Innovative spraying machine manufacturer Hol Spraying Systems hits the first pile at new location.

Spraying machine manufacturer Hol Spraying Systems (H.S.S.) from Meteren in the area the ‘Betuwe’ is celebrating its tenth anniversary next year.

The owners, father Henri Hol and son Hendrik, develop and build spraying machines for fruit growing with their employees. In addition to the Netherlands, Belgium and Scandinavia, markets are also distant destinations such as New Zealand, Canada and the United States of America. Ever since the first orchard sprayer was delivered in May 2010, developments have been going fast. The first sprayers had to be operated entirely by hand.

Meanwhile an own developed spray computer (H.S.S. Controlbox®) makes working much easier. For example, the computer will indicate itself if a nozzle is clogged. With two innovative techniques – Drift Control and Wind Control – the orchard sprayers meet the highest requirements that the government sets for sprayers.

Since the end of last year H.S.S. also provides a control box with GPS. The driver has an USB-stick which he plugs into the GPS Controlbox®. It contains the plan of the orchard and a task card, so the machine knows exactly what to do at which place in the orchard. For example, not spraying towards the ditch. The driver also sees exactly how much spray liquid he needs and which rows already have been sprayed. In this way no spray liquid remains and the driver does not accidentally spray the same row twice. In addition, it is exactly visible afterwards where and when spraying took place.

The latest development is leaf mass-dependent spraying. When there is no leaf, the spray nozzles will close. Where there is less leaf, less will be sprayed. This way no spray liquid is unnecessarily lost. This is good for the environment and saves spray liquid.

On Tuesday 18 June 2019, father Henri and his two grandsons started the construction with the first pile for the new business premises on the neighbouring Hondsgemet industrial estate in Geldermalsen. The current building in Meteren became too small. H.S.S. gets more space in the new building to produce their spraying machines. In the new, larger test room H.S.S. is capable to test their three row orchard sprayers against the requirements set by the government. Instead of one row, this sprayer treats three rows simultaneously.