The umbilical method of Manure / Slurry handling involves pumping the liquid from a liquid storage facility (lagoon or tank) using a high-pressure pump unit, via a pipeline, to a tractor mounted applicator unit. Once the system is set up and the pipeline has been laid, the pump is started and the applicator unit is then driven in straight lines, dragging the supply pipe, known as the Drag Hose, up and down the spreading field.

ADVANTAGES OF THIS SLURRY HANDLING SYSTEM

The umbilical application system has numerous advantages over traditional tanker based application methods, the main ones being :

• DRASTICALLY INCREASED WORKRATES
  Work-rates of 200m3 an hour are typical (dependant on spreading equipment).
• DRASTIC REDUCTION IN FIELD SOIL COMP ACTION
  No heavy tanker unit is driven onto the field.
• ELLIMINATES DAMAGE OF FIELD ACCESS AREA
  Applicator unit is driven In and Out of the field just once.
• ELLIMINATES MUD CARRIAGE ONTO FIELD ACCESS ROADS
  Applicator unit stays in the field until the field is finished.

• Pump Unit
  This is a high pressure, high flow-rate pump unit that is used to transfer the pumpable media from the storage facility and up the pipeline. SlurryKat pump units can be tractor driven, electric motor driven or diesel engine driven and are available in various output sizes and mounting options.
• The Pipeline
  This is a mobile, flexible pipeline transport equipment medium running from the pump unit to the spreading device. This pipeline is made up of multiple lengths of layflat hose (usually 200m per length) connected end to end, to provide a total pipeline length of typically 1500m. Various combinations of pipeline diameters are 4” and 5” are most common used. With careful planning and calculating, SlurryKat can achieve pumping ranges in excess of 8000 meters.
• Hose Reeler Unit
  The SlurryKat hose reeler unit is used to deploy and retrieve the layflat flexible pipeline. All SlurryKat hose reeler units are powered by the operating tractor hydraulic oil system. Reels are available to carry various multiples of 200m or 300m, with total capacities ranging from 200m to 2400m per machine, and are either tractor 3-point link mounted or trailed.
• Applicator Unit
  This is a tractor 3-point link mounted unit that is connected to the field end of the pipeline and is driven in straight lines across the field to apply the pipeline fed liquid to the field. Applicators range from a standard splash plate, trailing shoe injector and most common now the SlurryKat dribble bar system (see spreading technology section).
• Control & Monitoring Units
  These are optional units that are used to facilitate and optimise the efficiency of the umbilical system operation.
• Flow metering equipment for accurate flow totalizing (see flow metering section)
• GPS guidance and field mapping systems for 99% spreading accuracy (see flow metering section)