Abstract: A salt-sand spreader for use for spreading materials onto road surfaces primarily where icing or slippery conditions occur. The spreader includes an applicator for coating the particles with a liquid prior to discharging the particles to tend to speed up the ice melting reaction and if a suitable coating is used to inhibit corrosive action of the salt. Additionally, the velocity of discharge of the particles from a discharge mechanism is sensed or correlated to fan speed and the discharge velocity is adjusted to match the forward speed of the vehicle so that there is essentially zero relative velocity between the particles and the ground when the particles strike the ground.

Abstract: An automatic soil sampler (10) removes soil samples (65) at known locations and transfers the samples to a packaging station (23) where the samples are packaged and identified. The packages (87) are left in a strip and moved to an analysis workstation (219) for analysis of soil. The results of analysis of each soil sample (65) is used for determining applications of a materials such as fertilizer in that same local region as the region where the soil sample was taken with an applicator (11B) moving over the same field.

Abstract: A boom assembly is provided for use on a vehicle. The boom assembly utilizes various suspension components which absorb and damp a significant amount of various loads imparted on the boom assembly during operation of the vehicle. The boom assembly reduces the loads imparted on the booms when the vehicle pitches and rolls. By reducing the loads created by vehicle pitching and rolling, the booms receive a softer and smoother ride which increases the lifetime of the booms and lengthens the time between repair of the booms.

Abstract: A system is used for applying fertilizer to a field. A nutrient requirement map is first obtained for the field indicating nutrient requirements for a plurality of locations in the field. A first blend of fertilizer is calculated based on the nutrient requirements. Fertilizer components are blended to form the first blend. The first blend is loaded into a first bin of an applicator. The first blend is then applied with the applicator at a first application rate, wherein the first application rate varies as the applicator travels across the field based on nutrient requirements corresponding to the location over which the applicator is then traveling.

Abstract: An automatic soil sampler (10) removes soil samples (65) at known locations and transfers the samples to a packaging station (23) where the samples are packaged and identified. The packages (87) are left in a strip and moved to a container (168). The sampler (10) repeats the sampling function at identifiable intervals measured by an odometer (11A) and permits the sampling and packaging to be completed rapidly.