Thinking Outside the Circle, Part 2 | by John Kastl

Many growers want to know how to make their operations more efficient. Last week, we talked about using Valley® Benders and DropSpan™ to increase productivity. Today, we’re going to examine what Valley corner options can do for you.

Many growers are increasing their productivity by irrigating the corners of their fields. On a square, quarter-section field you can irrigate as many as 23 additional acres with a corner machine, and on rectangular fields you can pick up significantly more.

Corners operate automatically and can be guided with either a buried wire or GPS. Also, if you chemigate or fertigate, you can cover the entire field. No extra equipment needed to apply these chemicals to the corners of the field.

Valley Precision Corner

Valley offers two corners. The Valley VFlex Corner™ is designed to be flexible. It offers a variety of options, such as a fixed or swiveling water transfer hose, single or dual steering gearboxes for difficult terrain, two corner arm lengths for different size fields, and – coming soon – a longer corner arm, an “inverted” option, and electronic sequencing. All these choices allow you to customize the machine to fit your field, crop, and farming practices.

The Valley Precision Corner® comes standard with a fixed joint, constant-movement VFD drives, electronic sequencing, and a built-in chemigate mode – the high tech features growers demand for industry-leading water uniformity.

So, as you can see, Valley offers a number of products that can improve your farming operation. The best part is you can mix and match these products on a single pivot to develop a truly customized machine that covers that odd-shaped field you didn’t think could be irrigated. So start “thinking outside the circle” and talk to your Valley Dealer today about how you can increase your irrigated acres.

Hear more about gaining extra acres in this radio interview from the National Farm Machinery Show: Download the .mp3 

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John Kastl Product Manager - Equipment John joined the Valley Irrigation Engineering Department in 2000 after having spent 11 years at General Electric Aircraft Engines. Today, he manages the equipment products for Valley (center pivots, corners, and gearbox, to name a few), helping develop the next generation of Valley Irrigation machines. John enjoys photography, home renovation, and travel. On his third birthday, John watched the first moon landing!

Thinking Outside the Circle, Part 1 | by John Kastl

Many growers today are asking how they can become more efficient within their operation. With lower crop prices this year, that question is more important than ever. As many of you know, center pivot irrigation is a great way to increase your yields and ensure a good crop year in and year out, without depending on Mother Nature to provide the right amount of moisture at the right times. But for growers already taking advantage of center pivot irrigation, are there additional ways to become more efficient?

Fortunately, Valley_® offers a number of products growers can use to irrigate additional acres on fields they already own. Today, let’s take a look at the Bender30™, Bender160™, and DropSpan™ to see how they can help you increase the productivity of your operation.

Valley Bender products allow a center pivot to “bend” at any drive unit on the pivot, allowing the machine to wrap around in-field obstacles. For example, if you have a feed yard or farmstead in the middle of the field, a Bender will allow your center pivot to wrap around the obstacle and irrigate those acres behind the obstacle.

Bender160

Valley Benders include an exclusive Speed-Up Timer. This is important because your sprinkler package is designed to provide maximum uniformity in non-bending or “straight machine” mode. When the machine is bending, the bending spans are covering less area, increasing water application depth. The Speed-Up timer minimizes this effect by increasing the speed of the machine while it’s bending. Some growers prefer to shut off the sprinklers on the stopped spans. Your dealer can design a custom shutoff package for the Bender on your machine.

Of course, Valley Benders operate automatically so you don’t have to spend time monitoring your machine’s operation.

The Valley Bender30 can bend the machine up to 30 degrees in either or both directions, allowing you to pick up as many as 6 acres per side. The Bender30 is simply a special tower box that can be easily retrofitted onto any Valley 8000 or 7000 series drive unit. It’s also available on PolySpan^® machines, so even if you have corrosive water, you can take advantage of the benefits.

The Valley Bender160 allows your machine up to 160 degrees in either or both directions for up to 32 additional acres per side. Unlike others, the Bender160 uses a toothed belt during bending to constantly monitor the bending angle. This ensures the machine doesn’t over-bend. It also allows you to control your end gun during bending with two end gun cams built into the Bender160 tower box.

DropSpan

Maybe you have a rectangular field, a small area at the edge of the field you just can’t reach with an end gun, or just some grain bins near the edge of the field. The Valley DropSpan offers an excellent solution for those situations. 

The DropSpan is designed to “drop off” one or more spans from the end of the machine, allowing you to irrigate behind obstacles at the edge of the field. While you do have to manually drop the spans, the process only takes 15 minutes and doesn’t require any special tools or equipment. The DropSpan is designed to automatically re-align with the dropped spans, making it very easy to re-attach them.

Read "Thinking Outside the Circle, Part 2" to find out what Valley Corner options can do for you.

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John Kastl Product Manager - Equipment John joined the Valley Irrigation Engineering Department in 2000 after having spent 11 years at General Electric Aircraft Engines. Today, he manages the equipment products for Valley (center pivots, corners, and gearbox, to name a few), helping develop the next generation of Valley Irrigation machines. John enjoys photography, home renovation, and travel. On his third birthday, John watched the first moon landing!