Spraying 2,4-D - Sanity Check

[jeffreyca84]

Hi Everyone,

I'm hoping for a little bit of a sanity check on my math as this will be my first time spraying. I hope below I'm providing enough information and showing that I did my homework and am putting forward an honest attempt.

Essentially I'm looking to spray IPCO 2,4-D Ester 700 herbicide on a 2-acre pasture using a Fimco ATV-25-700-QR sprayer.

Based on the application manual for IPCO 2,4-d Ester 700 on pasture grasses it is recommending 'up to 3.4 L/ha in 100-300 litres of water per hectare'. The FIMCO manual for the sprayer does a great job in doing the math for me and telling me the pressure (psi), speed and the corresponding gallons per acre.

So I don't want to put the maximum amount of chemical down, but I wish it just gave me a value and not an 'up to 3.4L/ha'. I'm randomly thinking of using 2.5L/ha since its somewhere in the middle of the range - which I'm not sure if this is correct.

Assuming 2.5L/ha is OK I'm then converted that into quarts per acre. Based on this math 2.5L/ha is 1quart/acre.

Because my sprayer is only 25G I figured it might be easier to take the middle range of the water requirement, being 200L per hectare, and bring that down into gallons per acre. Based on this math 200L/ha is 21gallons per acre.

OK so I am at 1quart of chemicals per acre and 21gallons of water per acre.

My Fimco user manual says that in order to put down ~21gallons per acre I would need to have a spray height of 18", a pressure of 40PSI and I would need to be driving around 3MPH.

 

[RalphVa]

Be VERY CAREFUL with that stuff. The tiniest breeze can carry mist made by the sprayer for miles that could condense and kill vegetation way away from where you're spraying.

 

[workinonit]

Use the amine. The carry on ester is crazy. I've never had any issues with the amine. The rates sound feasible. I would make a dry run with water and then you will know for sure.

 

[jeffreyca84]

Use the amine. The carry on ester is crazy. I've never had any issues with the amine. The rates sound feasible. I would make a dry run with water and then you will know for sure.

what do you mean by “the carry on water is crazy”?

 

[workinonit]

Carry over. Drift. Ester drifts if there is any breeze. If there's nothing around you care about killing you will be fine.

 

[Sergei1]

I use Gordons Pasture Pro herbicide in the both my sprayers. One tank uses the 20oz tankable size behind the garden tractor that I spray the yard with and my bigger sprayer that I mounted on my box blade for the pasture for the horses.

 

[3gunr]

You might want to add a surfactant to your mix it will help to make the chemical stick to the vegetation you want to kill.

 

[jeffreyca84]

Carry over. Drift. Ester drifts if there is any breeze. If there's nothing around you care about killing you will be fine.

All that is around me is residential lawns.

 

[hosspuller]

Workinonit has a good suggestion. I just changed the tips on my sprayer... That's what I did. Filled the sprayer with water (only) and sprayed the field to work out the speed, pressure and gallons per acre. This wet run is better than spilling expensive chemical fixing clogged tips, leaks, mistakes in dose, or other unknows.

 

[Complete Turf Care]

All that is around me is residential lawns.

Not sure where you are located, but if there is a tomato plant anywhere near you, and it gets a whiff of the 2,4-D, it will be toasted. 2,4-D is one of the most volitile herbicides ever. It will even get up and move after you have sprayed it. I've heard stories of it being sprayed on rice and because of weather conditions, it got up and moved across the Mississippi river and killed a cotton crop. It is illegal to spray it here in Louisiana between April 1 and about October 30, in the cotton growing areas.

I do think your calculations are correct in your first post. But please be careful if you do decide to spray. Check with your county agent to see if there might be alternatives.