-Farm News photo by Larry Kershner?Hagie Manufacturing's newest sel-propelled sprayer, the STX10. The unconventional shape of body panels surrounding the machine provides airflow from an intake in the top to help keep the Cummins Tier 3 engine cool.

By LARRY KERSHNER

For the Messenger

BOONE Hagie Manufacturing unveiled Monday night to a bevy of farm journalists its latest design for self-propelled sprayers that is unique to the industry. The general public will have the chance to see it up close and personal this week during the Farm Press Show, along U.S. Highway 30, east of Boone.

The show runs through Thursday. The Clarion company’s booth, No. 302, is just inside the main gate.

The STX10 is immediately identified as different as the machine is completely enclosed by body panels, similar to a combine. “It’s not just to be pretty,” said Alan Hagie, company vice president, “the panels scoop air from the top of the machine and circulates it around the Cummins Tier 3 engine to keep it cool.”

Kevin Marshall, Hagie sales manager, demonstrates how the cab is designed ergonomically for operator comfort. The cab is designed specifically for this model, unlike other sprayers that purchase tractor cabs, he said.

That is an essential element, Hagie added, especially during late-season spraying.

It’s been 10 years since Hagie has introduced a completely new sprayer model. Hagie told reporters that the machine, with a 1,000-gallon spraying capacity, was designed with the mid-sized producer in mind.

“Mid-sized,” he later told The Messenger, “means 3,000 to 4,000 acres.”

Unlike other of Hagie sprayer models, which can be converted to fit a series of different uses, the STX10 is only a sprayer.

Sam Titus, who heads up Hagie’s engineering and manufacturing team, said the reason for the single use was less weight. “Producers said they wanted a lightweight machine to avoid soil compaction.” To fit the machine for multiple heads, he said, would add a tremendous amount of weight. “It really is designed for the producer, rather than the commercial sprayer.”

Hagie said the new sprayer was “designed from the ground up. We tried to be innovative over our other innovations.

“We’re not really replacing anything, but we are trying to meet a new emerging market.”

The company’s DTS series was designed for smaller producers and the STS series was made for the very large farming operations. “But there was nothing for the middle,” said engineer Titus, except now.

The STX10’s engine compartment is spacious, Hagie said, because it can be fitted in the future with the Cummins Tier 4 engine, which half again the size of the Tier 3, if necessary.

The boom is the lightest and strongest in the industry, a video presentation claimed, being 40 percent lighter with 100 fewer parts. This gives the operator better visibility on the road.

Another innovation, Titus said, is the boom sits on a pivot under the machine. Until now, sprayer booms were attached to the mainframe. To make it work, Titus said, the frame would have had to be heavy steel, which added to the overall weight. Airbags on each side of the boom inflate and deflate as needed on uneven ground to keep the boom level, within four degrees.

The boom can be raised upward to 60 inches above the ground to accommodate late-season spraying, the highest clearance of any 1,000-gallon sprayer design.

The cab is specifically designed for a sprayer and with operator comfort in mind. The seat is upholstered leather with seven pressure points to ease the strain on the back. Air inside the cab is washed through charcoal filters to keep the air at the highest quality possible.

The main controls are amounted on an ergonomic joystick for ease of the operator.

The 2010 Farm Progress Show is allowing, for the time, for companies to offer rides in the equipment.

Once a producer can see himself inside and operating the STX10, Hagie said. “The next step is to get him to see himself owning one.”

The company declined to discuss the price tag for the new sprayer, but claimed that is will be affordable and competitive among the industry of mid-sized sprayers.

“The fastest growing market segment,” Titus said, “is the 1,000-gallon sprayer.”

Contact Larry Kershner at (515) 573-2141, Ext. 453 or at kersh@farm-news.com.