Building spray rig from 275g IBC tote

[Teamjefe]

I have about 15 miles of fence that need to be sprayed this spring/summer. I am looking at building a spray rig out of a 275 gallon IBC tote. It will be on a pallet so I can move it from a trailer to the bed of a truck with pallet forks. I am building a bracket that fits in the 2" receiver hitch with a nozzle to spray the fences I can drive next to. I also need a spray gun on a hose reel so I can spray the fences further from the roads. I would like to run a 12v pump for ease of use but I do not think they are powerful enough. Has anyone built something similar? What kind of pump did you use? I was hoping to stay away from a gas powered pump but if I have to go that route I will.

Thanks

 

[EddieWalker]

I put one on an old trailer that wasn't being used for anything. It has a 12 volt pump and some hoses that go to the sprayers. Originally I had it going out ten feet in both directions, but it wasn't very strong and I kept bending the pipes, so now I just have the one ten foot pipe with a spray nozzle at each end. I get a good twenty feet coverage, which works great for spraying my roads with roundup. It's also big enough to spray my pastures.

I ran a wire from the pump to a cigarette lighter. I just plug it in to make it work, and unplug it to stop it. Most of the time I use the Mule to spray, but it will fit on any 2 inch ball.

I had to tilt it quite a bit to get it to run dry. My trailer tilts down towards the front a bit, so I put a 6x6 block under the front of the tote to get the angle going towards the back, where the pump is.

The fittings for the tote are standard PVC threaded fittings that I reduced down to half an inch for the pump. Then just basic clear tubing to the spray nozzles.

For just doing fence line, I've thought about putting a T in the line and being able to close off the nozzles to run either another nozzle set to spray sideways, or building something I can hold by hand and spraying while driving. I'm leaning towards another nozzle since I figure it's just a matter of time until I hit the fence trying to drive and spray by hand at the same time.

Eddie

 

[SimS]

Northern Tools has a 12V demand pump that puts out 2+GPM at 70psi. I would think that would do the trick for the hand held spray nozzle. You would have to rig up some sort of solenoid valve for the receiver mounted spray nozzle(s) so you could control the sprayer from the cab of the truck while in motion. Sounds doable.

SimS

 

[CNC Dan]

.... I would like to run a 12v pump for ease of use but I do not think they are powerful enough. Has anyone built something similar? What kind of pump did you use? I was hoping to stay away from a gas powered pump but if I have to go that route I will.

Thanks

Depends on how much you want to spend. I saw a 12V "washdown" pump that was as strong as a garden hose.

 

[HCJtractor]

Did just that. I load it in the back of my truck. I built a sprayer nozzle that fits in receiver hitch and will spray a 40 foot swath. But I also added a bypass wand for spot spraying. Works great. I've sprayed over 1000 gallons with it. My pump is 12 v and the biggest/ baddest one I could find, but frankly, a cheaper one should work. I use a 12 volt deep cycle battery sitting in my truck bed and connect with alligator clips, but someday may rig a receptacle tied into my trucks electrical system. I'll post pictures

 

[HCJtractor]

Pix:









View attachment 410258

 

[HCJtractor]

I basically copied the plumbing from a standard Fimco type sprayer at tractor supply. The intake is just a PVC pipe close to the bottom. Then an inline filter, a pump, pressure gauge, a T to rear spray nozzle, a pressure valve dumping bank into tank to recirculate, and another valve to add a wand. It's all simple fittings from Northern or Tractor supply.

 

[HCJtractor]

As you can see, power is not a problem. I can dump the whole tank in an hour or two . I spray food plots with roundup

 

[HCJtractor]

Fimco sells a little wireless remote that you can switch on from truck seat, but the wire gauges on the harness is a little light for the amps. The wire heats up pretty good with this pump. So I just have a buddy in the truck bed operating the switch or just disconnecting at the battery. Some day I plan to hook into my truck in dash outfitter switches so I can operate it by myself, but haven't done that yet. Make sure you tie down your tank. That's a lot of weight sloshing around and the tote wants to move around on rough terrain. So use heavy straps. Lots of them!

 

[HCJtractor]

Pump is a Remco Fatboy, which is a heavy duty industrial pump, probably most powerful 12V I found and cost $200 ish.
A lesser pump may work, but this is rated at 7 gallons per minute so it will move some water. You can find them online or eBay.