Buying Advice Need a recommendation on a 3PH Sprayer

[Atlanta Panther]

I'm tired of waiting on Southern States to come kill my weeds. Now that I have a new L3200, I decided to go take the applicator's' test and spray my own Grazon P+D (we have horses) - so I need a sprayer...

I would like to get one that runs off the PTO. I understand that the electrical ones can be finicky and I am not the most mechanically inclined to do maintenance on one. I'd like to get one that will have a boom that will cover spray maybe 10 to 20 feet as well as a spray gun to use on the fence line.

Not sure how big a tank I need. I have about 11 acres split into roughly four equal pastures. I guess I would probably spray mainly weed killer although perhaps at some point I might want to put some fertilizer out there to encourage the Bermuda pasture I want.

I'd like to stay under $1000. Is this possible?

Appreciate everyone's thoughts.

:confused3:

 

[Creamer]

I have a little Fimco that I purchased at TSC that works very well. It has a 12' boom so I can spray about 15' per pass. Since you can spray at 10 mph it will cover 11 acres very quickly. it has a large enough tank to hold enough to do half of that area. It is also very simple and you can put any type of nozzle on you want although the ones that came with it work fine for me.

I mated it with a small PTO mounted roller vane pump so for about $360 I have a sweet little system. For about $50 more you can get a wand if you want to do spot application from your tractor.

The 3 PH let's you set the height of your nozzles from what you are spraying.

It is also very easy to clean out. Just run it dry and then put some water in it and pump it through the system. Take the hoses off the PTO Pump and they drain out.

 

[Atlanta Panther]

I see this one...

Fimco 3 Point Hitch Mounted Sprayer with 6 Roller, 60 gal., LG-60-3PT-WP-309-TSC - Tractor Supply Online Store

Is this what you got?

 

[Creamer]

Basically. This is a newer model with the wand but it is the same basic thing. There are a number of these type of sprayers that I have seen and they are basically the same. Where you have a tank and the pump pulls from the bottom of the tank and the pumps to the nozzles with the over pressure relief back into the tank. Manual swing out booms that are spring loaded in case you do bump something. very simple and do a nice job.

The one thing I would recommend is that you put bumpers on the folding arms so that the nozzles do not hit when they fold in because if they fold in fast and impact it breaks nozzles. Any kind of bumper will work - a rubber cork is what i used. The placement to keep the nozzles from hitting is the key. What happened to me is that I went through a ditch and one end bumped the ground enough to get it to swing back and it hit nozzle to bar.

 

[kuboman]

I got myself a Hardi, it has 50 gal tank 14ft booms, spray wand and a pto driven sprayer mounted pump. It cost more than most but I considered it to be double the quality of most others and expect it will last as long as me.

 

[Creamer]

I got myself a Hardi, it has 50 gal tank 14ft booms, spray wand and a pto driven sprayer mounted pump. It cost more than most but I considered it to be double the quality of most others and expect it will last as long as me.

Why do you say double the quality? Is the tank thicker? the hoses made of different rubber or plastic? The nozzles bigger? I have had mine for 12 years now and have not had an issue with other than a busted nozzle due to impact. It looks like new.

A 50 gallon tank is rather small.

 

[kuboman]

Why do you say double the quality? Is the tank thicker? the hoses made of different rubber or plastic? The nozzles bigger? I have had mine for 12 years now and have not had an issue with other than a busted nozzle due to impact. It looks like new.

A 50 gallon tank is rather small.

Just seemed to have better build quality than the others I looked at. 50gal too small? That depends on how much you need to spray and what tractor your using.

 

[Atlanta Panther]

This Fimco looks pretty good and is in my price range.

However, I notice that Tractor Supply has several kinds of pumps - 4, 6, 8 rollers - What does this mean and what would I need for my situation?

Also some are on a torque arm and some are not? What's that mean? What would I need?

Finally, I see cast iron, Ni-Resist, and Silver series pumps. In other pumps I have seen "RoundUp ready". I gather that Roundup can be an abrasive/caustic that will eat up a regular pump. Am I correct on that? If so, since I will at some point spray roundup/generic, should that point me to a different material, i.e., the NI-Resist compared to a regular Cast-Iron?

Thanks so much for helping out the Rookie!

 

[kuboman]

The more rollers the more and constant pressure you can maintain. The torque arm keeps the pump from rotating otherwise it will have a chain.

 

[tom4018]

I am also looking at one, thought about this one: Fimco 3 Point Hitch Mounted Sprayer with 6 Roller, 60 gal., LG-60-3PT-WP-309-BL-TSC - Tractor Supply Online Store

Does the folding boom do a better job?

 

[Creamer]

I prefer the folding boom because you cover a much wider strip and you can reach under overhanging tree branches and things without driving under them to spray tings that like shade such as Poison Ivy. You also can control the application much better if you get into specific herbicides as you can direct the nozzles.

 

[Creamer]

The more rollers the more and constant pressure you can maintain. The torque arm keeps the pump from rotating otherwise it will have a chain.

Agree totally except that I attached a wood block to the top of my pump that has a bolt sticking out of it that fits into a notch in PTO shield to react the torque. This means I just slide the pump on and make sure it is rotated correctly for the notch to line up - just easier than a torque arm or chain.

As far as pumps I would not worry about the type of pump much as long as you can get enough pressure - the 4 roller may be a little light. For what you are spraying you will not be using the pump enough to really have life affected by the chemicals. The biggest thing is to be sure and coat your pump with a little oil when you are done, i.e. drain it, let it dry, and then pour a little oil in the inlet and turn it by hand a few revolutions to spread the oil - otherwise you will get rust of a stuck pump. You do not have to worry about cleaning the oil out before you use it again since it is jsut a half teaspoon or so you will never know it was there.

 

[JimRB]

I have a 50 gallon sprayer. I mix a gallon of the generic Graze On TSC carries with a pint of surfactant. I can do about 4-5 acres with that mix. My tractor I used gear 7 of 9 which is less than 6 mph according to my tractor owners manual. Once we got our weeds under control we spray ever 4-6 years preferably in early June. Spot spray in between.

Note that many pumps say oil after use. That is oil bearings if you have oil ports before use but make sure you oil the pump after use otherwise there is a good chance it might seize. Quite annoying when you want to use the sprayer 5 years later.

By the way there are sprayer calibration cups that help you figure out ground speed and tractor RPMs. Look over at Teejet for more info. TeeJet - Welcome to TeeJet.com

 

[wngsprd]

I've been happy with my Fimco - it's 7 years old, has a 55 gal plastic tank, 12 ft boom and wand. Have had no problems except a slow drip on one of the hose connections - easy fix.

I got the "Silver" series Hypro pump (6 rollers) since I planned to use glyphosate and this pump was "Round-up ready." I rigged up my own torque arm and chains for the pump - pretty simple. I've had no problem with the pump. But, I make sure I never run it all the way dry since that voids the warranty and will wear the rollers.

When I've completed the job, I remove the pump from the spray tank hoses (two simple hose clamps) after I finish washing it out with clean water...then pour a little 50/50 anti-freeze into the pump as recommended in the manual to prevent gumming/corrosion.

This set up delivers a nice even spread, and the nozzles have never clogged, but they are easy to remove and clean. Once I've sprayed the fields, I ride around spot spraying poison ivy, etc. with the wand. I'd definitely recommend getting the wand if you have spot spraying. Good luck!

 

[Retired Iron Peddler]

I have a Continental-Belton 3-point spray rig with a 100 gallon tank, PTO driven C-B gear pump (I don't like roller pumps), and folding booms with Tee-Jet nozzles that cover 21 feet. Also, I have foam markers to keep from leaving gaps or excessive overlaps which wastes expensive herbicides. The pump is rigidly mounded to the sprayer frame and uses a PTO shaft to connect to my tractor. I calibrate the sprayer each time I use it in order to accurately apply herbicides. Fortunately my L3830 has a digital speedometer which makes it easy to calibrate and travel at 4-mph. I spray to control certain weeds and to eliminate Bahia grass in my Bermuda grass pasture/hay fields. I spray Roundup and a pre-emerge in the early spring while the Bermuda grass is still dormant to eliminate rye grass and winter weeds and to prevent late spring weeds.

Bill

 

[lawn_king]

I have a demco with a hypro 6 spline roller pump. Its been a great unit. I purchased it many years ago, cant recall what i paid for it but i think its in your ballpark.