The effectiveness of a herbicide or crop-protection treatment also depends on the precision of sprayer machines. The Horsch “Leeb” range offers mounted and trailed solutions that are ideally suited to the needs of Italian agriculture.
This month marks the official presentation of the German machines.
They are called “low crops,” yet the only thing low about them is their height. Maize, wheat, rice, soybeans, sunflowers and processing tomatoes are in fact key pillars of Italian agriculture, supporting agri-food supply chains with high economic value. Their protection must therefore be at the center of attention for technicians and farmers alike, relying both on effective crop-protection products and on efficient, high-performance equipment entrusted with their application.
Applications must always be carried out to the highest standards in order to ensure the most uniform possible distribution of the selected herbicide, fungicide or insecticide. Each piece of equipment, however, has its own specific field of application, since Italian farms are extremely diverse, both in terms of terrain layout and field size. For this reason, it is essential to have access to a wide range of technical solutions in order to identify the one best suited to a specific operational profile.
With this objective in mind, new technical proposals are entering the Italian market—solutions that have long been established in both European and non-European contexts—such as the various Leeb sprayer series within the Horsch portfolio. Leeb’s production facilities are located in Landau, Bavaria, and the company was founded in 2001 by Theodor Leeb.
In 2011, the brand entered into a strategic partnership with Horsch, creating Horsch Leeb Application Systems, aimed at combining Leeb’s technological expertise in spraying with Horsch’s strong international presence in seeding and soil tillage.
The synergies developed between the two corporate cultures have made it possible to structure a broad range of commercial offerings, now consisting of mounted, trailed and self-propelled sprayers, all sharing modern and efficient technologies that ensure high performance, outstanding operating precision and technical features well suited to meeting the needs of the most diverse Italian farming realities.
Italian farmers will be able to see Leeb’s offerings firsthand starting this month by attending the events that the Horsch-Leeb partnership will organize in Northern Italy to officially launch the commercial presence of its sprayers, with particular emphasis on the models best suited to typical Italian farming operations.
Leading the way into the Italian market will therefore be the “AX,” “CS” and “LT” series, with tank capacities ranging from 270 to 2,200 liters, which can be further increased by pairing the working setup with the “Leeb 1.4 FT” or “Leeb 1.8 FT” auxiliary tanks, offering capacities of 1,400 and 1,800 liters respectively.
Flexible and Productive
The Leeb “AX” series is positioned as a trailed solution characterized by maximum operational flexibility, having been developed to work even with tractors of older design and therefore without hydraulic systems or equipped with low-performance hydraulics. In its base configuration, the Leeb “AX” operates via an independent hydraulic circuit that can be powered by two different pump versions—piston or diaphragm. Flow rates range from 270 to 400 liters per minute, with maximum pressures reaching eight bar.
Application precision, always at the top of its class, is ensured by booms with working widths between 18 and 30 meters, which a hydraulic folding system compacts to just 255 centimeters for road transport.
For optimal field coverage, the booms feature a 50-centimeter nozzle spacing, while ground contour following is further optimized by the “BoomControl” system, responsible for active boom control and maintaining a constant distance between the boom and the treated surface.
This allows Leeb “AX” sprayers to operate with maximum precision at speeds ranging from four to 16 km/h, while the proportional-control drawbar steering system ensures smooth and accurate alignment of the machine in all situations. Operating autonomy is also excellent, thanks to 4,000-liter tanks, complemented by a 15-liter hand-washing tank and a 400-liter tank for clean water used in internal circuit cleaning, a task handled by the “ProfiClean” system.
Compact with High Autonomy
A large proportion of Italian farms traditionally favor mounted sprayers, as they better match the characteristics of fields in terms of terrain and size. For this market segment, Leeb offers the mounted “CS” sprayers, solutions aimed both at contractors and at medium-to-large farms, with operating speeds ranging from four to 20 km/h.
Thanks to their design features, these machines are extremely maneuverable without sacrificing operating autonomy, as often happens with this type of equipment. Three versions are available, with tank capacities starting from 1,400 liters for the Leeb “1.4 CS,” rising to 1,800 liters for the “1.8 CS,” and reaching 2,200 liters for the “2.2 CS.” To these volumes must be added 400 liters of clean water and 15 liters dedicated to hand washing.
Considering application volumes between 200 and 400 liters per hectare—typical for treatments on low crops—the operating capacity of the “CS” series ranges from about four hectares for the entry-level model working at maximum volume, up to 11 hectares for the top-of-the-range version using the minimum volume.
These performances are largely due to the manufacturer’s dedicated design solutions, starting with vertically developed tanks positioned close to the tractor. This reduces the leverage effect on the rear hitch, ensuring greater compactness and stability of the working setup.
Equipped with rotary pumps capable of delivering 400 liters per minute at pressures of up to eight bar, Horsch Leeb “CS” sprayers also boast hydraulic systems with performance well above standard operational requirements for crop-protection treatments. This technical choice allows the systems to operate with high safety margins, even when powering larger booms.
Boom widths range from 15 to 30 meters and are always stabilized by the “BoomControl” system, operating at heights from a minimum of 30 centimeters to a maximum of two meters above the ground. These values are comparable to those of trailed equipment, with which they share hydraulic boom-folding systems required for unrestricted road travel.
Efficiency and Maneuverability on a Single Axle
At Agritechnica 2025, the new Leeb “9 LT” sprayer was presented, the top-of-the-range model of the “LT” series, which includes single-axle sprayers available as the Leeb “4 LT,” “5 LT” and “6 LT.” The new model features a tank made of lightweight yet durable polymer materials with a capacity of 9,000 liters, complemented by two clean-water tanks of 500 liters each and a 15-liter hand-washing tank.
Continuous internal circuit cleaning is managed through individually selectable washing programs, allowing flexible adaptation to specific operational needs—a solution developed in response to the growing demand for high-autonomy machines that remain agile and easy to handle. Not by chance, the Leeb “9 LT” features a steering axle that follows the tractor’s turns, supported by a chassis design that allows steering angles of up to 28 degrees even with large-diameter tires.
To minimize energy absorption, the manufacturer has equipped the machine with wheels up to 205 centimeters in diameter, with pressure adjustable according to ground conditions via an integrated inflation/deflation system. Thanks to the single-axle design, the “9 LT” is also compact and easy to manage, making it ideal not only for large and medium-sized fields but also for smaller, hard-to-access areas.
The hydraulic circuit of the new model is powered by a centrifugal pump capable of delivering a maximum flow rate of 1,000 liters per minute at a maximum pressure of eight bar.
These performances support boom widths ranging from 18 to 45 meters, whose attitude is controlled by the “BoomControl” system, stabilizing the boom down to an application height of just 30 centimeters. This close proximity to the ground, combined with a 25-centimeter nozzle spacing, ensures maximum application precision while reducing drift losses.
Title: Horsch-Leeb sprayer range: german precision
Translation with ChatGPT
