| 63 E N G I N E E R I N G Proudly sharing the load with Brooks Spreading for 20 years Ph: 03 5449266 www.trinder.co.nz Your trusted partner in heavy transport design and manufacture SPREADING » Brooks Spreading A big fan of the Spreadmark certification Karen Pheps Minor tweaks to machinery, and how the operators use the machinery, can dramatically affect the accuracy of fertiliser application. That’s why Dean Brooks, from South Island company Brooks Spreading, has always been a big fan of the Spreadmark certification. “It gives clients better performance and it gives me peace of mind that my gear is doing what it should be and is performing as best it can. Unless you test you don’t actually know,” he says. Dean knows the difference this can make to his clients’ jobs first hand. One test indicated his spreader was out by three to four metres on the width of the pattern. It took some tracking down to work out the problem: a toolbox bolted onto the truck that was sticking out half an inch on one side. “It was having a negative effect making the spread slightly less even. It was detected through Spreadmark testing otherwise we’d never have known as it was such a small thing,” says Dean. “The result was a more accurate job and cost efficiencies for our clients.” He says that over the years Brooks Spreading has gone from spreading urea in an 18m wide pattern to around 30m. By covering the same hectares per year with fewer trucks this has further increased efficiency and cost effectiveness. “We are always trying to do better,” says Dean. “We complete certifying testing every two years and do a check test every 12 months to ensure our equipment is performing at its best.” The company is also a member of the New Zealand Groundspread Fertiliser Association. Dean is a life member in recognition of his contribution to the industry. Over the years he’s been involved with the Fertiliser Quality Council, driver training for spreader operators, a national councillor and vice president and president of the NZGFA. “Our NZGFA membership helps us to keep up with what’s going on in the industry and improvements as well as giving opportunities for networking with other ground spreaders,” he says. • to page 64 Spreadmark certification gives clients better performance and it gives peace of mind that our gear is doing what it should be and is performing as best it can. Dean had a background working on farms and in the transport industry as a driver and dispatcher when he started what would become Brooks Spreading.
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