Triple Rinsing

[Jstpssng]

This is a two part post, first questions about managing your equipment;
What do you do with the material while rinsing your spray tank whether it's backpack, 3 pth, or bigger? Does anybody use the same tank for different materials, such as switching from insecticide to herbicide or vice versa? I try to avoid pesticides as much as I can and confess that I've always just used one for materials to spray on my food crops, and another for the one time that I used Roundup about 3 years ago; and never rinsed them afterwards.

Now for a rant;
It's the Roundup sprayer that I'm thinking about using for potato beetles, which are denuding my vines. My el cheapo hand sprayer finally disintegrated so I bought a new one at the salvage/discount store. (AKA Marden's, for anybody familiar with Maine.) When I went to use it though I discovered that it already had liquid residue in it; I filled it and walked down the gravel road sprinkling it out, then dribbled the dregs on a burdock plant. 3 hours later there are spots on the leaves where the droplets landed... and I still need to spray the Spinosad, although it's getting past the point where it matters.
I also wish that I had left what ever the residue was in the sprayer... as I just publicly confessed to spreading whatever it is onto a public road.

 

[dodge man]

I just dilute with water and dump it out on my driveway.

 

[Industrial Toys]

My pet peeve is that every weed/garden sprayer should have a filter. I must have ten of the things with different stuff. Never had a backpack sprayer.

 

[Jstpssng]

I just dilute with water and dump it out on my driveway.

I think that might be the best way, but wasn't sure. Like a dumba** I forgot that I had the Roundup sprayer, and bought another when I went down to my mother's to treat the invasives which have been taking over the old hayfield, so now I have two herbicide sprayers. Do you switch back and forth between herbicides and insecticides?

My pet peeve is that every weed/garden sprayer should have a filter. I must have ten of the things with different stuff. Never had a backpack sprayer.

My last one was just a 2 quart hand sprayer that I had for 10 years or more. I am going to upgrade to something IC powered though as my fruit trees will need it. The two I have for Roundup are 2 gallon units, the only backpack sprayer I've ever used was for stump treating when I was doing powerline maintenance. We also used mist blowers, which covered a lot of ground fast. Then there was the time that I got to work on a helicopter spray project... I was on the ground but it was still fun. :thumbsup:

 

[Alan W.]

I have separate sprayers for different chemicals. Dont trust the rinse. And yes filters are about mandatory.

 

[MossRoad]

I have one 2 gallon sprayer and 1 fifteen gallon electric boom/wand sprayer. I use them both for many different things. I try and mix just enough or even a little less product for that day's use so there isn't much left at the end. If its just plant fertilizer, I have no worries about just rinsing and spraying a few time to clear it. If I'm using insecticide, like liquid seven, for example, I pour off any left over product into clean marked jugs for reuse later. Then I triple rinse by filling and spraying three times on my rocky drive, around the base of the woodpile, or a brush pile that's been here and grown for 25 years. Its diluted by thousands of times and its being applied to places I don't want insects anyway. No chance of getting into the water supply in those areas on our place either. I do the same with weed and brush killers.

As I mentioned, I try and mix up only as much product as I can use at the time. Less waste and more diluted at cleanup time.

 

[bigtiller]

I mix up what I think I will use in 1 of 5 sprayers. There is a 25 gallon boom sprayer and 4 garden sprayers from 1 to 2 gallons. Each has a different use. When it is empty, I put about a gallon of water in it, pump it up and let it discharge into the gravel driveway. The roundup sprayer especially. It turns into a gooey mess and the tip plugs if not emptied and rinsed out.

 

[oosik]

I have a sprayer - 25 gallon tank and a pump that is PTO driven. I haven't used it in over twenty five years. So it may no longer function.

It has a "mixing" feature. You can direct the water in the tank - thru the pump and back into the tank. Bypassing the spray wand. I used RoundUP and some type of fruit tree spray(s) in it. When I finished spraying - fill the tank with ten gallons of water - let it "mix" for a while - spray the contents on the gravel driveway. I would do this three times. Never had any problems with residual RoundUP damaging any fruit trees.

 

[5030]

I have a sprayer - 25 gallon tank and a pump that is PTO driven. I haven't used it in over twenty five years. So it may no longer function.

It has a "mixing" feature. You can direct the water in the tank - thru the pump and back into the tank. Bypassing the spray wand. I used RoundUP and some type of fruit tree spray(s) in it. When I finished spraying - fill the tank with ten gallons of water - let it "mix" for a while - spray the contents on the gravel driveway. I would do this three times. Never had any problems with residual RoundUP damaging any fruit trees.

So is mine but one, I use it quite often and two, mine as 400 gallon. I mix what I use and try to use it all and I wash out with Dawn dishwash detergent (fill the tank about 1/3 full) and spray it inside with the accessory spray wand), dump that and rinse 2 times with clean clear water. Used to use that expensive Nutra-Sol but found out dawn works just as good for a lot cheaper.

I spray everything from Rounbdup Ultra Max on roundup ready beans to 2-4D to Lasso to liquified 46% urea.

 

[JK22]

Here’s the “proper” way to clean your tank. http://www.agphd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SPRAYER-TANK-CLEANOUT.pdf

When a commercial cleaner is recommended, I use this: FarmWorks Spray Tank Cleaner, 2 lb., 7531 at Tractor Supply Co..

Might be overkill, but I’d rather not nuke my soil for a year.

These new Chaplin mix on exit are intriguing. Separate tanks for different chemicals makes for much easier rinsing (just the hose and wand/boom). No need to rinse/neutralize the water or chemical tanks. Chapin Mixes On Exit ATV Sprayer, 25 gal., 97562 at Tractor Supply Co.