Pasture sprayer recommendations

[RobA]

I've been having a local service spray for weeds on 2 pastures totaling about 7 acres. I'd rather do it myself for various reasons overall cost being one of them.

Any suggestions for sprayers suitable for that size job. How many gallon unit should I get? I'd prefer a tow behind sprayer for my Polaris side by side rather than a 3PH sprayer.

 

[smstonypoint]

Various herbicides have different application rates, but my guess is that the average application rate (water + chemical) is close to 25 gallons per acre. Depending on the herbicide, the smaller sprayers may require multiple refills to cover 7 acres.

Steve

 

[CADplans]

I spray about 15 acres,,, sometimes less,, I would recommend nothing smaller than this,,

They may make it in a trailer version.

This is a great unit, nozzle screens, a great pump, the boom folds when you hit a tree.

AND,, it only cost $270!! :cool2:

If you get one that is smaller, you will spend 2 days spraying,,, each time you spray,,,:thumbdown:

 

[RobA]

I spray about 15 acres,,, sometimes less,, I would recommend nothing smaller than this,,

What size sprayer do you use for 15 acres?

 

[oldballs]

I have used this rig for the past 25 years to spray 3 acres with herbicide. It will also shoot a good 30-40 feet to spray for bag worms on my Cedar hedge. The boom has only two nozzles. I'd recommend one with at least four nozzles. The tank is 55 gallon. It is stored outdoors using antifreeze. If you use Glyphosate, be sure to get the Silvercast type pump. The tank is 55 gallons. As you can see, I take good care of my equipment, even though it is stored
outdoors under tarps. I like having separate stand alone type of equipment

 

[The Deerslayer]

I spray about 15 acres,,, sometimes less,, I would recommend nothing smaller than this,,

They may make it in a trailer version.

This is a great unit, nozzle screens, a great pump, the boom folds when you hit a tree.

AND,, it only cost $270!! :cool2:

If you get one that is smaller, you will spend 2 days spraying,,, each time you spray,,,:thumbdown:

Nice set up. What would you say is the width of spray?
I need to get a sprayer as well and was leaning towards one for my ATV as I have some slope that may make a 3ph a bit of a challenge, but am considering 3ph because of gallon size.

 

[gsganzer]

Nice set up. What would you say is the width of spray?
I need to get a sprayer as well and was leaning towards one for my ATV as I have some slope that may make a 3ph a bit of a challenge, but am considering 3ph because of gallon size.

I'm considering one too. I saw these at TSC the other day, but didn't look look at them in depth.

To start/stop spray (like at the end of a row), do you just turn the pump off, or is there a solenoid too?

 

[EddieWalker]

After looking around and not seeing what I wanted, or could afford, I built my own. I had an old trailer that was the right size for a 300 gallon tote. My first attempt was with a cheap 12 volt pump that I power from a cigarette lighter. I plug it in and it starts spraying, I pull it out to turn it off. I also started out with folding booms that went out 8 feet. I put a sprayer tip on the end of each boom, and one in the middle. I was able to spray a lot of area at once, but I kept hitting things with the booms and finally gave up on that idea. Now I just have a single pipe across the back and two spray nozzles. That's lasted years without any issues.

The second mistake I made was not getting the right type of pump for a hand sprayer to do fence lines. I added that hand sprayer last year after getting horses and wanting to maintain their fenced area. It's a lot better then the hand pump sprayers that I use for round up!!! Once I had the right pump on it, everything has worked great!!!!

You should notice that there are some blocks under the tote. It has to be at a big angle to get all the liquid to flow out. This leads to other issues, like keeping it on the trailer. Recently I noticed that the pallet the tank is mounted to has cracked in the middle. I'll add support there so it doesn't break completely.

I think the best part is having it be a trailer. I can pull it with my tractor or the Mule. The tractor is better because I have more power and I can maintain the perfect speed regardless of terrain. The Mule isn't very good at maintaining a slow speed like the tractor, so I only use it for small jobs. But when the bush hog is hooked up to the tractor, it's nice to use the Mule and not have to deal with disconnecting the bush hog and then hooking it up again when I'm done spraying. I'm lazy like that!!!

 

[oldballs]

Eddie....one could get a lot done in a hurry with your rig. With the booms mounted at that height, drift could be a problem in an area that matters.....just sayin'. What do you you think?

 

[EddieWalker]

Most of the time I'm spraying round up, so killing a few more weeds is always going to be better if there is some drift. I don't spray when it's windy, which also helps control where I spray. I've been trying to improve my pastures with 2-4,D products recently, but think I'm too light on my mix or too fast on my speed because the results have been less then what I had hoped for. Once growing season starts again, I'll try the 2-4,D again.