Building boom sprayer w/foam marker

[TMAC]

Nice work Mike. Keep it up. I'll be interested in seeing the finished product.

 

[PineRidge]

Here's how we modified the Jerry Cans to be used as foam generators.

First I visited a local hobby shop and picked up 2 packs of Du-Bro fuel can cap fittings. Next I drilled a hole within an inch from the original spout. This hole placement is somewhat important because you need to be able to reach it to insert the threaded fuel line coupler once the hole has been drilled. Use a bit of RTV silicone sealant around the hole to seal against an air leak before you snug the brass jam nut down.

Next I visited WalMart and picked up two 9 inch aquarium air-stones. I connected an air stone to a piece of tubing (also picked up at WalMart) I used a few ties to fasten a couple of stainless steel bolts to the air-stone to keep it weighted to the bottom of the Jerry Can. The tricky part was to use a hemostat through the original opening of the Jerry Can to place the tubing over the bottom side of the fuel line coupler.

Then it was a simple matter of dropping the air-stone into the Jerry Can. Add tubing of sufficient size to go on the original spout of the Jerry Can which will be routed to the end of the boom for the foam drop.

The Jerry Can is filled with water, the soap solution is added, ( I used an ounce of concentrate per 5 gallons of water in my tests). When 2 psi of air pressure is added to the aquarium line the foam is produced in large quantities. Play with the air pressure for varying results and consistencies of foam.

NOTE: Since I'm going with two Jerry Cans, one for each side of the boom which is why I purchased 2 of everything. You may want to just use a Y connector and split the foam from one generator to both sides of the boom. I don't know how this would work since I haven't tried it myself. If you do decide to try it I might suggest keeping both lengths of tube to each boom tip the same length so one side doesn't get more foam than the other side.

 

[PineRidge]

Woohoo! a five star rating, somebody likes this thread. Thanks for the vote guys...

 

[PineRidge]

We were originally thinking of putting the works in the toolbox of the TC-40D. But after thinking about it for a bit decided to house it in a small Playmate cooler that we had hanging around in the pole barn and keep the tool-box for what it was intended for.

Here you can see the compressor, twin 12 vdc air solenoids, air balance/purge valve, solid state timer, and power relay mounted with room to spare.

By using the cooler to house the works the only thing that will be changed on the tractor itself is the addition of two extra switches so the installation should be clean looking.

 

[PineRidge]

Here we loosely mounted the main components on the Carry All to check for fit. You can't see them in the picture but the 2 Jerry Cans and the cooler with the compressor fit comfortably in front of the 65 gallon poly tank. The majority of the TeeJet boom parts are on order and I should see them Tues. of this coming week.

 

[texasjohn]

Ya know, I think you are actually going to get this project working It's really looking like a sprayer already! I like the use of the cooler... should help with weather proofing. Keep it comming! I can see one of these in my future!

 

[PineRidge]

Today I started making the 2 boom extensions. Boom extensions are necessary for the foam marker (see picture) to place foam in the correct position. Since the end nozzles will spray herbicides beyond the boom tip that means the foam will need to be dropped on the outer spray pattern perimeter.

I'm driving 3/4 copper water pipe into the end of a 1 inch square tube to shape the copper to fit the end of the boom. Then when the extensions are inserted into both ends of the boom I can drop in a pin to lock it in place while spraying. After the job is done the pins will be removed, the extensions pulled out of the ends of the boom, and the boom can be collapsed for storage.

I also put two 5" fixed casters and two swivel castor's on the bottom of the spray rig so it can easily be moved to the tractor for hook-up.

We added a wind up reel that will eventually hold 100' of hose for the wand and a length of PVC to park the wand in when not in use so it's not flopping around on the platform.

 

[7864]

Nice work! Your hinges don`t appear to be double acting.Are double acting hinges hard to build or hard to spring correctly?Are they necessary?where did you purchase your tank? What size is it(55g)?was it fairly economical? Thanks for sharing your build with us. It will help me out a lot!

 

[PineRidge]

All the booms that I have seen hinge toward the back in case you hit an immovable object, I'm not sure a double hinge might ever be needed.

The tank is a 65 gallon model and came from TSC.

For a guy that already owns a sprayer I'm confident that this will turn out to be rather inexpensive way to add a foam marker to his existing equipment.

As far as the boom sprayer itself, the units offered at TSC are pretty good deals considering what I have in the spray rig at this time. I think my wife is counting all the trips that I've made to TSC for pieces and parts for this project (god bless her little heart. )

 

[TBDonnelly]

As far as the boom sprayer itself, the units offered at TSC are pretty good deals considering what I have in the spray rig at this time. I think my wife is counting all the trips that I've made to TSC for pieces and parts for this project (god bless her little heart. )


Mike,

For the next go around maybe consider buying a complete spray rig and then transfer all of the parts to your frame. One trip shopping.


Seriously, great project and documentation.

Don