Sprayer ATV Sprayer vs. 3 point Sprayer

[npaden]

I've been thinking about getting a sprayer for a while now and saw a 25 gallon ATV sprayer on sale for $170 that seems like it is almost too good of a deal to be true.

http://www.moultriefeeders.com/productdetail.aspx?id=MFH-SPR25D

At first thought an ATV sprayer seems like the ideal option because you wouldn't be tying up the tractor and the ATV could make some quick work out of things. But I'm not sure how far 25 gallons would go on a normal spray job on weeds in a field. Most of my jobs would be under 5 acres, but I have one field that is 15 acres that would probably take a whole lot of fill ups.

The cheapest I've seen the 25 gallon ATV sprayers at Tractor Supply is $360 so this seems like it is such a good deal that I might should just go ahead and get one. The 3 point sprayers I've seen that hold 100 gallons are up closer to $1,000.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks, Nathan

 

[Oleozz]

25 gallons is not going to go very far when spraying a decent sized field. I went from an ATV sprayer to a 110 gal 3ph sprayer and there is a big difference in what you can get done. I have a cab so also have the electric sprayer control inside the cab to control the on-off, pressure and the booms.
I bought mine used and paid about $1600 and it was worth the money spent.

 

[Foodplot]

Are you spot-spraying? If so, you are probably OK with the small unit. Otherwise, you'll be frustrated with all the fillups, delays while you agitate, etc.
Do you have to travel far from the field to get your water? We spray numerous small fields, 10 to 20 acres, for installing and maintaining native grasslands. With no water source close by, there is considerable time wasted traveling to a fill point. For us, a larger tank was the way to go. We also have two pickup truck tanks on a trailer for refills.
You'll typically use at LEAST 10 gallons per acre if you are doing broadcast weed/grass control, usually quite a bit more, depending on your herbicide/application rate. Also, I've found the anemic electric pumps on ATV sprayers less than efficient for broadcast spraying.
If cost is really prohibitive, I built a 325-gallon sprayer using a pallet tank from the local scrapyard ($50), a boomless nozzle ($50 on ebay), a roller pump (6 roller, Ni-resist on ebay for another $50) and various plumbing parts. Total (less my 3-pt pallet forks) was under $300.00. Hope this helps.

 

[teg]

You'll want 10-15 GPA (gallons per acre) for most stuff but if you have thick brush, 15-20 gpa will get better coverage. The amount of chemicals per acre will be the same but your mixing rate will vary with GPA. The larger the field the bigger you'll want your spray boom or "Flood" nozzles (I don't know much about these but seen them here on TBN).

If you have plenty of time and not much money, it will get the job done but if you plan to do a couple of sprays per year and short on time, you'll have to spend a little more.

I'm a fan of Craigslist for cheap stuff and the one in Raleigh is pretty good since it's mostly "city slickers". It takes up to a year to find one but if you search now for "3 PT Hitch Sprayer - $300" posted Dec 10th in Raleigh... you might get a good buy!

 

[flINTLOCK]

If your land is flat, booms are the way to go. My foodplots are uneven and would end up breaking booms I think. Went with 60 gal 3 pt boomless that works well for me and my irregular ground. I wanted to go 100 gal version, but was afraid of having that much weight shifting up in the air to risk rollover.

 

[EddieWalker]

If cost is really prohibitive, I built a 325-gallon sprayer using a pallet tank from the local scrapyard ($50), a boomless nozzle ($50 on ebay), a roller pump (6 roller, Ni-resist on ebay for another $50) and various plumbing parts. Total (less my 3-pt pallet forks) was under $300.00. Hope this helps.

This sounds like just the ticket!!!

Is this a three point setup?

I've been looking for a one hundred gallon tank, but of couse, now that I've been looking, I can't find any. Craigslist and even Ebay had some that were cheap and local, but not right now. I'm not in a rush, but would like to build something before spring.

I'm really leaning towards a trailer or wagon setup, but nothing is set in stone.


Nathan,

Keep us posted on what you get and how it works out. If you build one, please post pics and narate what you do and why.

Thanks,
Eddie

 

[dsb5610]

I use a Fimco ATV-25-71 for my foodplots. I removed the garden hose washer style screen then added a Banjo filter which was a big improvement. I do 5+ acres of food plots annually and other misc spraying throughout the season. I even sprayed 55 acres of CRP with it one year. I do have to fill up more often but I can get from point A to point B in the blink of an eye when I use it on the ATV.

dsb

 

[Riddler]

I am going though much the same learning process myself. I have weed control to do in a 10 acre area, but in bands (i.e., in vine rows spaced 6.5' apart).

Before investing in a permanent set up, however, I figured I should spray some by hand to get a feel for some of the variables (nozzle types, spray patterns, affect of pressure, drift issues, material use rates, etc.). I bought a inexpensive 15 gallon 12V spot sprayer to start working with. Even though the cone pattern nozzle on it is adjustable, I've discovered that I need something very different for the herbicides I will be applying.

The shape and angle of the spray pattern, and the rate at which it applies the mixed material, is way off from what I need. To figure out what works well, I measured the pressure and flow rate of the little 1 gpm pump on the sprayer, estimated the ideal nozzle output for the materials I would be applying based on the output of the pump and the rate at which I needed to apply the materials, and then researched some different nozzle options to try out with the little sprayer. The best maker of nozzles I have found (and the best website for information) is

TeeJet - Welcome to TeeJet.com

Where is all of this going?? By "working backwards" from how my permanent sprayer will be used, I figure that I am less likely to make a mistake buying and/or building the wrong thing. There are different types of pumps (e.g, 12V v. roller, etc.), and different sizes of pumps, used on ATV v. 3pt sprayers. In turn, the optimum type and size of pump for a particular spray application is dictated to a large degree by the number and type of nozzles you'll run. Finally, the number and type of nozzles to use are dictated by the materials you'll be applying and the environment you'll them applying it in. In fact, I figure that the least of my problems is deciding how large a tank I want. That will be easy to determine once the rest of the set up is optimized.

 

[blueriver]

Foodplot ... Got any pictures?

I have the pallet tank, am thinking about using a 2 wheel utility trailer, roller pump, etc. I have never built one so need ideas! My neighbor said to simply get a set on 3 pt hay forks for the pallet tank, don't know if they will support the weight.

Looking for ideas for Plumbing, gauges, switches, hand held nozzle ... etc!!

 

[Luremaker]

Too bad your not closer to the Canadian Border. Princess Auto has a 3ph 55 gallon boomless sprayer with 6 roller pump for on sale for $349. I paid $499 last summer and thought I was getting a good deal. I build my own 20 foot boom using an old bed frame and spray nozzles from the local TSC for spraying my lawn.

PRINCESS AUTO

 

[GinNB]

If you're serious about spraying with your ATV you might be interested in my spray rig. 450l tank, high floatation tires on a walking beam axle, 25' booms on 20" spacing, Hypro BigTwin 5200 piston pump, 5hp Honda power via lovejoy, and a foam marker running from the ATV electrical system. Additional cooling for the air-cooled ATV as well. This thing'll outspray my tractors under the right conditions. Speed control is either a bicycle speedometer with the magnet cold-welded to the front wheel or GPS on the handlebars. The trailer is homemade with spindle wheel axles and a wheelstub for the walking beam axle. If anybody wants additional details just ask.

 

[teg]

Sweet rig!!! You win!! I like the trailer idea...


.

 

[Riddler]

Gin, that's a lot of sprayer. Wish you included a picture with the 25' boom in action!! What do you typically apply with that beast??

 

[GinNB]

Glad you folks like it. I don't think I have a pic of it in action though. It spends its time spraying lowbush blueberries with (usually) Velpar to control weeds. Typical travel speed is 5.7km/h and, on bouncy ground, you can see the booms bending as it's flying along. Typical boom length for that design is one nozzle (20") shorter on each boom and it makes quite a difference in rigidity but I like the extra width. The only downside is a shorter life for the hinges, but I've reinforced them and haven't (knock on wood) had a failure since. It has TeeJet DriftGuard 8003 nozzles installed to cut down on operator exposure to drift. The current tow-rig is a 600 Grizzly with a cabin.

Flintlock, you should see if you can zoom in on the hinges for that sprayer if you have uneven ground to spray. Not only do they swing front and back to protect the booms, they pivot vertically in whatever position they're in so that you can shorten the chains to spray in a V-pattern. On one open tractor with an identical sprayer on the 3pt hitch I had pulleys mounted high on the sprayer frame and ropes run to the tractor so that I could pull on a rope to lift a boom to clear rocks, bushes, etc. If you want to order them and make your own booms (not that hard, I custom-made a pair of 5' wing booms for spraying a railroad right-of-way), find a place that sells JB&D sprayer parts and ask for a pair of hinges for their 450l model. Price them before ordering. Seems to me that my spares cost around $150 each, but they're well-made and spring loaded. On a 3pt hitch that sprayer'll spray ground that'll give a mountain goat pause without breaking nozzles. On the trailer that sprayer just floats over quite rough and dippy ground much faster than a full-sized farm tractor can go, but doesn't handle holes, rocks, or stumps well because of the small tires. An obstacle can catch a tire and flip the axle upside down. That, as you can imagine, is a bit of a pain if you're not near a tractor with a bucket to lift the trailer into the air.

 

[EddieWalker]

Gin,

Nice setup. Did you design it yourself, or copy some plans somewhere? I really like the idea of the motor on it too!! That would sure simplify your calculations.

Thanks for sharing your pics,
Eddie

 

[GinNB]

Most of the credit goes to the owner of a farm we've since bought. I had some very soft ground that swallowed tractors when it was spraytime and he had a different trailer with 4 ATV tires on it and started the concept. After he used it on our ground once or twice I had him make an improved version of the trailer for me. Some weaknesses have been fixed and dimensions improved upon (so it's basically a 3rd generation design), but it's basically the same design he came up with based on the walking axle of a blueberry burner. I now have both trailers, but the first one doesn't see any use for spraying since it has little ground clearance and the deck is too short.

If someone wants to copy it, there are two problems with what you're seeing that aren't obvious. One is that the pivot bearing for the walking beam must have a supporting rod to tie the two vertical pieces of plate together. The original design didn't have one and the legs "spread". The other is that a pump must be used that operates when rotated backwards to the direction that a tractor spins its PTO. The IN side is still the IN side when spun backwards as well. It's hard to find a horizontal shaft motor that spins the same way that a PTO does. I don't know if other types of pumps will operate properly but backwards (OUT side provides proper suction) if used with a typical small engine. I wasn't able to find one locally on short notice when the original Briggs with 6 to 1 gear reduction box bit the biscuit (but it turned the "wrong" way too).

Also but not obvious in the pictures is the skidoo ski with a 2" trailer ball welded to it near the back of the ski and a cable attached to the front. Very useful for putting on the trailer and dragging it out of the occasional mudhole when the tow quad was 2WD (not recommended). I can't remember if it's been used since I got a 4WD. That idea was all mine after unhooking when stuck and sticking the tongue of the trailer into the mud like an arrow when I moved the bike to drier ground to pull out the stuck trailer.

 

[EddieWalker]

I was just looking at sprayers in Ebay and saw a realy nice, very expensive trailer setup. It has a thousand gallon tank and hydrualic cylinders on the sprayer arms!!!! It's really cool and I copied every picture of it for my idea folder.

One thing that they had on that setup that I never thought of was a hydraulic water pump. I don't know how it works, or where I can get one, but it would solve allot of issues. I have the remotes on the back of my tractor, so it seems like just a matter of figuring it out!!!

In my mind, I'm thinking of two hoses that will come off my rear remotes. They would go to a hydrualic water pump that I would have some sort of valve on to control the amount of preasure or flow. I set the valve to what I want it to be at a certain RPM on the tractor, and I will have a consistant amount of flow. It makes sense to me, what am I missing?

Eddie

 

[GinNB]

Eddie, go to tractorhouse.com and look at the chemical applicators/sprayers section. They have TONS of different trailed sprayers with different pump and boom options. To the best of my knowledge, most of the "hydraulic" water pumps are regular pumps hooked up to a hydraulic motor. I've been looking for the perfect 750 gallon one for my next boom sprayer. Check out Pulvérisateur MS inc.Pulvérisateur MS inc.. This looks like a particularly sweet boom system:

Pulvérisateur MS inc. - Front hydraulic folding with sliding lift system , width of 60', 66' & 75'

 

[EddieWalker]

I have a dozen pages open right now and I think a roller pump is what I'm looking for. What is a roller pump?

Eddie

 

[Toolguy]

I had a little 15 gal tow behind sprayer I used on my lawn. I never liked it much because it was too small and it was hard to judge the width of the spray pattern. When I bought my Kubota B3030 I started looking for something bigger. I found a closeout deal on a 25 gal ATV sprayer with boom and wand at a Farm, Ranch & Home store. (Similiar to TSC) I made a mount to attach it to the reciever hitch on my 3pt drawbar. I really like it a lot for my just under 2 acre lawn. It sprays a 10' width. My MMM is 5' so after I mow I spray every other mower track and it ends up covering perfectly. No gaps or overlaps. On the other hand, with the spray mixture I use, it only covers 50,000 Sq/Ft, or a little over an acre, on each fill up. I can do my whole lawn in about an hour which is no problem. If I was doing 5 or more acres it would be pretty time consuming. You could make it work alright. It is just a matter of how much time you want to spend on the spraying job. Good luck.