Sprayer Sprayers

Adirondaks · Jun 21, 2005

I would like to get a sprayer to spray mostly broadleaf killer on the lawn. 5 acres. I have a ATV, JD 4410 and a JD LX280. What makes the most sense to get one for. Would a tow behind be better then a pto/electric driven. I guess it would be a boom sprayer int he 20 gal size. Help me with ideas.

Lou

Tom_H · Jun 21, 2005

Here is a place to do some browsing and get some ideas of what's available: Sprayers from N. H. Northern Tool and Supply .

beenthere · Jun 21, 2005

I could see all three making good sense. I have a tow-behind 30gal tank for my Deere X485, with a boom mounted to the front with 4 spray heads. It is a 12v pump, and very efficient to spray 8 acres of lawn. Same or similar rig can work for the ATV. The 4410 is probably a bit large for small areas, but also could be fitted with a boom.
My son has the Deere 25 gal spray unit which is carried on the rear hitch, and he likes it. Easier to stow away that a trailer rig.
In addition to Northern Tool, TSC and similar farm/ag stores have a variety of rigs. I prefer the 12v pump to the PTO roller pumps, and feel the maintenance is less critical.

jeffinsgf · Jun 21, 2005

Having just been where you are, I think the biggest bang for your buck is with a PTO driven roller pump and a 3pt hitch 55 gallon sprayer. Yes, you have to be a little careful with maintenance -- a few drops of oil or antifreeze in the pump after use -- but you bought that tractor for its PTO (among other things) and you might as well use it. You'll want at least 55 gallons, if you are planning on working on 5 acres. Anything less and you'll be filling more than is necessary. I rented a 25 gallon electric, then bought a 55 gallon PTO and am very happy with it.

If you have a bit of the "do-it-yourselfer" in you, you can save a bunch of money by buying a used drum, buying some plumbing parts, and using a little ingenuity. I DIDN'T do this, because I got the idea about 2 days too late, here on TBN. I did rig a 55 gallon drum to use my roller pump to carry water to remote new plants. It would have been just a few more parts to build a boom. I set up my water tank on a carry-all, where a boom could be added easily.

Whether you go with a home built rig or a ready-made - I vote for a roller pump rig that adds versatility and power to your spraying needs.

Adirondaks · Jun 22, 2005

I already have the roller pump. I use it to fill a 55 gal drum in my FEL. Bring it to the garden raise it up and water plants. I never thought of using the pump to empty out the drum /forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif Need to get another drum Thanks for the insight

Bowhunter · Jun 30, 2005

I agree with Jeff...go with the bigger drum. I have a 25 gallon sprayer that I use on my atv and it works fine, but I still have to fill more than I would like for spraying about 3 acres. I'll be building a bigger unit when time permits, but mainly because of spraying food plots where there is no easy water source.

newtothis · Jun 30, 2005

Bowhunter,

I just put in 3 acres of food plots and will be spraying around 1 acre more that I just bush hogged this week. When I go to do my first spraying I'll cover just over 3 acres as the sorghum isn't roundup ready.

How much do you suggest I mix up? I've got a 200 gallon sprayer that I haven't used yet so I don't know the flow rate of the nozzles. I just want to come somewhat close so I'm not left with 30 gallons when done. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

gpod · Jun 30, 2005

I just bought a JD LT160 and the JD 15 gallon sprayer for cutting the lawn and spraying the 1/2 acre lawn and the 4 acre horse pastures and the sprayer worked great for both yes a little small and more refill time but not that much more time than the 55gal 3 point elec. sprayer I would borrow from the neighbor. With the smaller sprayer I didn't have to worry about the boom hitting trees or fence and I could backup into tight spots faster. If I had an ATV I would definitely get the 25 gallon sprayer that straps on the ATV, not a trailer. Less wear on the lawn and faster getting back for filling the tank and can get into tighter places and cheaper to buy and maintain.

johan3400 · Jun 30, 2005

Be careful using your roller pump for chemicals and for vegetables. I use two different pumps. At least clean it well.

Bowhunter · Jul 14, 2005

newtothis, sorry that it has been so long, I haven't made it to TBN for a couple of weeks. I have to admit that your question is probably over my head. The only experience I can share is that when spraying 3 acres of lawn I go through 125 to 175 gallons of spray. I haven't made it up to spray the food plots yet.

rambler · Jul 20, 2005

( newtothis, sorry that it has been so long, I haven't made it to TBN for a couple of weeks. I have to admit that your question is probably over my head. The only experience I can share is that when spraying 3 acres of lawn I go through 125 to 175 gallons of spray. I haven't made it up to spray the food plots yet. )

Wholey molley! You are putting on 50 gallons of spray per acre?????? Don't know what you are spraying tho, so might be right.

Roundup likes a very low volume of spray. You should be at 8-10 gallons per acre. One needs to change the spray tips & the pump pressure & the ground spead to come up with that. Also to eliminate drift as much as possible a low pressure, such as 20# is good. With the right tips you might want to be near 50# tho - hard to say.

To answer the fellow's question, he needs to calibrate his sprayer. Fill it, or fill it to 50 gallons with plain water. Spray until the water is used up, and measure how much square feet of ground is covered. Divid by 43,560 to get # of acres covered. Then you can figure out how many gallons you are spraying per acre.

If you are around the 10 gallon mark, good to go. If not, you need to adjust ground speed, pressure, or change sprayer tips.

Let's pretend you are right at 10 gal / acre. So you want to spray 3 acres today. You would put 30 gallons of water in the tank, and add 3 quarts of Roundup (common to use a quart an acre, but different formulations of glysophate require different actual useage). Agitate for a bit, & go spray.

There is _no_ way to say how many acres or gallons to mix for a new sprayer. Depends on the pressure you run - which depends on the type of tips you have. You _must_ do a test run & figure it out. If you don't like measuring out how much ground you covered: If you know you have a 3 acre plot or something, fill the sprayer with water, spray the 3 acres, and see how much you used from the tank. You gotta do something to get calibrated.

--->Paul

rswyan · Jul 20, 2005

( Wholey molley! You are putting on 50 gallons of spray per acre?????? Don't know what you are spraying tho, so might be right. )

Trimec is 4 gallons of solution per 1000 square foot of area.

Bowhunter · Jul 21, 2005

2-4-D....and I want to make sure I get good coverage. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

have_blue · Jul 21, 2005

( I just bought a JD LT160 and the JD 15 gallon sprayer for cutting the lawn and spraying the 1/2 acre lawn )

The best time to spray most weeds and rough grass is when it's growing fast in moist soil. A 3 point sprayer just wouldn't work with my heavy, loaded industrial tires. So, I'm waiting for the 15gal sprayer to go on sale at HF again. I'll pull it behind my mower in a little biddy trailer.

rambler · Jul 25, 2005

( 2-4-D....and I want to make sure I get good coverage. /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif )

I farm for a living. Got to pay attention to what works & what doesn't, can't afford to be wrong. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Many times less water is worth more when spraying weeds. Roundup especially, but other sprays as well. You really only want to get the leaf surface damp. At 50 gal an acre, you are having stuff drip off the leaves, where it does no good. 2,4,D you want at most 25 gal an acre; 15 works real good for me.

Now, you can increase or decrease the _amount_ of the active ingredient you are using. Depending on the weeds you are going after, and what you are trying to save. I've heard of close to a gallon of 2,4,D being used per acre, and as little as 6 oz works in some cases in my fields.

But, still & all 15 gal an acre is a good base spray volume to carry that spray to the weeds........

--->Paul

newtothis · Jul 26, 2005

Been really busy and just checking back after a week. I figured I was using too much spray with the current set-up but had to do it just to figure out how much it's using.

I'm looking to do another application soon before I plant the rest of the plots. I know this is a complex formula of speed, nozzles and pressure but the easiest thing to change seems to be the nozzles. Is there an easy way to buy new ones, I mean, are they marked so I know the flow rate is less than what I have? What am I looking for when I go to TSC?

Indydirtfarmer · Jul 26, 2005

Contact Tee-Jet... They are the #1 brand of spray nozzles, fittings , and accesories. They have a handy guide book that gives flow rates for tips, recommended spacings for those tips, as well as recommended ground-speeds.

I use 10 GPA as a baseline for 90% of what I spray. That is with Tee-jet tips (of varying size) @ approx. 5MPH ground-speed, and the pressure regulated as the chart dictates to get that 10 GPA. (Lower pressures are safer in regards to drift) Some fungasides require heavier (20 to 30 GPA) applications.

Most commonly used pesticides don't perform well when diluted beyond 25 GPA to recommended rate per acre mix.

Glyphosate and 2,4-D work extremely well when applied at suggested rate per acre, and 10 to 15 gallons per acre water as a carrier. More than that (water) will dilute the mix, as well as make it run off the "target" faster.

If you need further info on the Tee-Jet manual, PM me. When I get home this evening, I'll send you more info on that guide. (Tee'Jet's address and "name" of the booklet)

Iowa2210 · Jul 27, 2005

All of TeeJet's manuals are online. www.teejet.com is all you need. I bought a clearance 15gal trailer sprayer about 6 months ago. The spraybar and nozzles were a real cheap setup, so I built a new adjustable height bar and outfitted with Turbo FloodJets for nozzles.

The TeeJet nozzles are color coded by size. So get the .pdf of the spray guide for the type of nozzles you want, pick a resonable flowrate and pressure off of the table and buy them at your local farm supply by color. I have the gray Turbo FloodJet 3.0's on my sprayer, but using it, I don't like the ground speed I need to have to get my desired application rate. If I drop the pressure below 15psi with the floodjet, my coverage fan gets spotty. So I may go with the 2.5 or 2.0 nozzles to get slightly reduced flowrates so I can drop my ground speed.

Also note that if you significantly change nozzle size, you may also need to change the wire mesh strainers that go behind the nozzle. If you are only going up or down one size, not an issue. A big change may require new strainers.

Good Luck!

Berniep · Jul 27, 2005

I put a 25 gallon sprayer in a utility cart and made a boom for it so I could tow it behind the atv. It was very hard to maintain a consistent ground speed and manuevering at the end was tricky.
I made a mount for the back of my BX23 and have only used it for spot spraying so far but I can already tell it's going to be much easier when I spray the yard this fall.

newtothis · Jul 27, 2005

Between rain and busy schedule I still haven't made it out to spray yet. A co-worker had given me the T Jet site I just haven't made it over there yet.

Iowa2210, thanks for the heads up on the strainers. I've been wondering if you needed to change them with a change in size of nozzles.

I think I may try changing the pressure on the tank before buying anything else. If memory serves I was running around 35 PSI which seems high. The spray fan seemed to be just pounding out the liquid, much higher than need be. Does this seem like a good starting point?