Driveway weed clearing

[diesel85]

I only need to do my gravel side driveway once a year... I use UltraKill herbicide.

This is my sprayer:

- Garden cart attached to my tractor.
- 55 gallon plastic trash can.
- 800 GPH bilge pump. (Hooked to my tractor battery with alligator clips and momentary button switch)
- 3/4" PVC pipe with very small holes drilled in a line. (Mine is 6' wide)
- 2x 3/4" end PVC end caps.
- 1x 3/4" tee.
- 1x 3/4" barb fitting to 3/4" slip on fitting.
- 1x 10' clear PVC hose.
- Bailers twine.

Assemble as you see fit. If you want the wand collapsible to save space -- don't glue it all together!

Method of operation. Attach garden cart and leads to bilge pump to tractor. Throw 55 gallon garbage can in garden cart. Drive tractor to pond, and use the bilge pump to fill the trash can in the garden cart. Drive up to gravel driveway. Add measured mix to the garbage can filled with pond water. Hook up the tube from bilge pump to tee for the 6' wide wand. Attach 6' wide wand to back of garden cart using bailers twine. Hop on tractor and use the switch to control the feed to the wand. Start spraying and have fun doing it for cheap.

Clean up: I just marked herbicide on trash can -- don't even bother cleaning it. Bring the bilge pump inside and wash it down. Break down the wand and put it all away. Good for another year.

 

[deezler]

^ that seems like a pretty good method.

My gravel driveway areas closer to the house have been turning quite green with grass and weeds. I tend to just mow them as needed, and the gravel is holding up well otherwise. It's a rustic look for sure.

In my main 1000' lane out to the road, I can use my land plane a couple times a year to scape and refresh all the rock. Plus varying where you drive each time you come and go from home tends to suppress vegetative growth well.

Really the only culprit for weed growth near my house and garage is too low of vehicular traffic.

I don't particularly want to spray chemicals on my ground anywhere. Maybe a once-every-other-year kind of deal would be ok. I did buy a propane flamethrower, but no way I'm going to spend hours with it, especially after hearing others accounts of re-growth here.

 

[diesel85]

^ that seems like a pretty good method.

My gravel driveway areas closer to the house have been turning quite green with grass and weeds. I tend to just mow them as needed, and the gravel is holding up well otherwise. It's a rustic look for sure.

In my main 1000' lane out to the road, I can use my land plane a couple times a year to scape and refresh all the rock. Plus varying where you drive each time you come and go from home tends to suppress vegetative growth well.

Really the only culprit for weed growth near my house and garage is too low of vehicular traffic.

I don't particularly want to spray chemicals on my ground anywhere. Maybe a once-every-other-year kind of deal would be ok. I did buy a propane flamethrower, but no way I'm going to spend hours with it, especially after hearing others accounts of re-growth here.

I used to use a propane tank on a hand truck with a wand... that got SOOO old. A week later the grasses would start growing. Not to mention it would usually take 2 to 3 tanks of propane just to do my entire driveway! At about $30 in propane, and results that would only last a week, no way.

Then I started looking at PTO sprayers and electric sprayers from Northern Tool and the prices were a bit much for a single year deal. So that is when I came up with my simple spraying hack.

Been doing it this way for over a decade. I even use the pump for small irrigation tasks. Those little bilge pumps are amazing for the price. I think I paid $20 for my 800 GPH pump from Wallyworld and it hasn't died yet. Has hours on it. And it handles trash well too as mine has a clip on filter.

 

[bkenobi]

I'd consider a 3pt sprayer but my 30hp tractor is a little big for the driveway really. The LT is perfect so I'd prefer that. I stopped at all of the local farm type stores today and found a Fimco ATV 15 gallon sprayer with both wand and rear spray for $120 on clearance. Normally it's $300 apparently, so seemed like worth a peek. If I can come up with a platform for the LT this does seem like it would work great.

 

[Topzide]

You could make a mount similar to a rear bagger to hold tank. You just have to consider the weight of sprayer when filled. May also need some front weight pending size of LT and how far back for sprayer. Good luck with project.

 

[bkenobi]

Tha/ was my thought. I looked and doesn't look like anyone sold a carry all for the LT1000 series lawn tractors. I put some body weight on my bagger frame to see what 100lb would do and it seemed fine. I may see if there is a bagger frame at the bone yard and add a plywood platform to it. Alternately, i could make something more robust if that won't hold.

15 gallons of water should weigh around 90lb and the box of all parts feels like 5lb.even with some bumps i dont think the platform needs to support more than 150lb which should not be difficult.

 

[nyone]

Glyphosate can be applied in many different strengths so really after you go bigger than a backpack sprayer your spraying very very large areas or just want it for convenience.

 

[bkenobi]

I dont expect to spray any more than i was (though its possible a 12v pump may do that). I expect that i was using 12 gallons on the driveway which basically wetted everything and on a warm day was mostly dry before i finished. So im anticipating i can load up to 15 gallons and do the driveway and the planters with 1 tank in a fraction of the time. Hopefully that will encourage me to stay on top of things a bit better.

 

[nyone]

I dont expect to spray any more than i was (though its possible a 12v pump may do that). I expect that i was using 12 gallons on the driveway which basically wetted everything and on a warm day was mostly dry before i finished. So im anticipating i can load up to 15 gallons and do the driveway and the planters with 1 tank in a fraction of the time. Hopefully that will encourage me to stay on top of things a bit better.

Have you tried mixing stronger and wetting less?

 

[bdhsfz6]

Once or twice a year, I use an 8' York rake on my 300' driveway. I set the scarifier teeth to a 1" depth and use the gauge wheels to keep the rake tines flush with the surface. That way, I don't move too much material around. It takes a couple of passes in both directions but eventually, the loose grass & roots come to the surface. It quickly dries in the sun and the wind does the rest.