Sprayer Looking for a Chemical Injector

[TheFarmerInAdell]

You would need peristaltic pump or some other positive displacement pump since gravity feed is highly error prone.

I've used peristaltic (metering) pumps in my designs for work before. I did some brainstorming on this. I'd need to have a pressure switch to activate the pump only when the sprayer pump is running, and it would be beneficial to have some sort of potentiometer to control the speed of the injector pump to dial my ratios in. It could work, but is quite involved. I'll keep that idea just in case I can't find a mixing valve that works for my situation.

There are two major hurdles to using a mixing valve or venturi. One is I have a low flow. The other is I have the same pressure on both sides of the mixing valve. Some mixing valves require a pressure differential, or they create their own pressure differential. I'll have to experiment with the ideas here and come up with a solution (pun intended).

 

[M59]

I've used peristaltic (metering) pumps in my designs for work before. I did some brainstorming on this. I'd need to have a pressure switch to activate the pump only when the sprayer pump is running, and it would be beneficial to have some sort of potentiometer to control the speed of the injector pump to dial my ratios in. It could work, but is quite involved. I'll keep that idea just in case I can't find a mixing valve that works for my situation.

There are two major hurdles to using a mixing valve or venturi. One is I have a low flow. The other is I have the same pressure on both sides of the mixing valve. Some mixing valves require a pressure differential, or they create their own pressure differential. I'll have to experiment with the ideas here and come up with a solution (pun intended).

Have you considered running two tanks ( one contains batch mix and one contains water for watering plants ) on the same trailer or have two separate trailers and tanks since you appear to indicate the hay field is is one location and the garden is in another?

What about having a fixed watering tank in the garden area or running a water line above or underground to the garden area so you eliminate the dual use issue?

Don't know your landscape layout to provide better feedback.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Have you considered running two tanks ( one contains batch mix and one contains water for watering plants ) on the same trailer or have two separate trailers and tanks since you appear to indicate the hay field is is one location and the garden is in another?

What about having a fixed watering tank in the garden area or running a water line above or underground to the garden area so you eliminate the dual use issue?

Don't know your landscape layout to provide better feedback.

It is a 3 point mounted sprayer. The hay field is a not visible from the house. I had considered running a water line from the house to the garden, but it would be quite a task. I would need to bury 200 feet of pipe to get to the main garden area, and another 250 feet of pipe to get to our other garden. Plus we get deep frost here and it would need to be blown out completely every year and/or buried 4-6 feed down.

I had considered building another sprayer, but that would cost significantly more than creating a mixing system for the current sprayer. It would also add to the maintenance and storage of equipment.

Right now we have a water tank at the garden and we are watering with buckets. I considered a solar pump, but again it can become cost prohibitive. There have been many times where it would have been nice to have pressurized clean water a long way away from the house, which is kind of a push to go to an injection system.

 

[M59]

It is a 3 point mounted sprayer. The hay field is a not visible from the house. I had considered running a water line from the house to the garden, but it would be quite a task. I would need to bury 200 feet of pipe to get to the main garden area, and another 250 feet of pipe to get to our other garden. Plus we get deep frost here and it would need to be blown out completely every year and/or buried 4-6 feed down.

I had considered building another sprayer, but that would cost significantly more than creating a mixing system for the current sprayer. It would also add to the maintenance and storage of equipment.

Right now we have a water tank at the garden and we are watering with buckets. I considered a solar pump, but again it can become cost prohibitive. There have been many times where it would have been nice to have pressurized clean water a long way away from the house, which is kind of a push to go to an injection system.

What about a temp water line such as some connected garden hoses across the ground to the water storage tank or tanks. Roll them up for the winter. This is cheap and cheerful solution unless you mow or drive over them and /or you have rodents that like to chew. I found about 1/4 mile of 1 inch abs going to a garden from mountain springs on my property. Great idea but rodents liked to sharpen their teeth on them.

Lowes for $25/ 100 feet.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

What about a temp water line such as some connected garden hoses across the ground to the water storage tank or tanks. Roll them up for the winter. This is cheap and cheerful solution unless you mow or drive over them and /or you have rodents that like to chew. I found about 1/4 mile of 1 inch abs going to a garden from mountain springs on my property. Great idea but rodents liked to sharpen their teeth on them.

Lowes for $25/ 100 feet.

I tried that. Unfortunately I would have to roll it up every time I mow. And the "light duty" hoses only last one season from my experience. Plus we have rodents. The garage cat (because she insists on staying in the garage instead of the barn...) keeps the population low, but it seems like they still get at anything they can.

 

[mapper]

Have you checked out the Mazzei injector website?
They have a large selection of venturing type injectors and a calculator to figure out the proper size for your application.

 

[M59]

I've used peristaltic (metering) pumps in my designs for work before. I did some brainstorming on this. I'd need to have a pressure switch to activate the pump only when the sprayer pump is running, and it would be beneficial to have some sort of potentiometer to control the speed of the injector pump to dial my ratios in. It could work, but is quite involved. I'll keep that idea just in case I can't find a mixing valve that works for my situation.

There are two major hurdles to using a mixing valve or venturi. One is I have a low flow. The other is I have the same pressure on both sides of the mixing valve. Some mixing valves require a pressure differential, or they create their own pressure differential. I'll have to experiment with the ideas here and come up with a solution (pun intended).

Just ran across this in another TBN thread. A 2 tank spray system similar to what you are interested in.

Chapin 97361: 15-gallon Mixes On Exit (M.O.E.) 12V, 2.5 GPM Pump ATV Spot Sprayer

Stop wasting water, chemical concentrate and time with Mixes on Exit, the clean tank spraying system from Chapin. Separate water and concentrate tanks mean no more messy and wasteful premixing of chemicals – and your water stays clean!

chapinmfg.com

Perhaps something to buy or school up on how it works and make your own.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Have you checked out the Mazzei injector website?
They have a large selection of venturing type injectors and a calculator to figure out the proper size for your application.

Apparently you need to register and have an account to use the calculator. I've kind of given up on venturi devices as most need at least 2gpm.

 

[TheFarmerInAdell]

Just ran across this in another TBN thread. A 2 tank spray system similar to what you are interested in.

Chapin 97361: 15-gallon Mixes On Exit (M.O.E.) 12V, 2.5 GPM Pump ATV Spot Sprayer

Stop wasting water, chemical concentrate and time with Mixes on Exit, the clean tank spraying system from Chapin. Separate water and concentrate tanks mean no more messy and wasteful premixing of chemicals – and your water stays clean!

chapinmfg.com

Perhaps something to buy or school up on how it works and make your own.

That was already suggested here. The issue I discovered when looking into it is it mixes before the pump using the suction to draw in the chemical along with the water. I cannot use that because I have a PTO driven pump and a pressure relief valve that circulates back to the tank. It would pump the mixture into the tank defeating the purpose of what I'm trying to accomplish.

 

[jigs_n_fixtures]

Magnet(s) on the pto drive or the pump, to trigger pulse injectors, running on what ever voltage your tractor has. Adjust injector pulse length to fine tune the injection volume

Expensive but effective: A chemical metering pump similar to an LMI MiltonRoy, which pulses in response to an exterior signal, and a signal generating flow meter. I think you can get the plastic Indian versions of a water meter with pulse output reasonably priced on Amazon. I bought three of them a couple of years back because they were about20% the cost of a good bronze meter.