in Australia and has been building specialised self-propelled spraying equipment from its head office in the Victorian rural city of Ballarat for the past 40 years.
In 1997, Goldacres started using Allison transmissions in its Crop Cruiser sprayers, and according to chief-engineer Roger Richards, the company has never had a problem with a transmission since making the switch to Allison.
"Since we first started using Allison in the prototype Crop Cruiser spraying tractor almost 15 years ago, we have built more than 140 units. The performance has been exceptional," said Richards.
The latest Goldacres Crop Cruiser Evolution sprayer uses an Allison 2500 Series 5-speed fully automatic transmission mated to a 6.7 litre Cummins QSB turbo diesel engine, producing 225 horsepower.
"Our engineers decided to mate the Allison 2500 Series transmission to our chosen Cummins diesel engine back then because it was the ideal option. We found hydrostatic transmissions were too complex and too expensive, a manual transmission was too difficult to operate, and other transmissions were way too expensive," Richards said.
Goldacres Crop Cruiser Evolution sprayers must be built to cope with a wide range of conditions, due to the vast contrasts of the Australian countryside. Soil conditions can vary from rock-hard, sun-baked dirt to muddy, rain-soaked terrain, and temperatures can be intense as well - from 0 degrees Celsius in winter to more than 50 degrees during summer.
Richards explains why these extreme environments make Allison the best choice. "Using an Allison transmission allows the tractor to maintain constant engine revs no matter what the conditions. It does this by automatically changing up and down to deliver a constant speed. By running the Allison automatic with the Cummins engine, we can easily mate the two so that their electronic control units speak to each other to provide optimum performance across all conditions.
"Because they are so well matched, the sprayer unit is always in the correct gear, and the engine is in its torque band, which also means the operating temperature is lower, and noise is reduced. Allison enables the sprayer to maintain a smooth crawl, which ensures the crop being tended will receive the correct amount of spray delivered at the appropriate pressure," he added.
A factor that has made the Goldacres Crop Cruiser Evolution sprayers so successful for farm spraying is the versatility of the design with the ability to increase the vehicle's track from three metres to four metres. The Crop Cruiser Evolution can also be fitted with spraying booms that range from 24 metres to 36 metres wide to cope with a variety of farming requirements. This allows the vehicle to cater for a range of applications from broad acre to row crops as well as the ability to carry from 3000 up to 5200 litres of sprays including herbicides, pesticides, fungicides and liquid fertilisers.
Allison has gained Goldacres' loyalty for another reason, which is the extensive and well-resourced back-up it receives, particularly across remote farming areas of Australia. "Allison really backs its product up well, particularly through its dealer, Heavy Automatics, which delivers the sort of after sales service that gives us the confidence to sell our sprayers into the most remote regions of the country," Richards said. "If there is a problem on a remote farm then they will have someone out there straight away to rectify it and have the sprayer unit going again, minimising any downtime for the customer."