Foam marker for sprayers

[hrcarver]

I don't know how many of yall run sprayers, but here is a easy to make foam marker that I put on my little sprayer.

Saves several hundreds off commercial versions. Even if it isn't quite as durable, it works just as well. Pays for itself($35) in a very short amount of time if your spraying skills are poor as mine.

You need

1 portable gas tank
1 tubeless tire valve
1 cheapo 12v air compressor (I used this one Amazon.com: Slime COMP03 12-Volt Air Compressor with Gauge and Light (300 PSI): Automotive)
Some hose that fits over the nozzle of the gas tank, how much depends on the length of your boom.
foam marker concentrate+water

Drill a hole(small enough for the tire valve seal up, don't remember which size I used ) in the bottom of the perfectly good portable gas tank.

Insert tire valve

Attach hose to nozzle of gas tank and run your hose to the end of the boom. On the new idiot spill proof gas cans, you will have to cut off the idiot proof part.

Attach el cheapo 12v air compressor. You can cut off the 12v plug and wire directly, or install a 12v outlet on your tractor if you do not have one already.

These compressors are cheap and do not last forever, I usually can get a couple years out the one on the lil' food plot sprayer if I remember to take the compressor off and put it inside when I finish.

I use a plastic shield on the bigger sprayer I use more often(~50 acres per week), usually get three months out of it.


Put in foam marker concentrate and water and go!

This size(1.5gal) will run for over 30 minutes on a fill up(1 gal), 1-6 acres depending on the size and speed your sprayer(2.5 acres on this 10' boom at 3.5mph). 5 gallon tanks will run for over an hour easily. The tanks do better if not completely full, I usually fill to about 2/3 full. No sort of regulator, just blows into a open hose. Really not very much pressure needed at all. If I have a larger spot to do you can take a few jugs of water and foam concentrate premixed to the field.

I know its not a straight line, but you try to take pics while driving a tractor that old!

 

[lhfarm]

What a great idea! I don't use my sprayer often enough to justify a foam marker, but I sure need one. Thanks for sharing. I'm going to start buying parts now!

 

[jayste]

Neat idea. I'll have to keep it in mind. I think I need to get my sprayer built first!

Is that a hay or sod field you're spraying there?

 

[hrcarver]

Sod field. I have used the same setup on my 60' sprayer for years. Never took the time to take pics though.

 

[Tul01]

I think thats a great idea, before I build one, just to understand how it works, the compressor bubbles it up and it just overflows down the big hose?

 

[hrcarver]

Yup, that's it. Blows the foam out of an open hose.

 

[Tul01]

Thanks

 

[chicken991]

that looks very good the cheapies on i have ever saw was a can of shaving cream with a cable small lever and a cam that pulled the cable every rotation of the wheel.

 

[jcaron2]

Great idea! I'm definitely going to have to try that. The shaving cream can idea is pretty cool, too.

 

[Huskerplowboy]

Nice job!

I played around with the same idea a couple years ago, never got it finished and put on my lawn sprayer (a little overlap = extra crispy weeds )

I sort of remember on my smaller-sized unit using one of those bubbler stones (porous rock kind of thing) from a fish aquarioum to generate more, smaller bubbles. I was trying to use laundry detergent rather than the real foamer solution, so maybe its a moot point for a larger system with the real marker foam stuff.

For a larger sized "bubble stone" maybe one of those sintered brass "mufflers" or whatever for compressed air systems would flow better under the higher pressure...