Giga Fertilizer Spreader Horsch Leeb Xeric 14FS

21-11-2023 | Crop solutions | News

KThe Fertilizer Spreader Horsch Leeb Xeric 14FS is a machine from the zero series. Depending on flat land or hilly terrain, you need a tractor with 250 to 300 horsepower to pull the machine. - Photos: Mark Pasveer.

At Agritechnica 2023, the German machinery manufacturer Horsch introduced a pneumatic fertilizer spreader with a working width of 48 meters and a hopper capacity of 14 cubic meters: the Horsch Leeb Xeric 14FS.

The pneumatic fertilizer spreader is marketed under the name Horsch Leeb Xeric 14FS. Since 2011, Horsch and Leeb have had a close collaboration in the specially established Horsch Leeb Application Systems GmbH. The spreader is built in Horsch’s sprayer factory.

Separate augers feed 12 sections

In the hopper, an auger feeds a smaller hopper on top of the machine. This is equipped with weighing cells, making the spreader easy to calibrate: drive 20 meters, reweigh, and the calibration is done.

The Horsch Leeb Xeric 14FS operates with 12 sections, each fed by a separate auger. The augers each have their own hydraulic motor. The hydraulic motors are independently adjustable in speed. This way, you can dose different sections differently. At the same time, the control of the augers also corrects over- and under-dosing that would occur in sharp turns without this regulation.

To work with various dosages or types of granules, two types of augers with different pitches are available. To replace them easily and especially safely, the manufacturer has built a staircase with a large platform at the back of the machine. Each auger feeds a dual-line system consisting only of straight pipes, no bends.

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The hopper, equipped with weighing cells, also facilitates calibration. From this hopper, 12 augers are fed. Hydraulic motors drive the augers independently and continuously variable.

Smaller working widths?

The machine as shown at the Agritechnica trade fair is also available as a 36-meter machine, also with 12 sections. The manufacturer does not rule out that smaller fertilizer spreaders following the same concept will follow. As a spokesperson for Horsch puts it: ‘We always start developing a new concept with a large machine. If something works well on a large machine, it will also work on a smaller variant. Scaling down is easier than scaling up.’

The Horsch Leeb Xeric 14FS is mounted on a steered tandem on BKT IF 650/85R42 tires. The required hydraulics for the blower and the feed auger come from a PTO-driven pump. For the augers of the dosing system, the LS connection of the tractor is used. It must be able to deliver 140 liters per minute to make everything work properly.