Sprayer Should I get this sprayer?

[madpogue]

Tractor: JD 790 MFWD, ag tires

We need to spray about 3 acres (give or take) with (eeeek!) Stinger, to kill a colony of crown vetch and keep it out of the rest of our prairie reconstruction. I notice TSC has a couple of trailer sprayers like this one. I presume, looking at the hitch on this, that I can slide out the belly drawbar on the 790 and attach this to it, using a clevis pin and clip, or linch pin; is that right?

To minimize drift, we were told to:
* add a drift control agent to the mix
* spray at a minimum of 10 gal/acre
* set nozzles for a coarse spray, large droplets
* set the boom / nozzle height as low as possible

So we're lookin' at about 30 gallons to do the job. But I wonder if we should go with the 30-gal unit or the 15-gal, in case the area is smaller than I thought (I haven't walked it off with the GPS just yet). We have NO water on the property; closest tap is our neighbor about 1/2 mile down the road.

I've read some threads about these 12V sprayers in general, and got the expected panoply of replies to "they're great" to "they s@ck". I guess it's like anything semi-mass-produced for a retailer like TSC; you might find high quality or you might find cheapo stuff.

I guess the big Q is, is this appropriate to tow behind the 790 with the swinging drawbar?

Other q's
- Can sprayer nozzles typically be adjusted to a coarse spray? Perhaps I should look for an appropriate set of TeeJet nozzles; there's another Agri-center type store in town down the road from TSC. The folks at TSC didn't seem to know anything about the nozzles included with the machine.
- I took that "time to mow" spreadsheet recently posted, and tweaked it for sprayer use. Similar inputs: mower width replaced with boom width, zero inefficiency (gonna shut it off on the turnarounds). Then factored in 10 gal/acre saturation, and of course 60 min/hour, it now calculates gal/min flow rate based on boom width and speed. Is my logic for this sound?
- Using that calculation, just as an example, with an 8-foot spray, at 2 MPH, it calculates I should be running the pump at 0.32 (about 1/3) gallon/min. Can a sprayer like this be controlled to deliver that low a rate?
- Any "gotchas" to towing a swinging trailer in a field? I presume it's about like towing a trailer with a car. But of course, that's quite different from a 3PH implement like a mower. If I have to reverse, is there risk of jackknifing? I presume I should have a safety chain; anybody know if the sprayer comes with one?

TIA for any help.

 

[radman1]

As you are aware, many opinions about smaller sprayers. I think they work fairly good. The sprayer you are looking at is a good choice but I would skip the trailer. Those trailers have relatively small wheels and work best on lawn type grass. I use a 25 gal sprayer with a small boom on the back of my atv. You might try rigging something to just set the sprayer on the back of your 3 pt and forget the trailer. Will be cheaper too. Can also use it for taller grass/weeds with out the trailer. Wheels also get flats easy.
As far as trying to determine spray rate, it is kind of an educated guess with those sprayers. I cover about 3 acres with my 25 gal sprayer and my boom covers about 10 feet. (Some will spray up to 30'). I probably spray about 2-2.5mph. With a little practice, you can get pretty good at determining speed needed based on how much spray remains in the tank and how much you have covered. Sprayers with booms tend to have larger pumps with more gal/min. Best way to control drift is to spray on a windless day. Spray by hand if near sensitive plants instead of using boom. I can easily flip a valve to spray with wand or rear boom.
Wash out pump/tank/hoses when done. I run RV antifreeze through pump/hoses in winter to protect from freezing. I have used my for 3 years and average about 1-2 uses per month.

 

[bigdad]

I would avoid the trailer job. Tipping, tires and something that you have to back up with. If you have limited access to water, go with the biggest one you can get on a 3 point carryall. As far as speeds, ratios, spray tips, rates, etc. The artillery guys call it "Fire for Effect". Only my experiences. Once you find the mark....write it down.

 

[WayneB]

I have a 30 gallon trailer sprayer and like some have said the tires are really small and the tung is setup for use with a garden type tractor. This makes it difficult to hook up behind my tractor! So I would suggest that you look for a sprayer that is 3 pt hitch mounted.

 

[Farmwithjunk]

Size of "droplets" from nozzles are determined by (a) nozzle size and (b) operating pressure. That pressure, along with ground speed will determine volume "per acre". The higher the operating pressure, the more likely you are to get "wind drift". It's a balancing act.

It's essential to spray ANY chemicals in proper conditions. That means, among other things, NO WIND. That is the first and most important factor in controlling drift.

Height of spray boom is determined also by nozzles. They have a spray pattern. Boom height is determined by need. Pattern from nozzles need to overlap ever so slightly for even coverage. That is adjusted by boom height. Setting height higher or lower will adversly effect coverage by altering spray pattern. There are multitudes of nozzle types available that have a variety of spray patterns. That will allow some flexability as to boom height.

You SHOULD get instructions with sprayer. In any event, BETTER instructions are available through TEE-JET in their product guide. TEE-JET manufactures MOST of the commercially available sprayer components. The FIMCO sprayers (from TSC) are equipped with TEE-JET nozzles.

The lower the operating pressure, the less volume per acre (at a given ground speed) The lower the pressure, the larger the water droplets will be, generally speaking. Larger drops (less atomization) means poorer coverage with many chemicals, resulting in inconsistant performance.

IF... the electric pump can deliver needed pressure (and volume) it can do just as good of a job as a roller pump. By spraying relatively low volume per acre (10 gal) you should be just fine with elect. pump.

I've sprayed large areas of crop land @ 10 GPA with satisfactory results in the past. That was with glyphosate and/or 2,4-D based products that work well at low GPA delivery rates. Some chemicals need higher application rates. (ie fungasides)

A good learning technique, especially when dealing with a relatively small area like 3 acres, is to spray once with water ONLY. Make certain you're calibrated right to apply just the volume you intend to use BEFORE experimenting with a tank mix. If you want 10 GPA, spray 3 acres with 30 gallons of water. You should run out of water just as you run out of ground to cover. (OR... scale down coverage area and volume to estimate coverage. I've done so on an empty parking lot to calibrate a sprayer)

MY PERSONAL RECOMENDATION on how to properly apply spray chemical products? You need to START with as much info (from chemical manufacturer) as possible on application rates required for your product. THEN determine GPA requirements of diluted mix. THEN determine ground speed, spray tip type, and operating pressure to achieve that end result. DON'T mix chemicals and apply based primarily on what the basic "off-the-shelf" configuration of the sprayer will give you. BUT... Don't "over-engineer" the proccess. Stay with basic nozzle types, and don't try too many advanced techniques. Simple is best, especially for a relative newcomer to the field.

 

[VABlue]

Well now... I was going to offer some advice based on my experiences with a Brinly pull sprayer just like the pictured one. But Farm's post above explained things far better than I could hope to! The sprayers are nice and will work for 3 acres (following above advice), and then leave you with something for home use. But the trailer can be a pain...

 

[Ford850]

Yep, what they said. Radman1 said it excactly as I was going to say it. I also have the 25 gallon boom sprayer from TSC, made for an ATV. If you don't have an ATV, do as I did and get a Carryall for your tractor. The fold out booms work great. Set the height at about 18" and I think your plain water tests (I did just like Farmerwithjunk suggested) will show you it is not difficult. The nice thing about the ATV unit is that you can mount it on the tractor, ATV, or on a small trailer for yard work behind a lawn tractor.

 

[chadincolo]

As far as trying to determine spray rate, it is kind of an educated guess with those sprayers.

It's not an educated guess, it's a simple calibration procedure. You don't set the flow rate with the pump, you set it with the nozzles. They put out X gpm at y psi (exact numbers depend on exact nozzle. They are fixed, not adjustable) You aim for, say, 10 gpa, pick your nozzles and speed to achieve that. Then you calibrate to fine tune it. Not as big a deal when you are spraying 3 acres to overspray by 10%, so you can maybe leave this step out, but we used to spray 1000 acres. An extra 10% cost is bad there. And worse, 10% too little could lead to needing to spray again...

Here's a link with calibration procedure:
Boom Sprayer Calibration, AEX-520-92

 

[madpogue]

Awesome info, everyone. Yeah, I'm liking the idea of putting it on a 3PH carryall. Even dealing with row-end turnarounds will be WAY easier. I'm printing that calibration document as we speak. And yeah, I like your idea of doing "dry" runs, FWJ.

Ford850, if I might ask, how did you fasten your TSC sprayer to the carryall? Does it come with bolts/nuts, or pins, or something?

 

[bigdad]

I mounted mine to a carryall with bungee straps. Mine is a Fimco and it has four threaded bolt holes in the bottom that can be used to attach it. I opted not to bolt them because I didn't want it permantley mounted to the carryall. I did screw studs into the holes then drilled the carryall to match so that the studs just sit in the holes. The bungees hold it down and the studs keep it from scooting with that moving water weight.

Make sense?