RAINSPAN High Profile Boom Irrigator

Customer: FS Stevens and Co.

Location: Illilbie, QLD

Case Study ID: CS-07

Date: April 2016

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Overview

Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment Mackay branch has delivered yet another High Profile Soft Hose Boom Irrigator to a local Ilbilbie Sugarcane Farmer. Longtime Dowdens customer Brian Stevens operates a number of sugarcane farms in and around Ilbilbie, QLD.

Due to lack of rainfall during the 2014/15 growing season, and a desire to lower his overall irrigation costs Brian decided to purchase a RAINSPAN SB2000 High Profile Soft Hose Boom Irrigator to better facilitate the irrigation of his cane.

Wanting to purchase his new irrigator from a dependable Queensland business Brian contacted the Dowdens Mackay Agricultural Sales Team – one of the most experienced Ag sales teams in Australia, with over 125 years of combined irrigation system design and operational experience between them. As a Company that has built its foundation on the servicing and development of agricultural pumping systems, Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment have the experience to engineer a solution to suit any agricultural application.

The Problem

Jeff Roberts from the Dowdens Mackay Agricultural Sales Team visited Brian’s farm on a number of occasions to investigate, design and then match an irrigator and irrigation plan to best suit the 121ha property. Taking into consideration the terrain, the farms location (near the coastline – a high wind region), existing pump capabilities and source water availability shortages Jeff suggested Brian purchase a RAINSPAN SB2000 93m High Profile Soft Hose Boom Irrigator.

Sugarcane farmer Brian Stevens had, for some time, wanted to shift away from high-pressure irrigation at his Ilbilbie farm. This was due in part to the high coastal winds the property endures year-round playing havoc with his irrigation sprinklers. High-pressure irrigation was no longer viable for this particular farm as it equated to water being blown off his crop, Brian’s associated pumps working hard to deliver high-pressure source water to existing soft hose irrigators and excessive mains power being consumed to run said pumps.

Our Solution

Moving from high-pressure sprinklers to the low-pressure RAINSPAN SB 2000 Dowdens has been able to deliver Brian considerable savings with his overall irrigation costs. The RAINSPAN SB2000 only requires approximately half the pressure to run compared to the previous high-pressure irrigators. This has seen between a 30% – 40% decrease in farm irrigation electricity costs.

The low-pressure RAINSPAN SB2000 Boom is far less susceptible to high winds, meaning Brian now has the potential to irrigate day or night, regardless of wind conditions. Essentially doubling his irrigation potential each day (the previous high-pressure system needed to be shut down during high winds experienced each night).

The RAINSPAN SB2000 Boom was found to be between 15% – 25% more efficient with its water application and distribution compared to the previous high-pressure sprinkler irrigators. Simply put, Brian can now irrigate his sugarcane in a more cost-effective manner, utilising the limited water available to him more efficiently. The RAINSPAN SB2000 is an extremely efficient and reliable low-pressure irrigator that when installed and operated correctly saves farmers water, energy, time and money whilst increasing overall farm yields.

Key Components

Nelson R3000 Rotator Sprinklers were fitted specially to suit the windy conditions, giving a large wetted footprint & better instantaneous application rate
Pulls 300 m x 4″ Snap-Tite Irrigator Hose (Dowdens are the sole authorised Snap-Tite hose dealer in Mackay, Whitsundays & Rockhampton)
Gearbox for smooth safe operation specifically designed for the Irrigator – the most efficient in the industry
A 93 m boom was fitted to the RAINSPAN SB2000 – to seamlessly fit with farms existing lane spacing
New Generation Turbines that are the best in the industry
Hydraulic Boom Slew & Speed Compensator
Made in Australia

Project Design Philosophy

For over 40 years Dowdens Pumping & Water Treatment have been selling & servicing irrigation products throughout Central & Northern Queensland – designing each and every system to improve farming efficiencies, reduce downtime and increase the longevity of pumps/irrigators.