GPS, Duct Tape, and .25 MPH

[Panache]

What kind of sprayer are you using? I have an ATV sprayer - 15 Gal 45 psi 1.8 gal/min. I use two nozzles for 10' width. It sprays 7 gal/acre at 5 mph. I have used it with Eraser (generic Roundup) and Arsenal.

 

[ADin]

I think your best bet is to get your boom built; pretty straightforward after a visit to Tractor Supply or equivalent and much more accurate. What is the flow rate of you pump -- is it a limitation? I have the same tank (under different brand), and possibly a slightly bigger pump driving 3 or 4 nozzles. While rigging up the boom I would highly suggest building a hookup to attach directly to your hitch giving much better control and manuverability. I have a 335 which I made a quick hook up (takes about 30 seconds) for and the sprayer is now very close to the back of the tractor. With better spray control, you can then play with mixture and/or multiple passes at higher speed to achieve desired results.

BTW - As I think someone else mentioned, there is "generic brand" Roundup (identical active chemical) which you can buy in bulk. Your local farm coop is good place to start -- mine carries 2.5 gal 42% concentrate at significantly lower cost than Roundup. About 1 quart/acre depending upon what your trying to knock down.

Good luck...

 

[Argonne]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( What kind of sprayer are you using? )</font>

Similar to yours. It's a 25 gallon with a 1.8GPM pump, but a single wand. The master plan (which could change at any moment) is to mount the sprayer on a hitch receiver cargo platform like THIS (I can get them cheaper), and plug the whole thing into my Bad River 3-Pt Receiver Adapter and then mount a single boom off one side of the carrier for 5 foot wide coverage starting 1 foot to the side of the tractor (I have my crop in 11 foot wide beds with 4 foot aisles). I'm only doing a half acre, so two passes for each bed is no real hardship, and I'm sure this cheap sprayer will deliver enough for a 5 foot swath. Once I have a few nozzles going I'll be able to crank up the ground speed.

The best thing is, I don't need to do any more spraying till spring, so I have months to refine my plans.

 

[ADin]

Mine's branded "Scorpion" and I just caught where yours is the 25g versus mine which is 15g. It looks like there are actually very few truly different 15 and 25 gallon tanks (probably all made by one or two companies). Sounds like you got the right plan thought out and given you will be lugging ~200lb loaded, spending <$150 for dependable, ready made solution for the carrier is the good choice.

BTW - I vaguely remember seeing a catalog where you could buy all the various individual sprayer accessories, including a 5' offset boom for not much money. Might have been New Harbor Feight. If cheap enough a larger folding boom might also work whereby you keep one side capped off and/or cut off/folded in. The side benefit is you can then fold in your offset boom side for easy storage. Incremental cost wasn't that much more.

Finally, being able to use the 3pt to raise/lower a bit will allow you to adjust spray pattern to get more width out of a 5' spray boom.

 

[Panache]

If you use a sprayer systems TK 02 nozzle on a boom 5' from the side of the tractor you can cover the full 10' in one pass. The tips are about $10 for a TK, the nozzle body should be about $2 and the body to pole adapter about $3. Use the adapter for round pipe on a dry boom. Using round pipe allows the angle of the spray to be changed. I used 3/8 hose. Tee-Jet aslo makes an offset nozzle with about a 5-6' range to one side. I use these to spray the sides of my roads with out spraying the road itself.

 

[HomeBrew2]

Very clever idea !!! I found that my little Garmin eTrex Vista reads to 1/10 mph. Thanks for the tip!
Cheers!

 

[Argonne]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( I found that my little Garmin eTrex Vista reads to 1/10 mph. )</font>

There's the information I was hoping for! eTrex Vista. I'll have to get one.

Thanks everyone for all the good sprayer advice. I'll post some pics when the beast is built.