COROWA based Upton Engineering has unveiled a major upgrade to their Irriturf racecourse irrigator with new machines commissioned at Melbourne’s Caulfield and Flemington racecourses.
The irrigators will be used to prepare the tracks for the coming Spring Carnival including the 2015 Melbourne Cup.
Upton Engineering managing director, Paul Upton said the designs included 20 years of experience.
“We are confident that our latest irrigator is highly efficient in operation and accurate in the volume of water that can be applied to the track”.
The two new 30 metre machines supplied to Flemington cover the full track width and comprise four individual folding galvanized steel boom sections.
Each of the boom sections can be folded in and switched off so that the boom width can be varied to avoid any trackside obstructions or to change the spread of watering.
The boom can also be raised or lowered to suit particular circumstances or to avoid distortion which may occur due to prevailing winds.
When the irrigator is not in use or stored, the booms all folds in to give a maximum machine width of only three metres.
The Irriturf is fitted with a 200 metre length of of 95 mm hose carried on a hydraulically activated wind up reel.
The hose connects to a hydrant inside the running rail at every 200 metres so that the Irriturf can water a total track run of 400 metres at a time.
The water at a typical flow rate of 15 litres/second is applied via a choice of specially designed sprinklers fitted along each section of the boom to achieve the objective of applying more water to the track surface in as fast a time as possible.
At this rate, a 400 metre section of the track can be watered in two hours and applying 9mm of rainfall equivalent.
A portable pendant controller in the cabin of the tow tractor manages the operation.
“This gives the operator complete control over all the Irriturf‘s features including the volume of water being applied, the height of the boom above the track surface or variations in the boom width,” Mr Upton said.
“The pendant gives a digital readout of all the features so that the watering operator is always informed on all its operating features”.
The irrigator is also fitted with low compression turf tyres to avoid compaction or tramlining.
