Jonathan Crosse ‘Straight Talking’ – RB35 Crop Sprayer testimonial

Jonathan Crosse is sprayer operator for Lower Heath Farming, a North Hertfordshire farm based midway between Baldock and Royston. The business produces wheat, winter barley, spring barley, peas and beans. Additionally, they also contract farm for three other local farms.…

What Bateman sprayer do you run?
We run an RB 35 with a 4000-litre tank, 36-meter boom, which can spray at 12 or 24 metres as well. It’s got the accurate dribble bar on it, the tank-matic filling system and Bateman boom levelling.

How long have you been running Bateman sprayers?
We’ve run Bateman sprayers for approximately 15 years now. This is our fourth Bateman.

Why Bateman, what do you like about them?
Firstly, I like the fact they’re British, it’s a family firm. Comfort’s a big thing for us. We’ve always used Bateman sprayers, I’m a great believer in if it’s not broken don’t fix it.

The E-Drive on the Bateman sprayer makes it a lot easier to drive on a long day, more comfort, the cruise control makes it a lot easier to operate.

How has the Bateman performed when spraying on difficult ground conditions?
This is the first autumn with this sprayer, it’s a particularly wet autumn, ground conditions have not been favourable. We’ve been to check fields and barely been able to walk on them because of how wet and sticky they are.

We’ve gone spraying because we’re forced into it to get pre-emergent sprays on in time. It’s travelled better than we can walk on it in some instances.

How do feel after a long day in the cab?
Bateman boom levelling is a huge improvement. It keeps the boom nice and level, keeps your nozzles at the right height above the ground. It follows the ground through contours, through valleys and over hills well, which takes a lot of fatigue away from the driver on a long spraying day.

Tank-matic is ideal when filling the sprayer. Once you know the exact hectarage of your field, you can fill it up to the exact amount. While you’re filling chemicals in, you don’t need to be worrying about how much is in the spray tank and when to switch the water supply off.  

How would you rate the back up from Bateman?
Over the years, Bateman Sprayers have always been very helpful on the phone to us. Nine out of ten times they can fix a problem over the phone by swapping a bit from here to there.

If we need a part, it’s always here the next day. Very often or not, there’s a service engineers van somewhere locally that we can get a part from if needs be.

What difference does driving a Bateman make to your day?
Bateman sprayers are good value for money and they hold their second-hand values well. We like the innovation with them, the reliability, this always makes our lives easier and that’s why we stay with them.