Designed to reduce crop and soil impact, John Deere now offers a lightweight, 1,200-gal. (4542 L) capacity sprayer. The new R4044 Sprayer joins the company’s 4-Series Sprayer family.

The R4044 Sprayer is 9% lighter than the R4045 Sprayer, with a more balanced power-to-weight ratio from a 9.0L PowerTech 325-hp engine. This allows operators to maintain speed under load as terrain changes and results in more accurate applications. The release features the latest integrated technology, including ExactApply, AutoTrac Vision, and 4600 CommandCenter display, found on other John Deere 4 Series Sprayers.

The R4044 Sprayer features VF tires for superior traction and reduced soil impact, and steel booms up to 120 feet in width. Customers have the option of carbon fiber booms in 120-ft. (36.57 m) and 132-ft. (40.23 m) widths for additional machine weight reduction. A 200-cubic-foot (5.66 cbm) drybox option is also available for dry fertilizer applications.

This new sprayer also incorporates the latest guidance technologies, including AutoTrac RowSense, improving application accuracy and reducing crop damage and operator fatigue. AutoTrac Vision uses a front-mounted camera to help guide the sprayer wheels down the center of the crop rows early in the season; AutoTrac Row Sense relies on wheel-mounted paddle sensors to help steer the machine down row middles later in the growing season.     

The ExactApply nozzle control system allows the sprayer to maintain consistent droplet size and pattern through a wide range of speeds, while reducing the potential for overlaps, skips and drift. With ExactApply, operators have full turn compensation and shut-off functionality at the nozzle level (every 15-20 inches (38.1-50.8 cm)), which can help reduce input costs by 2-5%

The new R4044 Sprayer can be ordered starting in June with delivery expected to start by the end of 2018.