As a kid, SRC Rural Spreaders owner, Shane Carter, watched his grandfather spread fertiliser onto paddocks around Walcha in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, behind the wheel of a converted 6x6 military ACCO,36 years on, he's working many of the same fields with his fleet of three T-Way 4x4s.

While the old ACCO might be considered archaic today, back then it was a notable improvement from using tractors to spread fertiliser, especially when travelling between properties at road speeds. The latest generation of spreader bodies combined with modern truck cab chassis such as IVECO's off-road focused T-Way range, are light years ahead of both, taking productivity to new levels.

Although the equipment has changed, the premise of the work remains: in the case of Walcha and surrounds it's to improve pastures at meat producing properties and dairy farms, by periodically spreading materials such as compost and fertilisers onto the soil.

Having purchased his first IVECO T-Way 4x4 last year, Shane ordered his second within six months and recently took delivery of a third; all three are equipped with Southern Spreaders bodies.

"We thought that the T-Way platform was a better fit than the other European trucks we'd been using," Shane explained.

"The T-Way offered higher ground clearance and a cooling package that was set up high, minimising the risk of damage out in the paddocks. It can be rough going - we're often dealing with stump and wombat holes and fallen tree limbs, which can flick-up and cause damage when driving, and of course, it can get very muddy."

With its standard front, centre and rear differential locks, low range transfer case and front and rear parabolic suspension, the T-Way 4x4 is well placed to negotiate the demanding conditions, and all three vehicles' off-road capabilities have been further boosted with fitment of high traction agricultural tyres.

GCM for the trucks is 44,000kg, meaning Shane and his drivers enjoy a generous payload on the cab chassis and the ability to haul tipping trailers, allowing them to refill the spreader hopper on job sites for added efficiency. Sometimes if the landowners have their own compost and fertiliser, the trucks will tow beavertail trailers with wheel loaders on board, which are then used to load the spreaders.

Whatever the combination, the T-Ways have the power to handle the task. Output from the 8.7l Euro6 (Step E) engines is 360hp with torque of 1,650Nm - these are matched to 12-speed Automated Manual Transmission, for stress-free driving both on and off road.

Shane said he's impressed with the T-Way's driveability and fuel efficiency.

"I'd say they're good on fuel - very economical; on a big day we'd usually use around 95 litres per truck. It can be tough going and steep. In Walcha we're around 1,070m above sea level so it's undulating terrain," he explained.

"Normally the speed in the paddock is around 11km/h but this reduces to a crawl when negotiating obstacles. It can get rough in the cabin and you get tossed around but the T-Way handles the conditions well, the air suspended seat is really nice, and the cabin is well sprung. On road we get up to around 85km/h."

The spreader bodies are also impressive and feature variable rate spreading technology, meaning there's an adjustment to the spreader's output depending on the speed of the truck. GPS-based auto-steer guidance also directs the trucks along precise lines, eliminating the risk of overlap or missed patches.

According to Shane, another reason for choosing the T-Way was for the service benefits.

"The trucks come with a good maintenance package, they have good warranties and a lot of the components are greaseless so there's less downtime," he said.

"With the previous trucks the radiators used to clog up but this hasn't been a problem with the T-Ways - we've had no damage and the trucks have been an excellent fit for the work we do."