New Leader introduces ‘high-output’ NL710 nutrient applicator

The Iowa manufacturer says simplicity of operation was a fundamental goal when developing its new fertilizer spreader

Published: 8 hours ago

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Benjamin Boelter, director, product development with New Leader calls the NL710 applicator “a high-precision, high-output, wide fertilizer spreader that is user-friendly and low-maintenance.” PHOTO: NEW LEADER

New Leader Manufacturing introduced the latest addition to its N7 series of precision nutrient applicators at the Commodity Classic in Austin, Texas late last month.

The NL710 is a single-bin fertilizer spreader the Iowa company says is comparable in productivity and profitability to its dual-bin NL720.

“It’s a high-precision, high-output, wide fertilizer spreader that is user-friendly and low-maintenance,” says Benjamin Boelter, director of product development with New Leader.

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The machine’s 120-foot spreading capacity is a rarity in the U.S. market, he says, with most manufacturers opting for 90 feet.

“We also increased the throughput … so you don’t have to slow down to get a wider pattern, so we have more material that can go through the machine.”

The applicator features a spread pattern “wizard” that makes automatic output adjustments.

“You don’t have to make manual adjustments on the machine to change the spread pattern. That’s all taken care of internally for you,” says Boelter.

The machine’s variable rate spreading capability includes four options: 120, 90, 80 and 70 feet.

Boelter uses turn compensation as an example of its variable-rate capabilities — say, when “spreading on the left hand side of the spreader needs more material than the right hand side. Our machine can adjust for that,” he says.

A view of New Leader’s NL710 in action.
A view of New Leader’s NL710 in action.

“As you spread with VRT, as you’re going through the field and your rates are changing and your speed is changing, the amount of product dropping on your spinner is changing. So we have built into our software (the ability to) make the adjustments as you’re going through those rates to keep your spread pattern at a very good precision.”

According to the company, the NL710 also features:

  • A 33 per cent more efficient high-output design.
  • Uniform spread pattern with advanced swath width control.
  • Tool-free maintenance and zero grease points for reduced downtime.
  • Ability to pattern test and set the machine using only three pans.

The applicator was designed for productivity, efficiency and low maintenance, says Boelter, but the fundamental goal was simplicity.

“We tried to make it very simple for the operator to use. So one of the, I would say, most unexpected things from an operator standpoint is we added a lot of capability, but it’s actually easier to use from a control standpoint than what’s in the field today.”

About the author

Jeff Melchior

Jeff Melchior

Reporter

Jeff Melchior is a reporter for Glacier FarmMedia publications. He grew up on a mixed farm in northern Alberta until the age of twelve and spent his teenage years and beyond in rural southern Alberta around the city of Lethbridge. Jeff has decades’ worth of experience writing for the broad agricultural industry in addition to community-based publications. He has a Communication Arts diploma from Lethbridge College (now Lethbridge Polytechnic) and is a two-time winner of Canadian Farm Writers Federation awards.

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