Converting 30gal economy spot sprayer to boomless trailer sprayer

[dirt ditch]

The sprayer is 2 years old and the firewood trailer doesn't get used in the summer so I combined them into a boomless spray trailer. It started out as an economy model 30 gallon spot sprayer that came with a 1 gpm, 30 psi pump. Last year when the sprayer came back from being loaned out the whole tip of the cheap wand was gone so I replaced it with a much better one. I installed a Y valve in the hose for the hand wand and boomless nozzle. On eBay I found a brass nozzle with a #2 orifice that comes with both 180-degree disc and 90-degree disc. After pumping a couple hundred gallons of herbicide through it I began to wonder if it would spray better with the larger 2.1 gpm 60 psi pump on it. After purchasing the larger pump I noticed it came with only one 3/8 fitting but two 1/2 fittings. Called the manufacture and found out the 30gal economy and deluxe tanks are the same but the 2.1 gal pump takes a 1/2 line from the tank to the pump. The complete assembly was less than $9. Shipping was $15 ouch! But the package did arrive on the second morning. The assembly came with a shut off valve, wire coil lined hose, and the proper nozzle to plug into the pump.

I took some unscientific measurements of the spray width between the two pumps with just water. The small pump had a 30' spray width with the boomless nozzle and the wand will shoot 18' on the tightest setting. The large pump had a heaver 30' spray width with the wand shooting 25'.

Do I think the larger pump was worth the switch? For me yes. With the higher pressure the nozzle does seem to atomize the spray better and give heaver coverage across the width of the pattern. Next time the driveway gets sprayed I will change the nozzle discs to the 90-degree to see how it works.

 

[dirt ditch]

Here is more pics.

 

[indianaEPH]

Nice post. I am interested in building my own boomless sprayer as well.

So, per the spec sheet posted the swath is units of feet?

 

[djradz]

... the higher pressure the nozzle does seem to atomize the spray better and give heaver coverage across the width of the pattern.

Sure does. Seems to be a lot of mist drifting off. Not sure if that is due to the high pressure or nozzle design. I couldn't live with that in many cases.

By the way, nice job on the construction.

 

[dirt ditch]

indianaEPH, yes the swath is listed in feet, but even with the larger pump the nozzle still only sprayed 30' wide.

djradz, some time had passed between when I turned on the pump and then took the photos so it had a lot of time to develop the mist. There was zero wind and the sun was low in the morning sky. I agree with you that this would not be the right setup for all applications, but for spraying along my driveway and in a few places in the pasture it is working well for me.