First Look: Croplands Robot Ready Pinto sprayer

Croplands is a local pioneer when it comes to autonomy and optical spot spraying, particularly its WEED-IT system that is a proven winner on Aussie farms, but the company now offers a fully autonomous spray solution.

The new Robot Ready Pinto trailed sprayer range, which integrates with SwarmFarm’s latest SwarmBot autonomous tractor, is Croplands’ newest 'weapon' in this new age of autonomy. Farmmachinerysales was invited to take an exclusive first look at it in action, but more on that later...

Not only is it able to integrate with the self-driving SwarmBot but the Robot Ready Pinto is a smart sprayer too, featuring the proven WEED-IT Quadro optical spot spraying system, and it’s also able to take care of broadcast spraying.

The Robot Ready Pinto is the first of its kind for Croplands, suited to large-scale broadacre growers looking to introduce future-proof farming methods and efficiencies only possible with autonomous technology.

According to Croplands, it’s built tough and is capable of serious spraying duties in harsh Australian conditions. Of course, the company has put it to the test and the Pinto passed with flying colours.

“We have been testing our Robot Ready Pinto in numerous soil types and terrains across Queensland, including the heavy black soils on the Darling Downs.” said Croplands WEED-IT Product Lead, Lachlan Coom.

“Apart from the excellent manoeuvrability of the gooseneck design, we were also impressed by the boom’s stability with the auto height control exceeding expectations. We were also very happy that the integration went smoothly between the sprayer and robot when setting it up for its initial test run. SwarmFarm really know their stuff.”

While the Pinto and the SwarmBot pulling it are clearly durable machines – visibly apparent in their beefy construction – the sprayer was designed with serious productivity in mind.

“Croplands specifically designed the boom on the Robot Ready Pinto to enable twin-line plumbing and sensors, which are angled vertically for better visibility into the target region,” Coom said. 

The unit is equipped with either an 18 or 24m hydraulic boom, featuring one-inch stainless plumbing and triple nozzle bodies with full recirculation.

Dual-flow meters allow for accurate broadcast spraying, while the WEED-IT Quadro technology takes care of precise spot spraying duties – with incredible precision. If it’s green, the WEED-IT system will hit it, as we were reminded about when we saw the Pinto in action.

It has a 3000-litre poly main tank and a 400-litre top tank, with an easy-to-use fill panel that includes a two-inch fill, tank rinse and agitation.

The setup offers a 1m ground clearance and 3m track, making it suitable for a range of crops. It even comes standard with working lights and additional blue lights for nighttime spraying – lighting the Pinto up like a Christmas tree for those who wish to run this machine around the clock.

If you’re looking to maximise the benefits of autonomous equipment like this, you can even run multiple units at once for large-scale growing operations.

We were lucky enough to get a sneak preview of the Robot Ready Pinto while Croplands and SwarmFarm tested the unit on a farm in Oakey, Queensland.

While we’d typically ‘review’ a farm machine, the Robot Ready Pinto is autonomous so, short of using a smartphone to get it up and running, we were relegated to the sidelines to watch.

Somehow, it wasn’t any less exciting, as the little SwarmBot made its way around the paddock, pulling the Pinto trailer behind it with impressive precision.

Starting the machine is a one-button affair, as Coom demonstrated, and once you’ve fired up the machine the rest is done using a smartphone. It’s that easy.

Of course, much of the work is done when the paddocks are mapped, which is something the team at SwarmFarm and Croplands assist with. We watched the mapping process too, which was fairly straightforward and we’re told it isn’t something you’ll need to do all that often.

The first thing we noticed is that the Pinto tracks straight as an arrow, likely due to the suspended gooseneck hitch, while also turning on a dime. This setup isn’t just a mishmash of parts – it’s engineered from the ground up, to the high standard we have come to expect from Croplands.

An added benefit of a cab-less machine like the SwarmBot, is its relatively low weight, meaning it’s gentle on the ground beneath it. We’re told the SwarmBot has a tare weight of around 2500kg, which is way down on your typical tractor.

We could see this machine paying for itself pretty quickly if you’re forking out for drivers, but ultimately it’s about improving efficiency on your farm. Spraying isn’t exactly the first job people put their hand up for, so why not let a robot take care of the boring stuff?

The farm we tested the machine at belongs to local grower Braydon Bullock, who was on hand to check out the autonomous setup as it worked its way up and down one of his paddocks.

“The unit looks solid,” Bullock told us.

“I like how the WEED-IT sensors are mounted at a right angle to the boom facing straight down into the stubble, I note there is also plenty of room for the boom plumbing to be mounted.”

He’s not wrong, either, because the entire setup looks built to last and there isn’t much the Croplands team hasn’t thought of. This machine is capable of running day and night, 24/7 on your farm – just fill it with diesel and put it to work.

The Robot Ready Pinto impressed us from the outset – before we’d even seen it operating. It’s a well-engineered solution and the Croplands team has covered off just about everything farmers are going to want out of a trailed sprayer.

This machine takes optical spot spraying to the next level, not just saving on chemicals but also on time. They say time is our most precious commodity, and we think the hours would quickly add up with this machine.

It’s not easy finding workers and, if you do struggle to find good operators, this machine could offer a solution…you certainly won’t catch it slacking off. It helps that both the robot up front and the sprayer behind it are Australian made, with local support to boot.

Model: Croplands Robot Ready Pinto with SwarmFarm SwarmBot
Engine: Hatz four cylinder diesel engine
Power: 83hp
Transmission: Hydraulic drive
Trailer Linkage: suspended gooseneck attachment
Main Tank: 3000 litres plus handwash tank
Boom: 18- or 24-metre boom
Spray System: One-inch stainless boom plumbing with triple X nozzle bodies and boom recirculation, powered by WEED-IT Quadro technology
Steering: Articulated steering
Wheel Track: 3.0-metre wheel track
Ground Clearance: 1.0 metre