F.E. Myers Air Blast Orchard Sprayer Information

[r8f1k]

Good news , those iron strainers are also the exact same as my FMC sprayer had and yes take the plugs out and add ball valves . You mentioned moving the strainers to front, not really a good idea . There placed in the back right before the manifolds so all the piping gets strained just before the nozzles.

Understood, I will add ball valves and elbows to make it easier to drain.

 

[r8f1k]

I think this previous question got lost in the posts, forgive me.

Another question, right now my 100 gallon FMC with 12 nozzles., I am using TeeJet TX-VS18, orange cone sprayer nozzles. I can't remember who I contacted back at TeeJet to get my calculations a few years ago, but those numbers worked great then. Now that this sprayer has 18 nozzles, I assume I should change my application rate per nozzle. Any thoughts on what color I should change it to for this sprayer?

 

[Seven Gables]

Lot of questions. What pressure were you spraying at with your 12 nozzles? What mph were you spraying at ? What’s your row spacing? How many gallons per acre were you applying? We’re you happy with the coverage you were getting?
With those 10-12’ foot dwarf trees you may only need 6 nozzles per side , only use as many as you need for good coverage. I’d imagine the top 2 or 3 would be spraying over the tops of those dwarf trees? If that’s the case leave them shut off .
If you use only 6 orange nozzles per side with same pressure and speed as your old sprayer you should get same gpa.
Tee jet has tables that give Gallons per minute per nozzle at different pressures. I looked up the orange 18’s that you been using, .558gpm@140psi , .597gpm@160psi . Just simple math from there, little homework for ya

 

[r8f1k]

My FMC was dialed in at 125-130 PSI
My tractor was right around 6 MPH
My rows are 15 feet wide
I can't remember how many gallons were applied per acre. What I can remember is that it required almost exactly 3 - 100 gallon sprayer tank fills to cover 88 rows @ 200ft long.
I was happy with my coverage.

Let me fill in what is, perhaps, a large variable in this whole conversation. First, I am a full time high school teacher and I do what I can when I can at our orchard. I bought 18 acres in January of 2016, planted trees for 4 years, built 2 barns and kept my self busy. I restored a 1910 American Hydraulic cider press along with a variety of ancillary equipment to support the press. I also hauled an old canned ham camper out of the woods and turned it into a donut trailer. My goal was to build a small business to help act as a second stream of income for my family.

Growing up, my grandfather was an attorney and judge and he also farmed as a second stream of income. I was raised by my grandparents and I hoped to do the same. He allowed me to plant 100 trees on an old horse pasture we had previously raised Arabian horses on and that is where I got my start on growing apples. I was not in line to inherit the family farm so I bought my own. I am good at working on equipment, I can work from sun up to sun down. I rarely quit until the job is done.

2022 and 2023 were very dry years in Kenosha Wisconsin and our trees had very little fruit. I didn't spray either year because there was little fruit set for either year and the dry conditions left runty fruit. 2024 wasn't all that much better. In fall of 2023 we spread 5,000 lbs of lime and about 1,000 lbs of fertilizer in the hope to boost production for 2024. Again, not much as far as fruit. I know the weather plays a huge role, but I think not spraying for those 2 years has lead to additional issues. I wanted to open as a u-pick operation, but I have been skunked 3 years in a row and I want to start 2025 on the right foot. Spraying with the 100 gallon FMC wasn't the best especially in early spring to apply oil spray and fill the machine up 3 times, sometimes at night. I wanted to get a machine that I could fill, spray, do the whole orchard and go back home. (We don't live on the property)

All of that being said, I need help. I have used pheromone traps with 5 gallon buckets for Japanese beetles and we have been VERY successful in reducing their numbers. Overall, I am not sure what I have in the orchard and what I need to control. I am fearful of killing all of my good insects like our honey bees and praying mantis. We have 4 large hives of honey bees and I am not sure where the praying mantis came from, but we have them. I am open to any advice and guidance.

 

[Seven Gables]

Understood, I will add ball valves and elbows to make it easier to drain.

Not 100% sure if you’re understanding I don’t just open the ball valves and and drain those strainer screens. You got to run the pump and click your valves on to blow water straight thru the inside of that screen under pressure. I’ll leave them both on for a few seconds then alternate one on one off to increase flow and pressure thru each. Just a few seconds all it takes.

 

[Seven Gables]

My FMC was dialed in at 125-130 PSI
My tractor was right around 6 MPH
My rows are 15 feet wide
I can't remember how many gallons were applied per acre. What I can remember is that it required almost exactly 3 - 100 gallon sprayer tank fills to cover 88 rows @ 200ft long.
I was happy with my coverage.

Let me fill in what is, perhaps, a large variable in this whole conversation. First, I am a full time high school teacher and I do what I can when I can at our orchard. I bought 18 acres in January of 2016, planted trees for 4 years, built 2 barns and kept my self busy. I restored a 1910 American Hydraulic cider press along with a variety of ancillary equipment to support the press. I also hauled an old canned ham camper out of the woods and turned it into a donut trailer. My goal was to build a small business to help act as a second stream of income for my family.

Growing up, my grandfather was an attorney and judge and he also farmed as a second stream of income. I was raised by my grandparents and I hoped to do the same. He allowed me to plant 100 trees on an old horse pasture we had previously raised Arabian horses on and that is where I got my start on growing apples. I was not in line to inherit the family farm so I bought my own. I am good at working on equipment, I can work from sun up to sun down. I rarely quit until the job is done.

2022 and 2023 were very dry years in Kenosha Wisconsin and our trees had very little fruit. I didn't spray either year because there was little fruit set for either year and the dry conditions left runty fruit. 2024 wasn't all that much better. In fall of 2023 we spread 5,000 lbs of lime and about 1,000 lbs of fertilizer in the hope to boost production for 2024. Again, not much as far as fruit. I know the weather plays a huge role, but I think not spraying for those 2 years has lead to additional issues. I wanted to open as a u-pick operation, but I have been skunked 3 years in a row and I want to start 2025 on the right foot. Spraying with the 100 gallon FMC wasn't the best especially in early spring to apply oil spray and fill the machine up 3 times, sometimes at night. I wanted to get a machine that I could fill, spray, do the whole orchard and go back home. (We don't live on the property)

All of that being said, I need help. I have used pheromone traps with 5 gallon buckets for Japanese beetles and we have been VERY successful in reducing their numbers. Overall, I am not sure what I have in the orchard and what I need to control. I am fearful of killing all of my good insects like our honey bees and praying mantis. We have 4 large hives of honey bees and I am not sure where the praying mantis came from, but we have them. I am open to any advice and guidance.

Starting out growing fruit trees can be very very challenging and expensive. I think a lot of folks have the misconception it’s as easy growing a shade tree in the front yard.
Is there a county agriculture agent in your area that you can talk to? Do you have your private pesticide applicators license? Generally the companies you buy spray materials from have salesman/field scouts that can help guide you, can be very helpful.
You’ve got right at 6 acres of trees there , I wouldn’t plant any more till you get proficient with those , you can raise A lot of apples off 6 good producing acres . It’s not how many acres of fruit trees you have , it’s how well you take care of the acres you have to maximize the pounds of quality fruit per acre.
I’m not a Apple grower but a lot of neighbor farmers are , I’m cherries and few peaches . I’ll answer any questions you have that I can , good luck and hang in there

 

[r8f1k]

Not 100% sure if you’re understanding I don’t just open the ball valves and and drain those strainer screens. You got to run the pump and click your valves on to blow water straight thru the inside of that screen under pressure. I’ll leave them both on for a few seconds then alternate one on one off to increase flow and pressure thru each. Just a few seconds all it takes.

I can do that

 

[r8f1k]

Starting out growing fruit trees can be very very challenging and expensive. I think a lot of folks have the misconception it’s as easy growing a shade tree in the front yard.
Is there a county agriculture agent in your area that you can talk to? Do you have your private pesticide applicators license? Generally the companies you buy spray materials from have salesman/field scouts that can help guide you, can be very helpful.
You’ve got right at 6 acres of trees there , I wouldn’t plant any more till you get proficient with those , you can raise A lot of apples off 6 good producing acres . It’s not how many acres of fruit trees you have , it’s how well you take care of the acres you have to maximize the pounds of quality fruit per acre.
I’m not a Apple grower but a lot of neighbor farmers are , I’m cherries and few peaches . I’ll answer any questions you have that I can , good luck and hang in there

I do not have my applicators license, but I do not believe we are using anything restricted in our state. Not sure I could buy it without a license from FS Conserve anyways. We haven't planted since 2021 and I am happy with our current volume of trees. There used to be about 5 other orchards around us, but they have all closed, same story, 'kids don't want it....'. We are not much of a fruit growing county, so I haven't really looked into anything from the county. I've been growing fruit trees since 2007, I've been grafting our own since 2019, it is far from easy. It took me about 5 years just to get some of the scion wood that I wanted for varieties that are hard to get here in the US. We have 33 varieties, about 6 are old English varieties with emphasis on cider making. I love doing it, but I can't burn the candle at both ends forever. I don't give up easy and I plan on doing what I can to see some results this coming year.

 

[Seven Gables]

I do not have my applicators license, but I do not believe we are using anything restricted in our state. Not sure I could buy it without a license from FS Conserve anyways. We haven't planted since 2021 and I am happy with our current volume of trees. There used to be about 5 other orchards around us, but they have all closed, same story, 'kids don't want it....'. We are not much of a fruit growing county, so I haven't really looked into anything from the county. I've been growing fruit trees since 2007, I've been grafting our own since 2019, it is far from easy. It took me about 5 years just to get some of the scion wood that I wanted for varieties that are hard to get here in the US. We have 33 varieties, about 6 are old English varieties with emphasis on cider making. I love doing it, but I can't burn the candle at both ends forever. I don't give up easy and I plan on doing what I can to see some results this coming year.

There’s so many aspects to growing high quality fruit trees it’s hard for me to even know where to start. First thing I think it’s very important that you get your private pesticide applicators license, without it you don’t have access to the spray materials you’re going to need and the knowledgeable people that sell them.
Do you have any way to weed spray under your trees to eliminate the competition for water and nutrients that they impose.? If not how much of that 1000lbs of fertilizer you bought and spread did the trees get and how much did the weeds steal? Same with rainfall, are the weeds sucking up the little bit you got and robbing it from the trees? Maintaining a clean orchard floor under your trees is important to maximize the nutrients and water that is available to the trees. You’re going to need a license to buy the best herbicides.
Few pics of what my orchard floor looks like

 

[old and tired]

300 gallons / 6.06 acres = 49.5 gallons/acre
=============================

15 ft/row X 200 feet = 3000 sq.ft/row

3000 sq.ft/row X 88 rows = 264,000 sq.ft

264,000 sq.ft / 43,560 sq.ft/Ac = 6.06 acres

used 300 gallons to spray...

300 gallons / 6.06 acres = 49.5 gpa (gallons per acre)