Custom Sprayer

[bostonrats]

Hello to all,

Here is my version of a custom PTO driven sprayer. Most parts are from TSC or Home Depot. The pump is a hypro 6500XL, TSC 2111815. It will drive the system to 300 PSI. The pressure valve is TCS 2106705. It's set to dump liquid back into the tank over it's setpoint. It doubles as an agitator as the system pulls from the botton and dumps on the top.

The high pressure hose is TSC 1819606 and TSC 1819999. These are 1/2" and 3500 PSI rated, rugged and overkill. Pump to manifold is 5', manifold to spay wand is 10'. This could be a bit smaller in diameter if you like.

The low pressure, intake side is Home Depot 3/4 to 1" vinyl hose.

The pump is mounted on a small piece of channel, a spring on the right side as a torque arrestor. The spring is TSC, I think it's sold as gate or fence hardware. You could use solid chain, there is very little shock when put into gear, also very little rotational force.

The intake pipe is 1/2" PVC from Home Depot with an angle cut at the tip to allow flow without suction to the tank bottom.

The tank is on a TSC carry all, that doubles as ballast holder in when needed. TSC 2128210.

They spray wand is TSC 2107044. This was a problem at first, it's rated at 8 GPM. 800 PSI. Not enough flow at 200 PSI. I took off the aluminum tip and drilled it out about 5 or 10 thousandths. If you do so, be sure to keep the new orifice size under the edge chamfer to allow for spray. If you go bigger I would guess the hole would not spry well if squared and would need a new chamfer inside and out. I could be wrong on this, have not done too much with nozzles.

That's it. The total cose is about $200 to $250 without the carry all. It will spray about 20 feet and is great for my semi dwarf apple trees and general spraying.

Best to all.

 

[Berniep]

Good job.
I like how the whole top can come off to clean it out.

 

[Bill Barrett]

Is that the high dollar Roundup ready pump?

 

[bostonrats]

Good job.
I like how the whole top can come off to clean it out.

Thanks Berniep. I wasn't sure if I wanted a sealed barrel or ring top, glad I went this way. I shot roundup and really wanted to get it all out, pulled off the top and used some detergent on a brush to rinse.

 

[bostonrats]

Is that the high dollar Roundup ready pump?

Hi Bill,

Yes, it is Roundup Ready. They shipped me the Silver series but charged me for the standard blue. I'm not so sure you couldn't shoot roundup in the blue, especially if you flushed it afterwards. I did find a huge spread on prices for these pumps, one really needs to shop for the best deal. Ebay has the Silver very cheap right now. I use Imidan on the apple trees, a wetable powder. That's the main use for this sprayer, 19 apple trees.

Best to you

 

[RonMar]

440# of liquid plus the weight of the barrel, carryall and plumbing looks like a lot of weight out on the back of that CUT. Pretty slick setup though, I like the removabale top barrel, that is a good idea.

 

[Berniep]

Just curious. Some of the suff I put in my sprayer makes a lot of foam. Do you get a lot of foam with your return going into the top like that?

 

[bostonrats]

Hi Berniep,

Foam? I get foam like Lucy and Ethyl on a bad day doing laundry. I don't have a problem though since my intake pipe is right on the bottom of the barrel, I cut a chunk out to keep be sure it pulls liquid instead the barrel. it's a about 1/2" up and at a 45 degree angle. When I'm done I pull the tie downs off, pull off the lid and send a huge river of foam down my driveway. It's mostly air and I don't want grass where it goes anyway!

I was wondering about an anti foam agent but since it doesn't create a spray problem I'll just live with it. The foam was with Round Up, have not shot Imidian yet. To me it's a small issue compared with a greater potential problem with poor agitation. My old sprayer was a plastic 33 gal trash can with lid hooked to a 6 hp gas driven power washer. I fed the hose input from the bucket and it worked fine for years. It shoots pretty much just like when hooked to a garden hose. To agitate I used an air caddie stapped to the rig and weighted a hose to the bottom. A slow air leak made bubbles that kept it all mixed well. I had to hope I didn't run out of air. I had also used a 12 volt RV water pump in the past.

This set up is best so far, agitates and allows me to put down more liquid in less time. It was cheap and pretty easy to build. One thing to note, the fittings need to be tight even when testing. You will be surprised how much pressure the pump makes. I wish it would shoot more than 20 feet, maybe a new nozzle at some point will get me more distance.

Best to all of you, I swear if we had more farmers and the like our country would be far better off. One farmer is worth 100 Detroit engineers, the kind of engineers that can't figure out how to reverse a ratchet but design our crappy cars.

Just curious. Some of the suff I put in my sprayer makes a lot of foam. Do you get a lot of foam with your return going into the top like that?

 

[Berniep]

Hi Berniep,



I was wondering about an anti foam agent but since it doesn't create a spray problem I'll just live with it. The foam was with Round Up, have not shot Imidian yet. To me it's a small issue compared with a greater potential problem with poor agitation.

This set up is best so far, agitates and allows me to put down more liquid in less time. I


. I wish it would shoot more than 20 feet, maybe a new nozzle at some point will get me more distance.

.

Well the onlty problem with that is it can affect the mix, If your chemical is tied up making foam then it's not in the mix. Probably not enough to notice with roundup though.

I think if you put an extension tube on it you would find that you would still have plenty of agitation, I bet it would still look like a jacuzzi in there or even put a "J" on the bottom to direct the flow upward. Most ag sprayers I have seen have the return line going into the bottom to stir the fluid at the bottom where particulates would settle. But as long as it works I say you have a great sprayer.

You should definitely get more than 20 feet out of you wand. I get 30 or more out of my little 2gpm electric pump. What is the pressure when the wand is spraying. You might have an obstruction in there somewhere.

 

[bostonrats]

Hi Berniep,

Thanks for the note. I'm not so sure that there would be a higher concentration of chemical in the foam than in the tank itself.

On the exention agitator tube, I've seen designs where they branch off the main output before the gun and relief valve. I didn't know how much I would have to spare so I opted for the over pressure to do the agitation.

On the spray gun, I guess I'm at 20 feet, I didn't measure it. I can get a bit more if I push to 300 PSI but run about 200 to 250 to keep the system under less stress. I have noticed that even when my trigger is fully pulled I still have plenty of pressure and am dumping back into the tank. That tells me I can go with a bigger nozzle....which I might experiment with.

In the end it's a pretty easy and cheap project. I hope some other folks are helped by the photos and make thier own similar spot sprayers.

PS Anyone out there with a better spray gun that give more distance?

Well the onlty problem with that is it can affect the mix, If your chemical is tied up making foam then it's not in the mix. Probably not enough to notice with roundup though.

I think if you put an extension tube on it you would find that you would still have plenty of agitation, I bet it would still look like a jacuzzi in there or even put a "J" on the bottom to direct the flow upward. Most ag sprayers I have seen have the return line going into the bottom to stir the fluid at the bottom where particulates would settle. But as long as it works I say you have a great sprayer.

You should definitely get more than 20 feet out of you wand. I get 30 or more out of my little 2gpm electric pump. What is the pressure when the wand is spraying. You might have an obstruction in there somewhere.

 

[Berniep]

Hi Berniep,

Thanks for the note. I'm not so sure that there would be a higher concentration of chemical in the foam than in the tank itself.





In the end it's a pretty easy and cheap project. I hope some other folks are helped by the photos and make thier own similar spot sprayers.

PS Anyone out there with a better spray gun that give more distance?

I just meant that if its making foam then it's not in the fluid that you are spraying. Like I said probably not enough to make much difference. I don't know the chemical makeup of roundup but I would guess there is a detergent to cut the waxy coating on plant leaves and this is what makes the foam.

I would think you would need to go smaller nozzle in your wand to get more distance. Constrict the flow, raise the speed of the fluid. ya know that Bernouli guy?
Anyway it's a great sprayer and I will use your design to build a brush sprayer of my own, probably get it done about the first snow fall

 

[mjncad]

I should have built my own sprayer; but I bought a FIMCO 55-gallon unit that fits on my 3PH.

Although I can't complain about the fabrication quality of the unit; making it quick-hitch compatible, and some other convenience features makes me feel like I'm trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

One of these day's I'll document what I've done to it, and I have more to do as I learn what it can and can't do.

I'm going to get some defoaming agent for the next batch of Pro-Deuce I run through mine to kill weeds. It foamed up big time, and the agitation comes via the return to tank line entering the tank bottom.

Off on a slight tangent; does anyone know if using water with too high a salt content reduces the effectiveness of weed killers? Last year I used Ortho's Triox or whatever they call it, and it didn't seem to be as effective as I would have liked. The same for the Pro-Deuce this year and I am mixing the stuff per instructions.

 

[djw250]

Off on a slight tangent; does anyone know if using water with too high a salt content reduces the effectiveness of weed killers? Last year I used Ortho's Triox or whatever they call it, and it didn't seem to be as effective as I would have liked. The same for the Pro-Deuce this year and I am mixing the stuff per instructions.

The water quality can affect weed killers and other chemicals. High pH, dissolved minerals, suspended sediment, and organic material can all reduce effectiveness. There's a table listing some of this at Farm Chemical Spraying and Mixing Water Quality

 

[mjncad]

The water quality can affect weed killers and other chemicals. High pH, dissolved minerals, suspended sediment, and organic material can all reduce effectiveness. There's a table listing some of this at Farm Chemical Spraying and Mixing Water Quality

Thanks for the link as Pro-Deuce and Triox both contain glyphosate, and I'm not getting the burn down I would expect. Where I live, our water department has a two-pipe system that provides potable water consisting of a blend of deep well water that is high in salt content with surface water that is ultimately treated by a reverse osmosis system. Even with this blend our potable water is quite salty. I have been using potable water to mix the herbicides.

The other pipe provides untreated water for landscape irrigation. The water department filters out the big chunks so to speak, and I have a strainer on that system to catch what the water department misses. I'm going to try the irrigation water with the herbicide instead to see if there is a difference.

 

[bostonrats]

I just meant that if its making foam then it's not in the fluid that you are spraying. Like I said probably not enough to make much difference. I don't know the chemical makeup of roundup but I would guess there is a detergent to cut the waxy coating on plant leaves and this is what makes the foam.

I would think you would need to go smaller nozzle in your wand to get more distance. Constrict the flow, raise the speed of the fluid. ya know that Bernouli guy?
Anyway it's a great sprayer and I will use your design to build a brush sprayer of my own, probably get it done about the first snow fall

Hi Berneip!

I think there is a surfactant built into Roundup. I have a seperate spreader / sticker for other stuff I use. But back to "foam physices" My guess is that just like beer, the foam is just puffy Roundup. I don't think there is a greater concentration of chemicals in the foam, just less of the same mix in the barrel. If you pull the head off a beer it turns back into the same beer it came from. Right?

On the nozzle, I'm not so sure there isn't more going on here. If it was just the Bernoulli principal, a faster stream should go father...but we know a pinhole will not make a stream that goes 100 yards. I think that the distance is related to the volume of fluid out the nozzle, that the weight of the fluid has to overcome the air resistance. Again, I've only done a tiny bit of research on nozzles but I thought I read somewhere that the volume is a big part of distance...that's why I drilled my tip out. My question is of nozzle shape. Is there a mfg that has a killer spot nozzle design? I've noticed that the old stainless steel water fire extinguishers had nozzles that seemed to shoot forever. I don't know if it's a taper, proper match, exit curve..or what but that's the kind of shooting I want.

I hope you get to building one too! It's a great tool. On the snow...my next project is to motorize my Kubota 60" snow blower attachment. There is NO WAY I'm going to pull my loader and frame off every spring and back on in the fall to use the designed front PTO. I'm set to put an 18 hp horizontal shaft motor on the blower with a fuel tank. I'll use the original electric clutch and pin the "skid" blower into my bucket. It will be easy in and out to allow me to use my bucket during the winter. Lots of power to shoot snow to the moon, suck in mailboxes etc...and no backing up. I'll post the entire project when I build it.

Best to you and all the good folks in Indiana!

 

[TwinWillows]

MJNCAD - About your question on salty water affecting the chemical action -

I do know that if the PH of the solution is too low the effectiveness of roundup is diminished. I don't have salty water but do add Ammonium Sulfate (AKA AMS) which raises the PH & seems to help. I also add a defoamer & sometimes dish soap as a surfactant to improve the "stick" on slick weeds/grasses. YMMV

 

[Berniep]

Hi Berneip!

I think there is a surfactant built into Roundup. I have a seperate spreader / sticker for other stuff I use. But back to "foam physices" My guess is that just like beer, the foam is just puffy Roundup. I don't think there is a greater concentration of chemicals in the foam, just less of the same mix in the barrel. If you pull the head off a beer it turns back into the same beer it came from. Right?

On the nozzle, I'm not so sure there isn't more going on here. If it was just the Bernoulli principal, a faster stream should go father...but we know a pinhole will not make a stream that goes 100 yards. I think that the distance is related to the volume of fluid out the nozzle, that the weight of the fluid has to overcome the air resistance. Again, I've only done a tiny bit of research on nozzles but I thought I read somewhere that the volume is a big part of distance...that's why I drilled my tip out. My question is of nozzle shape. Is there a mfg that has a killer spot nozzle design? I've noticed that the old stainless steel water fire extinguishers had nozzles that seemed to shoot forever. I don't know if it's a taper, proper match, exit curve..or what but that's the kind of shooting I want.

I hope you get to building one too! It's a great tool. On the snow...my next project is to motorize my Kubota 60" snow blower attachment. There is NO WAY I'm going to pull my loader and frame off every spring and back on in the fall to use the designed front PTO. I'm set to put an 18 hp horizontal shaft motor on the blower with a fuel tank. I'll use the original electric clutch and pin the "skid" blower into my bucket. It will be easy in and out to allow me to use my bucket during the winter. Lots of power to shoot snow to the moon, suck in mailboxes etc...and no backing up. I'll post the entire project when I build it.

Best to you and all the good folks in Indiana!

Good point. I don't know the concentration of the chemical in the foam.

On the nozzle.
With the pressure and volume you have available you should be able to put out house fires with that thing. I think you should be able to get 50 feet out of it easily. Something is not right.

Good idea on the snow blower. I look forward to seeing your project