Buckton SL 15000 slurry tanker review

Brent Lilley checks out a New Zealand-made slurry tanker that’s built tough and comes with some clever time-saving features.

As usual Farm Trader has scoured the length of the country to seek out new machines used in everyday situations and this month the search took me south to the mighty Waitaki River on the border of Canterbury and Otago. Here I caught up with local farmer Gus Morten who runs a pig breeding and finishing operation on his two properties. With all pigs kept indoors there is naturally a lot of slurry that needs to be dealt with in a responsible manner.

With the operation spread over two properties, a slurry tanker is the obvious choice for flexibility. At times a truck and tanker are used to ferry slurry out to the slurry tanker while it’s working in the paddock increasing efficiency. Having previously owned an 8000-litre Melger tanker that was due for replacement last November, Morten felt the natural step was to move to a larger capacity tanker. The Buckton SL15000 with its 15,000-litre capacity ticked all the boxes.

Vacuum tankers

Although vacuum tankers have been around for quite some time. For the benefit of those who haven’t had first-hand experience, let me present ‘Vacuum tanker lesson 101’. To fill the tank, a pump is used to suck air out of the tank creating a vacuum inside that in turn draws the liquid in, filling the tank – simple.

Emptying it out is equally as simple. The pump is switched from vacuum to pressure which pumps air back into the tank pressurising it to force the liquid back out. The beauty of the whole system is that slurry, which is normally fairly corrosive and harmful to any moving parts, never goes anywhere near the internal workings of the pump.

Construction

The simple strong construction of the tanker begins with a heavy-duty box section beam that is used as a chassis and runs from the swivel towing eye back under the tank to the walking beam oscillating tandem axle which is mounted slightly to the rear of the machine. This ensures most of the weight is carried on the chassis and the tanker’s tyres, while also transferring some weight to the rear wheels of the tractor for traction. It was good to see LED road lights on the back of the tanker for safety and hydraulic brakes to help bring the machine to a stop when loaded.

The tank itself is mounted so that it slopes to the rear to ensure all liquid is easily unloaded and is built from rolled, welded sheet steel and it impressively incorporates an internal baffle that keeps liquid from slopping about dangerously inside the tank when moving. Two sight glasses (one at half and one at full) are easy to see for the operator and give an idea of how much liquid is in the tank.

Loading/unloading

Loading and unloading is pretty much the main function of a slurry tanker and the Buckton SL15000 makes the whole process incredibly easy. Simply pull the tanker alongside the slurry pit and the loading arm is lowered hydraulically from the cab into the slurry. Then turn the PTO on to run the pump, creating a vacuum and using the tank sight glasses. The change in sound of the pump lets the operator know the tank is full. Next, raise the loading arm back up into the transport position and you’re ready to head off into the paddock.

To unload, the pump is changed hydraulically in the cab from vacuum to pressure which cleverly closes a valve on the inlet. Then with the pump running, the gate valve on the rear outlet is opened hydraulically to begin spreading and emptying the tank, an incredibly simple and straight-forward operation. With the canon nozzle and splash plate on the back of the machine, spreading is a relatively simple affair.

The verdict

I’m always a fan of New Zealand-built machinery that can hold its own with anything imported, and the Buckton SL15000 certainly does that. Clever time-saving features such as the hydraulically operated filling arm, along with the hydraulically operated valves and changeover on the pump are great to see.

The tanker is very well built and the heavy-duty box section chassis beam spreads the weight effectively, while the tandem oscillating axle and flotation tyres minimise compaction in the paddock.