Kym Bryon and son Shannon Bryon are cropping 7000 acres of wheat, barley, canola, lupins and vetch 10 km south of Warracknabeal on Kelvin Downs.

Kym and Shannon took delivery of their HARDI 7000 COMMANDER in September 2009 to spray rust in cereals.

They wanted a sprayer that would deliver performance and functionality was user-friendly It had the right tank capacity and boom width combination to make their spraying task much easier and quicker.

From their previous experience, they knew what they wanted when they set out to find a new sprayer for their operation., and found the right mix in the HARDI COMMANDER. The sprayer can be built to meets the needs of broadacre farmer’s in cereal, intensive row crop and horticultural applications.

Three tank sizes, two chassis styles and three boom options decide the basic sprayer configuration. Plus there are two levels of electronics and host of accessories to choose from. Each COMMANDER is individualised through a process of build selections.

Kym was particularly impressed with the professional finish on a HARDI sprayer. The COMMANDER chassis is built to withstand the most rigorous conditions.

 Exceptional strength and low weight, combined with integrated tank shape provide a very low centre of gravity and excellent sprayer stability. The tank sits low in the chassis and wide over the axle. As the tank empties, the liquid mass moves forward maintaining weight on the drawbar.

Shannon, who does most of the spraying, said he really liked the simplicity of its operation.

All primary functions needed to operate the sprayer during filling or cleaning have been designed around two valves located in the centre of the sprayer’s work zone. Logically placed valve handles with easy to read colour coded icons make the system simple to understand and operate.

 “The fact you can service the filters without getting chemical on your self is very important and just one of the machine’s many advantages”, said Shannon.

Kym normally watches the sprayer from a distance and is amazed at how well the boom rides and how stable it is across the entire 36 metre width in all conditions.

The FORCE boom is the ultimate in capacity spraying with widths from 24 to 36 metre and has tri-fold wing design of three dimension lattice construction provides outstanding strength. Hydraulic wing tilt is standard.

Kym and Shannon’s 36metre FORCE boom has a dynamically linked coil spring centre with inertia control.

A wide, stable ParaLift requiring minimum lubrication or adjustment gives effortless boom height control from .4 m to 2.2 m depending on the tire selection.

Compact hydraulic axle suspension elements provide a smooth trailer ride and less roll than air suspension. The axle and chassis gives excellent crop clearance without brake rods, suspension elements or steering components hanging under the axle. Crop clearance for the 7000 is 78cm.

This combination of Paralift, boom & axle suspension is the reason for the quality of the ride, and the resulting exceptional application coverage.

 Now Shannon is comfortable with the operation he has had numerous opportunities to put the sprayer through its paces and is very happy with the overall performance.

In cab controls are compact, ergonomically designed and the layout puts all frequently used functions at the fingertips. There are two levels of electronics HC5500 which provide application rate control and automated function .

“The electronic tank gauge I wouldn’t be with out it”, said Shannon, “I love it! I look forward to go spraying now”.