Strautmann PS 3401/Farming Simulator 15
The Strautmann PS 3401 is a Manure Spreader available in Farming Simulator 15. It is designed to cover fields with Manure (a byproduct of Cow farming), doubling the yielded crops. This is the largest vehicle available for this task. The Manure itself is practically free, but requires plenty of work and is only truly useful for small fields.
Overview
The PS 3401 is a fairly simple device that can spread Manure on a field. It is an open-top hopper on wheels, capable of holding up to 32,000 liters of Manure. At the back of the hopper are several rotating corkscrews that can eject the Manure behind the vehicle as it moves, at a rate of 325 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 PS 3401 has a Drawbar (Ball) attachment point, which can be directly attached behind any tractor in the game. It can also be attached to the Lizard PiQup, but only for towing purposes. Although this hitch can also theoretically be attached to most Harvesters, the boom on the PS 3401 is too short for some of the smaller ones. Larger Harvesters can both tow and activate the PS 3401.
The PS 3401 has a working width of 15.0 meters, making it the widest Manure Spreader in the game - but still much narrower than the Fertilizer Spreaders and Fertilizer Sprayers. It enforces a speed limit of 20 km/h while operating.
The store reports that this tool requires 162 kW / 220 hp to operate, but this number is false. Any tractor can activate the PS 3401, regardless of its power output. However, it may actually require a tractor with at least 320 hp to pull the PS 3401 as it's working, especially up slopes, and especially when the device is full of Manure. Small vehicles may be entirely unable to move the PS 3401 at all.
If operating this tool manually, you will first need to fill it with Manure. This substance is a byproduct of Cow husbandry, and is only created by Cows once their shed has been filled with Straw (which itself is a free byproduct of Wheat and Barley harvests). Manure builds up over time in a special area right next to the Cow Pasture. The PS 3401 will refuse to activate if it does not contain at least 1 liter of Manure.
Loading the Manure into the PS 3401 requires a separate Front Loader with a Universal Bucket, or other similar device. It must scoop up Manure from the storage area, and dump it into the PS 3401. This is a time-consuming process, that may result in the loss of Manure if dumped incorrectly. Also note that the Manure holding area can only contain up to 100,000 liters of Manure at any time.
If you use a Hired Worker to operate the PS 3401, the hopper does not absolutely require filling - but the Hired Worker will charge you a much greater amount of money for each liter he uses while the hopper is empty. Each hectare of land covered with automatically-purchased manure will cost you around $30,500, which is far more than the yield of a hectare of field even when planted with the most profitable crops. This is a net loss of money. It is therefore recommended that you make sure never to let your Worker run out of Fertilizer, to avoid wasting money this way.
Note that unlike Sowing Machines, a Manure 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.
Although the PS 3401 has a massive holding capacity compared to most fertilization machines, it expends its Manure extremely rapidly. It will run out of Manure after working only about 1.2 hectares of land - which is the size of a medium field on Bjornholm, or a small field on Westbridge Hills. Work on any larger field will therefore require constant refilling. The need to run the machine all the way back to the Cow Pasture to reload it (with cumbersome equipment like a Front Loader) makes the whole process tedious and extremely time consuming. Though the PS 3401 is less problematic than the smaller Manure Spreaders in this regard, you may still prefer to get a different, more effective (if more expensive) fertilization machine.
Specifications
- Price: $71,000
- Maintenance: $60 / day
- Capacity: 32,000 L
- Working width: 15.0m
- Required power: 162 kW / 220 hp
- Max speed (work mode): 20 km/h / 12 mph
- Selling price: $35,500 ($42,600 at shop)
- Mass: 13,730 (Empty) 29,730 (Full) kg / 30,270(empty) 65,545 (Full) lbs
- Front Hitch: Drawbar (Ball)