Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer

   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #1  

Barneyhunts

Gold Member
Joined
Mar 4, 2007
Messages
373
Location
Dimock, Pa.
Tractor
Kubota L4240 Kubota B7800, Kubota BX2200
I'm thinking of buying a 55 gal plastic drum type sprayer assy. (from Tractor Supply). Is it possible to clean it well enough between uses to use it for both herbacides(Roundup) and pesticides? It is a Three point hitch type of assembly with a PTO driven pump.
Thanks.
 
   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #2  
Yes it is possible. It is done all the time in commercial ag use, if it wasn't possible every farm service would have to have a different sprayer rig for each type of herbacide and insecticide.
Wash it out with water in your gravel driveay, or somewhere you might want to kill all the grass.
 
   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #3  
Rightly or wrongly, I have been using the same sprayer for herbicides of several different flavors and lots of different fertilizers and soil amendments. Haven't seen any ill effects yet. I usually run three tanks of water through the sprayer after each application. Had one particularly potent herbicide that recommended a neutralizer to be used in cleaning. I am trying to avoid pesticides, but then, I am not growing anything for profit.
 
   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #4  
I have a pesticide license. I will say that herbicides and insecticides are both pesticides. It is a good rule not to share sprayers with certain chemicals. I have a tank for non-selective herbicides (Round-up), and another tank for selective herbicides. Try washing your tank out and then smell the inside...garaunteed you can still smell the stuff in there. I have another tank for insecticides. I have used my 3pt hitch PTO powered 55 gal sprayer for every chemical listed above with no damage, I just wanted to stress that there will always be some residue left behind.
 
   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #5  
I try to avoid it but it's not always possible. I tend to use the 55 gallon, 3-pt sprayer for insecticides and the 25 gallon, 12volt, towed boom sprayer for herbicides. When spraying the pasture I sometimes use the 55 gallon, 3-pt for herbicides just for ease and speed but I wash it out immediately after use and run cleaning solution from TSC through it. Nothing bad has happened yet but it's something I like to avoided if at all possible. Don't let chemicals sit in the tank overnight or for any length of time, wash it out thoroughly immediately after every use and it should be OK.
 
   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #6  
If you are going to do any amount of spraying you will want to be certified. I can not speak for all the other states but I know you need to have a license to even buy a lot of the pesticides on the market today. There is a lot of liabilty involved with spraying any pesticide so the more you know to protect yourself, other people and the enviroment the better. The test here in NY cost $50 for DEC's exam and $55 for the manuals. Also, your local ag office should know your laws for spraying pesticides and also might offer a class. My office offers a class a couple times a year and is well worth taking if you are new to spraying or even think you want to use pesticides.

As for cleaning the tank, there are different methods to use but they depend on what type of pesticides you have used.
 
   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #7  
I'm certified with a pesticide license... but it's only a piece of paper. I wouldn't worry too much going from Insecticide to Herbicide but after herbicide, you'll want to clean it real good. Farmers down here in NC that grow cotton and corn, usually have two sprayers. Cotton plants will loss yield to micro amounts of 2,4D.

Learn to calibrate!
 
   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #8  
Certification is more then just a piece of paper. It means you actually understand the risk involved with spraying as well as the proper and safe way to do things. Anyone who has any thoughts of using a sprayer to spray chemicals should at least look to their local ag department and take a short class to learn the do's and don'ts of pesticide use. I am sure you know the dangers associated with spraying and the liabilty if you destroy your neighbors crop. Around here I have to be real careful with what I use to spray with as this is a large grape area and some of these sprays can not be used within a mile of the vineyards without terrible results.
 
   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #9  
We have an olive farm as well as 125 almond trees so we spay quite frequently. we use jsut the one sprayer but my hsuband is religious about cleaning it completely after spraying. He fills the tank full 3 times and empties. Plus we ahve a really powerfull water supply that pipe must be 2" and it comes out very forcefully, so he gets it in there and really washes off the sides etc. We do it all the time...
 
   / Herbacides & pesticides in a sprayer #10  
Sorry about the "just a piece of paper" comment, just that I've seen VERY well educated people do very stupid things with chemicals and also, people not certified doing a great job. Yes, you should know how to spray properly (most problems I see are people not calibrating and calculating how much to spray).

Roundup is pretty easy to clean out of a tank, you should read what NC State recomendation for cleaning 2,4-D out of your sprayer.

http://ipm.ncsu.edu/Production_Guides/Cotton/07Cotton-ch-14.pdf
 

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