If it’s mega muckspreader capacity you’re after, you need look no further than GT Bunning’s British-built Widebody 350. With triple axles and a capacity of 35t, this spreader is the largest in the UK.

The Lowlander Widebody spreader range was first introduced in 2003 – its design inspired by a group of Canadian farmers using Bunning spreaders who said they liked the concept but needed it to be larger.

Using features employed by the company’s existing spreaders – a two-chain, full-width floor slat design, for example – the new spreader range was also equipped with larger diameter vertical augers to cope with the extra width. The standard Mk4 body width is 1500mm and the Widebody has an extra 330mm to give a total body width of 1.83m. It is also 8m long and 1.2m high.

Spurred on by the success of the first model, which was a single-axle Widebody 180, a second, larger version was added to the range – the Widebody 230. This was a tandem-axle spreader boasting a capacity of 23t (26t with extensions).

But then came the big one – the Widebody 350 with its 35t capacity. The first one was shipped to Canada in 2007 and others have been sent to South Africa and Australia. But not – as yet – to anyone in the UK, although Bunning reckons the day is drawing ever closer.

To date the company reports it has sold 20 of these monsters, all of them built to order.

Designed with the company’s philosophy of ‘build it strong and keep it simple’, the spreader has a fully welded construction with an overall length just over 10.8m – its width with wheels outside the body is 3.5m and, with them under the body, 2.95m.

The six wheels are shod with tyres that start at 600/55 R22.5 and larger flotation tyres are available if specified.

There is also an option for rear-only or front-and-rear steering on the tri-axle assembly. The rear-only option uses a lockable self-steer system while the front-and-rear employs a mechanical linkage system that connects to the drawbar.

Bunning says that most buyers opt for front and rear axle steering due to its ability to follow the tractor more accurately and avoid excessive scuffing on headlands.

The standard suspension is multi-leaf springs but hydraulic suspension can be supplied, as can drawbar suspension. Braking, important for such a heavy and large spreader, is hydraulically activated.

A reversible hydrostatic drive powers the spreader’s twin bed chains and slats – the chain’s 50t breaking strain being more than sufficient to carry the weight of muck to the spreading unit.

For the spreading unit, which has a working width of up to 24m, mechanical drive comes from the tractor’s pto rotating at 1000 rpm. Twin vertical augers are standard but two or three horizontal beaters can be opted for, along with a hood and spinning discs.

Those wanting to spread slurry can opt for a hydraulically raised and lowered slurry gate and, for precision spreading, weigh cells can be fitted which send their data to a display in the cab.

With an unladen weight of 10t and an all-up weight of 45t, the Widebody 350 puts obvious demands on the towing tractor. Bunning recommends a minimum of 275hp. And the price? – £50,000.

The signs on the tractor and spreader say it all – Oversize. Fully laden, the all-up weight of the Bunning Widebody 350 can be as much 45t.