Herbicide spraying

yellowdog99502 · Jan 13, 2004

Not sure if this is the right place for this question???

I need to spray about 25 acres in preparation for planting trees and wild grasses. While I have the application rates for the Round-up and 2-4-D, I have no idea what the total flow rates per acre (water + herbicides) should be.

I am trying to decide what size sprayer to get so I don't end up with way more gallonage than I need or worse having to make 10 trips back to the shop to refill.

Long term use of the sprayer will be 2 - 3 times per year on 8 acres of lawn area, as well as 10 acres of CRP set-aside.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Thanks!

Don

Pks · Jan 13, 2004

My bottle of RoundUP lists gallons of mix per acre. I expect a sprayer company can help determine the ground speed necessary as well as tank size for your 8 acres. I do know, it's all available in tables based upon the sprayer (a lot like fertilizer spreaders).

kensfarm · Jan 13, 2004

25 acres is a lot of spraying.. have you checked the prices for someone to come in to do custom spraying.. at least for one time 25 acre plot?

GareyD · Jan 13, 2004

Don,

I always apply a minimum of 10 gallon of mix per acre, with my preference being more like 20-25 gallons of mix per acre...I like to apply at 1/2 rate and spray in a grid pattern (going North-South / Then East -west) takes more fuel, but I seem to get a more even coverage.

If you are planting Pine Trees, we found when we were planting for a living across the US...that bushhogging the rows to the dirt, planting the trees and then coming back with a release "Spot Spray" or a 1% solution of RoundUp banded 12 inch wide over the tops of the seedlings 90-120 days (or when the grass/weeds are actively growing, depending on locale..) after planting was the better way to get good growth and a better release than spraying before planting in established pasture/rangeland.

A Question?? Have the CRP regulations changed??

The reason I ask, is when I was farming 1,000 acres in South Georgia..."Set Aside" meant just that...take it out of rotation and leave it alone...no mowing, spraying, etc....leave it strictly to nature!!!

Regards,
GareyD

yellowdog99502 · Jan 13, 2004

(
A Question?? Have the CRP regulations changed?? )

GareyD,

First, the entire 25 acres is in the CRP. New programs for re-foresting and growing native warm season grasses will take up 15 acres and 10 will be left alone. The big project comes over the next 2 years when we re-forest 80 acres. I don't even want to think about how many trees that is!

Yes, and No as to the regs changing. We have a terrible problem with Canadian Thistles in this area. The CRP folks have directed us to control the noxious weeds. The 2 methods they allow are mowing and spraying. The last contract period we were in actually required that we do either or both twice a year. The kicker here was that we could not do either until the nesting season was over for the birds and small mammals, usually mid-July. However, the thistles usually go to seed long before that. Kind of a catch-22 situation. The fed would then direct us to mow or spray prior to the end of the nesting season. Wow! Talk about our government at work. Pay me to put the land in the program to revitalize the soils and give the birds a place to nest, then demand that I go out and disturb their nests. Makes perfect sense to me?

As for the tree planting, around here it is a mix of white pines, oaks and black walnuts. The planters all want the fields mowed short and sprayed with the herbicides several weeks prior to planting. They then come back for the next 3 - 4 years and do the 'over-the-top' spraying. By that point, the trees should be well established.

Don

yellowdog99502 · Jan 13, 2004

( 25 acres is a lot of spraying.. have you checked the prices for someone to come in to do custom spraying.. at least for one time 25 acre plot?)

Yeah, the prices around here are fairly reasonable, $3.15 per acre application + the cost of chemicals. Probably run about $150 tops.

Guess I was just trying to justify another reason to get on the tractor, AND buying a sprayer for the other needs/wants. Haven't had enough snow around here this year to show the wife how much we saved by not hiring the driveway plowing. . . . . Maybe next year?

Don

bigpete · Jan 13, 2004

Yellowdog,

First, my rig is way below your needs but I've been around the bigger rigs for many of my earlier years. For my "residential" use, I have a 25 gallon Agri-spray PTO sprayer for my smaller tractor. At a minimum, your tractor and needs would be well-suited with a 50-65 gallon spayer. I see plenty of farmers using 50 gallon sprayers for pretty fair-sized properties, But a 100 gallon is not out of line for your work depending on your lift specs. With the work you described and the size of your tractor, you would want at least a 4-row boom (13 feet, or so, with probably 9 nozzles). You could go to 6-row on the boom, but you would be at least 20 feet (12 or 13 nozzles) wide which might be clutzy on the residential work. Your call, though.

I purchased my sprayer fully rigged with an 8-foot boom with 5 nozzles, which doesn't have any bearing on your choice. I use it on four acres of my own turf, and spray about six acres of OPL (other people's lawns) a few times each year. I also had it plumbed for a tree gun which has come in very handy wih the several dozen "specimen" trees that I have on my property. In the class you are looking at, and with the work you describe, you would be able to cost-justify a rig pretty easily when you look at the cost to have it done several times a year, as you decribe.

As far as calibrating the rig and calculating flow rate, there are several sites out there with info. I find myself going to Tee-jet's site every year to re-learn all the stuff I haven't used. As was mentioned, your chemical labels give you good ranges and ratios to use depending on materials and conditions. Here's a link to the Tee-jet site and a couple of other favorite spray gadget sites for your use:
Teejet Nozzles

Ag Spray --Where I bought my rig --Personally Recommended

Accuspray -- Big on-line parts catalog

EastTexFrank · Jan 14, 2004

I regularly spray a 20 acre hay pasture (plus other pastures) at the farm with Grazon P+D. We use a 200 gallon tow behind sprayer and at my ground speed and application rate, I can generally get it done with 2 loads or 400 gallons of spray for the 20 acres. Being from Texas, I use the formula on the Texas A&M website to calibrate the sprayer but it'll be the same procedure as the other sites mentioned. Using anything less than a 16 or 20 foot boom will take you forever to get it done and be careful of drift and take precautions to protect yourself with the proper safety gear - most herbicides are pretty nasty stuff to use. If this is going to be a one time operation, with Canada Thistles I somehow doubt it, or even a once a year job, look seriously into getting a commercial sprayer to do it for you. They can do it almost as cheaply as you can without all the health and environmental worries.

bigpete · Jan 14, 2004

Wow... the Teejet site was literally changed overnight. Sorry for the dead link above.

Agreed, bigger is better and the worries are less if done commercially.

Teejet Support Page

rambler · Jan 14, 2004

Many chemicals (like your 2,4D) use 18-20 gallons per acre of mix. Spraying twice in 2 directions with a 1/2 mix can help penetration if you have the time.

Roundup specifically works much better with less - I believe they recommend 9 gallons per acre. Once across, not a split application.

--->Paul