Iveco truck operator spreads the word

As a kid, SRC Rural Spreaders owner, Shane Carter, watched his grandfather spread fertiliser onto paddocks around Walcha in the Northern Tablelands of NSW, behind the wheel of a converted 6x6 military ACCO.

While the old ACCO might be considered archaic today, back then it was a notable improvement from using tractors to spread fertiliser, especially when travelling between properties at road speeds.

Thirty-six years on, Carter's now working many of the same fields with his fleet of three Iveco T-Way 4x4s.

Having purchased his first T-Way 4x4 last year, he ordered his second within six months and recently took delivery of a third; all three equipped with Southern Spreaders bodies.

Although the equipment has changed, the premise of the work remains: in the case of Walcha and surrounds it’s to improve pastures at meat producing properties and dairy farms, by periodically spreading materials such as compost and fertilisers onto the soil.

“The T-Way offered higher ground clearance and a cooling package that was set up high, minimising the risk of damage out in the paddocks," Carter explained.

"It can be rough going – we’re often dealing with stump and wombat holes and fallen tree limbs, which can flick-up and cause damage when driving, and of course, it can get very muddy.”

All three vehicles’ off-road capabilities have been boosted with fitment of high traction agricultural tyres, to go with the standard front, centre and rear differential locks, low range transfer case and front and rear parabolic suspension.

GCM for the trucks is 44,000kg, while output from the 8.7L Euro6 engines is 360hp with torque of 1650Nm – matched to 12-speed automated manual transmission.

“I’d say they’re good on fuel – very economical; on a big day we’d usually use around 95 litres per truck. It can be tough going and steep. In Walcha we’re around 1,070m above sea level so it’s undulating terrain,” he explained.

“Normally the speed in the paddock is around 11km/h but this reduces to a crawl when negotiating obstacles. It can get rough in the cabin and you get tossed around but the T-Way handles the conditions well, the air suspended seat is really nice, and the cabin is well sprung. On road we get up to around 85km/h.”

The spreader bodies feature variable rate spreading technology, meaning there’s an adjustment to the spreader’s output depending on the speed of the truck. GPS-based auto-steer guidance also directs the trucks along precise lines, eliminating the risk of overlap or missed patches.

“The trucks come with a good maintenance package, they have good warranties and a lot of the components are greaseless so there’s less downtime,” he said.

“With the previous trucks the radiators used to clog up but this hasn’t been a problem with the T-Ways – we’ve had no damage and the trucks have been an excellent fit for the work we do.”

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