Yard Spraying

[Achilles]

I own apx 7 acres, apx 3 of which is mowable grass. I had many trees to remove and grind stumps, in the neighborhood of 200. I initially had a 4 year plan to get the yard ready (fairly smooth and free of many obstacles) before I would have the yard treated as far as fertilization and weed control. I am currrently looking at sprayers for my mahindra compact and am looking for some advice, actually alot of advice. Wondreing if 55 gallon would be sufficiently larger enough. Whether a boom applicator or more of a broadcast sprayer would be better. Many of the systems, for example at northern tool are without pumps, so naturally what size pump would be needed and what PSI is disireable. And lastly, how actually to go about reclaiming the yard, as far as removing the undesired vegetation (broadleaf and what not). Should I go with a standard weed-n-feed, or straight fertilizer. When and how often is best to spray. Any and all information would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

John

 

[fountain42]

John my lawn was as bad as yours. I had a comercial lawn guy come and look at it an he said I would never have a golf couse here an quoted me $1200 per year. Well my wife and I took on our self and started fertilizing our self using weed an feed with poor results then wen't to a plain fertilizer and bought a pull behind sprayer 25 gallon and started spraying 3 times a season. After 10 years our lawn is near perfect lush green an no weeds. But we spent close to 300 per year. We would spray the weeds when we mowed the lawn to insure coverage.

 

[Ford850]

You can get by with a smaller sprayer if you don't mind refilling. I use a 25 gallon model with a 12v pump and a 12' boom. It's for the rack on an ATV, but I strap it to a small trailer or to a carry-all on the back of my tractor. I initially sprayed once in the early spring and once in the fall. Now just the once in the spring keeps the weeds under control. I use Trimec from TSC. 2 gallons in my 25 gallon tank of water, covers approx 3 acres for me. Trimec controls more stubborn weeds than ordinary 2-4D, and is made for lawns. That takes care of the broadleaf weeds.
I fertilize the same 2 times as I spray (approx) and use a large broadcast spreader behind my mower (but not while I mow). Plain old generic granular spring fertilizer with pre-emergent to stop new weeds for months and for a nitrogen boost. Then a generic winterizer this time of year for root support. I don't mess with any of the weed-n-feed additives to the fertilizer since i can spray for much less cost and 100% better weed control. I find the generic pellet fertilizer spreads easier than the dusty name brand stuff, and I end up with better coverage.
Those 2 programs will get you close to a perfect lawn and require verly little effort. If you have bare spots, top seed now otherwise the pre-emergent won't allow it to germinate in the spring.

 

[sunspot]

Another thing to ask is how much are you willing to spend on a sprayer. A good unit will cost about 25% more than a NT or TSC brand.

3PT Agriculture Field Sprayers - 55 Gallon 3pt Sprayers from CropCare Equipment is a very good brand and they are located in the Northeast.

I'm in the SE and am looking at 55 Horizontal Sprayers

About $800-1200

There are other brands that cost even more.

 

[ray66v]

I have a 25 gallon gas unit, :: FIMCO Industries :: LG-24RM-4R Trailer Sprayer, and it takes time to boom spray my 4 acres, and that's with an 100" boom. Remember, you have to go at a slow pace.

I have to fill my tank about 5 times, to do my entire yard with weed killer.

Unless you have a lot of time on your hands, or simply cannot afford a bigger unit. I wound not get an electric unit. Granted, once you get most of the weed out it is easier to to do spot treatments with the gun, and you will save time then. But, I would not ever use an electric unit again, after using the gas model.

My Dad and I went 50/50 on ours, that made it more affordable. I would think 3 guys could easily share a sprayer, if they wanted to.

 

[kthompson]

Used the quick connects for such on your pump connections to the sprayer. That way when you use the sprayer it is easy to remove and drain and then I drop my pump in a five gallon bucket of old oil. It also allows you to use a single pump with more than one sprayer or such. For your pump, decide first on the sprayer and it normally will tell you the GPM pump you need. A 55 gallon should be sufficient for 10 to 20 gallons an acre is often the amount you end up spraying. As to boom or boom-less sprayer, if you still have trees or fences or you have un level land the boom will cause you problems. I have always used the boom type but around such they are a pain. If you go with a boom type sprayer the nozzles are very important. There are many options to nozzles with the boom type. Spend a few minutes reading carefully all the specs on the nozzles as to ground speed and pressure to see the different GPH you will be applying.

May I suggest you do soil sample test on your lawn before you ever consider any fertilizer. I like mostly potash as it helps the roots. For most part lawn grass here does not need a lot of nitrogen. kt

 

[sunspot]

I called my local co-op about the sprayer I posted/linked above. $845, ready to hookup on my tractor. It comes with a Hypro brand pump. I may just take a ride to Tuscaloosa tomorrow morning

 

[getindirty]

I have a need for a sprayer as well. Looked at several option before I purchased a 40 gal Demco 3 pt with an electric pump an 10' boomless. I spray typically at 10 gal per acre. 4 mph. and 30 psi. Not too slow but as you speed up you need to increase the pressure. Higher pressure means more misting. I went with the electric for cost over another motor. You can set it in a cart or a boat and spray other areas (I'm certified to spray aquadics). The roller pump must be on the tractor. Pull behinds stink when you need to back up.

 

[Toolguy]

Here is my setup. It started out as an ATV sprayer and then I made a bracket to mount it to my receiver hitch. Works great. The boom covers 120" which is double the width of my 60" MMM. I get near perfect coverage by just following my mowing stripes and skipping every other stripe. I calibrated it by trial and error with just plain water in the tank and measuring how far and how fast I need to travel to spray 1 gallon. On my B3030 it is 1700 rpm at full HST pedal in M gear. It takes 40 gallons to do my 2 acre lawn. I use Bayer All-in-One at a rate of one bottle per five gallons of water. I have found that fall spraying gives the best results with a touch up or two during the summer to a few spots.

 

[MarkLeininger]

I've come around to using mowing to control the weeds, I pay a lot of attention to when the various weeds are getting ready to go to seed and cut just low enough to knock them out. As one poster said, did soil tests to see what the ground needed, which was nothing. We overseed with a pasture mixture cycling through the pasture every 3 years. Bought an old manure spreader for $350, recycling all that good horse stuff. I'm not a save the whale fanatic, but I'm really getting more conscious of trying to cut down on chemical use. And fertilizer has gotten so expensive you almost can't afford it. I mow the grass at about 9" which helps it survive no matter how dry it gets. It's not something you can do in a suburban neighborhood, but if you're out in the sticks it works.