2015 - Volume #39, Issue #1, Page #26
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Boom LED's Light Up Night Spraying
“There are lots of benefits from spraying at night including less wind, less drift, less plant stress and slower evaporation,” suggests Luc Pirard, Comatra. “However, spraying at night requires you to trust your electronic monitors or hard to see spray patterns with conventional lights. Our Blue LEDs make it easy to monitor nozzles and spray patterns from the cab, night or day.”
While lit booms are not new, the unique blue spectrum LED’s offered by Comatra put the spray patterns in a literally different light. Only 2 LED’s are necessary to illuminate spray patterns on a 120-ft. boom. The Comatra Blue LED kits are mounted below the boom mast. When turned on, the high intensity lights shine through spray patterns from one end of the boom to the other. A single light can illuminate spray patterns on up to a 59-ft. boom.
“LED’s with a blue cover simply do not provide sufficient contrast, nor does a blue light by itself,” explains Pirard. “The Comatra CMTX-V10 Blue LED lights provide a higher contrast than other lighting systems.”
The Comatra kits come with everything needed to attach to sprayers and are priced at only $487 (including shipping) for a 2-light kit. Pirard suggests it will provide ample light for a 110-ft. boom with up to 112 nozzles. A comparable conventional light kit requires individual lights focused on each of the 112 nozzles and is priced at $2,446.
“We can illuminate a 186-ft. boom with a set of 4 lights,” says Pirard. “That kit is priced at $916, including shipping.”
Pirard says his kits are easy to install and maintain. “Conventional alternatives suggest an installation time of 8 to 10 hrs. on a 120-ft. boom,” he says. “Our 2-light kit can be completely installed in 2 to 3 hrs. Cleaning our 2 lights will certainly take less time than the 64 lights commonly used on a 106-ft. boom.”
Pirard does not yet have a North American distributor and is actively seeking dealers. All prices listed are U.S. dollars.
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