Innovations in agriculture

In 2018, Thomas Hollenstein and designer Lukas Bosshart had the vision of bringing a simple, user-friendly and low-wear slurry spreading system to the market that complies with the new legislation. In Switzerland, liquid manure and liquid fermentation products must be spread using low-emission spreading technology from 2024. These regulations will apply across Europe from 2030. Suitable methods include belt-shaped spreading with drag hose or drag shoe distributors, slotted drilling with an open or closed slot and spreading with wide distributors in arable farming, provided that the liquid farmyard manure spread is incorporated into the soil within a few hours. "We already had a slurry spreader in our range, but it was 99 per cent comparable with our competitors. We wanted something completely new, nothing that already existed, so we started drawing, designing and building prototypes until we were finally able to present our Schleppfix three years later," says Hollenstein. The main difference to conventional systems is that the Schleppfix does not require a distribution head with rotating components or drain hoses. The new slurry distributor is available in six different working widths from 2.5 to 15 metres. Depending on the working width, one to five distribution boxes are used. The maximum application rate is 7,000 litres/min. "Another major advantage is the high application rate, which can also be achieved with a vacuum compressor, without drain hoses that are constantly clogged," continues Hollenstein, who founded Swisstec AG specifically for the Schleppfix slurry spreader.

"We have a lot of moving parts in the linkage, all of which have to be supported. igus® - as a plain bearing specialist - enjoys an excellent reputation in Switzerland. So it was clear to me that it would be igus®, and I immediately ordered 100 bushes of the standard material from the homepage iglidur® G for the test purpose," says Thomas Hollenstein about the reasons. A total of 28 such bushes are used in the Schleppfix, distributed over the entire boom. The two side arms are suspended individually and can therefore swing freely. "With the side arms, we realised that enormous forces act on these bearing points. After consulting with the experts at igus®, we then decided on a fibre composite material from igus®, the igutex® TX1", confirms Hollenstein, and Axel Ebert, Key Account Manager at igus® Switzerland, adds: "iglidur® G is one of our cost-effective standard materials in the plain bearing sector and, with a surface pressure of up to 80 MPa, is ideally suited for most applications. At the bearing point on the side arm of the Schleppfix, however, considerable swelling forces act on the material. We have developed the new igutex® fibre composite product range precisely for such applications - wear-resistant and dimensionally stable up to 200 MPa surface pressure." The igutex® materials for high loads combine high wear resistance with the ability to withstand high (static) loads, impacts and edge loads - making them perfect for this application.

Schleppfix uses a special solution with a relatively long bearing of 120 millimetres to bush out the entire component and thus achieve the highest projected surface area for load absorption. Also igutex® TX1thrust washers are also used in the Schleppfix to ensure optimum axial start-up. The igutex® fibre composite material has the same advantages as the iglidur® material: lubrication-free and maintenance-free, corrosion-free, high dirt and media resistance and much more.