More horsepower and better drivers needed for trailing shoe
The use of Low Emission Slurry Spreading (LESS) equipment requires more skilled tractor drivers and machinery operators and more horsepower than the traditional splash plate spreading method, according to Teagasc farm machinery specialist, Francis Quigley.
New slurry-spreading rules introduced on January 1, 2025 require the compulsory use of LESS systems such as the trailing shoe on farms stocked at 100kg N/ha or above.
In 2024, this rule applied to all farms with a grassland stocking rate greater than 130kg N/Ha.
Speaking at a Teagasc event on the farm of Brian Doran in Carnew, Co. Wicklow, on Tuesday, January 14, the Teagasc machinery specialist highlighted that spreading slurry with the trailing shoe "does take a better operator" than spreading with the conventional splash plate method.
He explained that in the past, anyone with a basic tractor and slurry-spreading safety understanding could be trained up for spreading slurry with a tank and splash plate on level, dry ground.
He said: "Often a young lad could train-in on flat fields spreading a few loads around the yard with the slurry tank but operating a slurry tank now is no longer something to be getting your training wheels on.
"It would have been a reasonably safe thing for somebody starting out in good field conditions, where as now, the skill required is considerably more - particularly with the likes of the trailing shoe.
"You'd certainly want to have your wits about you because there's a lot more going on. When you're coming to the headland you're trying to turn off your macerator, turn off your PTO, close the lollipop, lift the trailing shoe, turn on the headland and the repeat all that again in reverse.
"I've even had contractors say to me they turn off the phones when they're operating the trailing shoe."
The Teagasc machinery specialist also said that the use of LESS systems require more horsepower than convention splash plate systems "from two points of view".
"First of all, you're driving an extra macerator so there's a hydraulic motor on the machine that needs to be driven, so that's going to soak up a certain amount of horsepower straight away, and the weight is further back and pulling the trailing shoe is causing resistance in itself.
"The weight is going to move towards the back of the tanker as the load empties so the weight will come off the back wheels a bit more."
Quigley highlighted that Teagasc has an online slurry calibration tool to assist farmers in getting more-accurate application rates and added that faster travel speeds are required with the trailing shoe.
