Marshall ST 1800/Farming Simulator 15
The Marshall ST 1800 is a Slurry Spreader available in Farming Simulator 15. It is designed to cover fields with Slurry (a byproduct of Cow husbandry and Silage production), doubling the yielded crops. This is the smallest tool available for this task, and the Slurry itself is practically free. If used with a Hired Worker, this may be the single most cost-effective fertilization device in the entire game, by far.
Overview
The ST 1800 is a fairly simple device that can spread Slurry on a field. It is simple chemical tank on wheels, capable of holding up to 8,000 liters of Slurry. At the back of the tank is a nozzle that can eject the Slurry behind the vehicle as it moves, at a rate of 100 liters per second. Any piece of fertilized land will give double the Crop yield the next time it becomes ripe for harvest.
Fertilization of a field can be performed at any point before the crops have ripened, and will always result in double crop yield. It can be done on ripe crops, but in that case it will only apply to the next crop grown on the same field. The extra revenue from fertilized crops will probably cover the cost of this tool the very first time you use it.
The ST 1800 has a Drawbar (Ball) attachment point, which can be attached behind any tractor in the game. It can also only be attached to the Lizard PiQup, as well as most Harvesters.
The ST 1800 has a working width of about 11.0 meters, which is about average among fertilization machines. It enforces a speed limit of 20 km/h while operating.
The store reports that this tool requires 51 kW / 70 hp to operate. This number is practically meaningless, because no towing tractor is too weak to provide this much power. When operating, however, smaller tractors may struggle pulling the ST 1800 uphill at its maximum working speed.
If operating this tool manually, you will first need to fill it with Slurry. This can be done at the Cow Pasture, at the Biogas Plant, or even from a Slurry Field Tank that you had previously filled with Slurry and placed near the field you wish to fertilize. The ST 1800 will refuse to activate if it does not contain at least 1 liter of Slurry.
Filling the ST 1800 with Slurry is simple: Drive the ST 1800 up to the Slurry tank, and hit the Refill button. The filling process will stop if you hit the button again, drive away from the tank, or when the ST 1800 is full to the brim. The ST 1800 will not work in manual mode if it is empty.
If you use a Hired Worker to operate the ST 1800, the tank does not absolutely require filling - but the Hired Worker will charge you a money for each liter he uses while the tank is empty. However, whether intentionally or due to a programming mistake, that amount of money is incredibly small: only about $240 per hectare, which is the lowest price per hectare of any fertilizer in the game by far. Remember that each hectare of land can produce over $10,000 worth of Crops when unfertilized, and that fertilization doubles that profit. This makes Slurry incredibly cheap and effective.
Note that unlike Sowing Machines, a Slurry Spreader will start expending Fertilizer as soon as it is activated, even if you are not on the field, or are running it over a part of the field that has already been fertilized.
When used conventionally (by manually filling it with Slurry each time it runs out), the ST 1800 is a cheap and effective way to fertilize small fields, compared to some other fertilization machines in the game, though it first requires you to make some Slurry to fill it with. However, if you choose to take advantage of the absurdly low cost of Slurry for a Hired Worker using an empty tank, the ST 1800 becomes probably the cheapest kind of fertilization equipment in the game. Though it cannot compete with Fertilizer Spreaders in terms of working area, it is both cheaper and far more cost effective in the long run.
Specifications
- Price: $9,700
- Maintenance: $15 / day
- Capacity: 8,000 L
- Working width: 11.0m
- Required power: 51 kW / 70 hp
- Max speed (work mode): 20 km/h / 12 mph
- Selling price: $4,850 ($5,820 at shop)
- Mass: 2,570(empty) 6,170(full) kg / 5,665(empty) 13,600(full) lbs
- Front Hitch: Drawbar (Ball)