Weed Wipers - Anyone use one?

Sawdustsmb · Sep 3, 2012

Does anyone have any experience using weed wipers? So far it appears the counter rotation units are superior, but I'm not finding a dealer nearby. Any thoughts?

Thanks
Bob

JoeBuyer · Sep 3, 2012

No experience yet, but I have been eyeing them for a while. Seems like a good solution.

sixdogs · Sep 4, 2012

I used one about 13 years ago in a pumplin patch. It was a Spiedel brand and didn't rotate at all. It was maybe 8' to 10' wide and a clamped it to the front loader arms. It works fine once you quickly get the hang of it bit it did occasionally drip and kill whatever the drip hit. Grass that was not too tall was the easiest to kill but some weeds with narrow stalks were difficult to make contact with the Roundup mixture. On balance it was a worthwhile experience and I'm sure technology has improved things a bit.

dnetherland · Sep 4, 2012

I use a wick bar on clover plots. It uses ropes that wick glyphosphate from a 3 inch pvc pipe. Used it 2 weeks ago and it did great job on grasses including johnson grass.

Don

Sawdustsmb · Sep 4, 2012

I'm not sure if it was the mild winter we had here in NY or what but we seem to have a lot of milkweed coming in. And milkweed is very toxic for horses and alpacas. Round-up seems to be about the only effective killer. I did find plans to build a wick wiper using a 3" pipe like yours, Don, glad to hear it worked well - price would be right!!!
Thanks for replying.
Bob

JoeBuyer · Sep 4, 2012

dnetherland said:
I use a wick bar on clover plots. It uses ropes that wick glyphosphate from a 3 inch pvc pipe. Used it 2 weeks ago and it did great job on grasses including johnson grass.

Don

Was this a home made wick bar? If so, what type/size of rope?

tripp1023 · Sep 4, 2012

I use a 15' grassworks weed wiper in my Tifton and Sungrazer pastures. Seems to work well, but you need to be in the field as soon as any weeds are taller than the surrounding grass. In my case, that's abt a 2 wk window between cuttings.

I am using mine to eradicate Dallis grass, which is difficult to do since its wider than it is tall. I use a boom sprayer for normal weed control

Sawdustsmb · Sep 4, 2012

Joebuyer - How to build a pipewick wiper
http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/spray/pubs/documents/Monsantohowtobuildpipewickapp.pdf

Bob

Sawdustsmb · Sep 4, 2012

Tripp - I just requested info from grassworks - their web site doesn't give a lot of info or pricing. Where are they located?
Bob

JoeBuyer · Sep 5, 2012

Sawdustsmb said:
Joebuyer - How to build a pipewick wiper
http://www.caes.uga.edu/commodities/spray/pubs/documents/Monsantohowtobuildpipewickapp.pdf

Bob

Thank you, this design looks simple. Do these drip much?

tripp1023 · Sep 10, 2012

Sawdustsmb-sorry for the delay. I ordered my info from an ad in progressive farmer. It came abt 6 eke later. Spoke with the owner (sorry, don't remember his name.) Got the impression that he was a farmer himself and company was pretty new. I bought some new equipment from my local tractor dealer and they ordered for me. My 15' is a 3 pt mounted unit, fixed length and was 5k or so if I remember. It is a well built unit, very sturdy with commonly replaced wear items. Pricey, but seems to work well. Mine is a hydraulic drive w/o gauge wheels. Will probably sell mine soon and go to a larger multi section unit as I've had some interest from locals who'd like their pastures done and I'll need more than a 15' to get it done in a reasonable amt of time.

tripp1023 · Sep 10, 2012

Sawdust-realized I really didn't answer your question. I'll pull my manuals out when I get back to the farm this weekend and give u the details.

Sawdustsmb · Sep 11, 2012

tripp1023
I ordered a 12' tow behind yesterday - hope it doesn't take 6 weeks to get here!! Would like to kill some milkweed before we get a frost. Wondering if I will get requests from others to "borrow it".

Bob

tripp1023 · Sep 17, 2012

Congrats!

For anyone who might be interested, there are two separate addresses listed in my manual: Grassworks USA, Bobby Umberson, 16121 Bush Valley Rd, Cane Hill, WE 72717 and an address of 8703 East Farm Rd 80, strafford, MO, 65757. 417-839-7181. There's also a cell and email for Bobby listed in my manual, but don't feel right abt posting that. PM me if u want them.

I'd highly recommend a foam marker, it's difficult to tell where you've been when the grass is still low.

If your neighbors are like mine, they'll come out for the inauguration!!! LOL!

Sorry for the delay!

ScottOkla · Sep 23, 2012

I would be careful if dealing with one specific weed wiper. One in Arkansas at one time was a dealer for a foreign company and was stealing from them basically. The Arkansas dealer was found guilty but as of a couple year ago was still trying to get around paying what was owed and had a new company selling copycat products advertised as "American made" but basically a copy they made of the legitimate foreign product. I don't remember specific names anymore, but a quick internet search will tell you the details. The legitimate product was called a "rotowiper" if memory serves.

I have a rotowiper but have not yet used it. I bought it at an auction a couple years ago, and I suspect it ended up there in some shady manner by someone related to the Arkansas company. Don't know for sure though.

flusher · Sep 24, 2012

Sawdustsmb said:
Does anyone have any experience using weed wipers? So far it appears the counter rotation units are superior, but I'm not finding a dealer nearby. Any thoughts?

Thanks
Bob

Last Spring I bought three 5-ft wick wipers ($109 each) from Ag Supply and lashed them to the FEL for a test run (41% Roundup, 2-1 dilution) on my 6 acre hayfield that had a good crop of yellow star thistle going.

It worked fine. Killed off the weeds in a few weeks. Decided to make a better mounting rig for the wipers

You have to be sure to thoroughly clean the wicks and the PVC reservoirs or else the wicks will clog up (especially with Roundup which is sticky stuff since it includes a surfacant mixed in to keep it from running off the weeds).

BTW: got the Roundup in 2.5 gal containers from the Home Depot website--$40 (local HD store doesn't stock this size container). Bought two containers since you get free shipping for orders over $75. A lot better price than locally at TSC, Ace, True Value.
Used about 3 gallons of the concentrate to treat 6 acres.

JoeBuyer · Sep 24, 2012

flusher said:
Last Spring I bought three 5-ft wick wipers ($109 each) from Ag Supply and lashed them to the FEL for a test run (41% Roundup, 2-1 dilution) on my 6 acre hayfield that had a good crop of yellow star thistle going.

You have to be sure to thoroughly clean the wicks and the PVC reservoirs or else the wicks will clog up (especially with Roundup which is sticky stuff since it includes a surfacant mixed in to keep it from running off the weeds).
.

How do you rinse the roundup out of the wicks? Do you simply run water in afterwards and let it drip onto the ground or do you disassemble everything to clean up?

Do you drive that setup forward or backward? If forward, does the roundup transfer onto the tires and then kill grass when the tires roll and touch the ground in other spots? If backwards, the tires are going to knock down the weeds so the wicks in those spots won't get wiped dry by the weeds. Then do the wicks drip in those spots where the tires knock the weeds down?

flusher · Sep 24, 2012

JoeBuyer said:
How do you rinse the roundup out of the wicks? Do you simply run water in afterwards and let it drip onto the ground or do you disassemble everything to clean up?

Do you drive that setup forward or backward? If forward, does the roundup transfer onto the tires and then kill grass when the tires roll and touch the ground in other spots? If backwards, the tires are going to knock down the weeds so the wicks in those spots won't get wiped dry by the weeds. Then do the wicks drip in those spots where the tires knock the weeds down?

Rinsing--I used a garden hose to wash the wicks thoroughly. Then filled the PVC reservoir with water and let it drain out of the wicks. Kept this up for 8 hours or so.

I drove forward for this checkout run since it was easier to attach the wiper rig to the FEL and to see the action of the wicks as I drove through the weeds. If I were treating tall weeds in a hay crop, I'd change the rig to attach to the 3pt hitch--no big deal.

JoeBuyer · Sep 24, 2012

flusher said:
I drove forward for this checkout run since it was easier to attach the wiper rig to the FEL and to see the action of the wicks as I drove through the weeds. If I were treating tall weeds in a hay crop, I'd change the rig to attach to the 3pt hitch--no big deal.

Did the tires get wet from the weeds that just had the roundup applied? If so, did it then kill the grass when the tires went around?

andybhill · Apr 2, 2022

Sawdustsmb said:
tripp1023
I ordered a 12' tow behind yesterday - hope it doesn't take 6 weeks to get here!! Would like to kill some milkweed before we get a frost. Wondering if I will get requests from others to "borrow it".

Bob

Hello Bob, A few years back you asked about a NH 648 Follower Roller with welded on loops. Your question was right on spot with what I'm dealing with on my NH 640 silage special. Did you ever get an answer via another avenue than tracgtorbynet? I didn't see a response. What was your solution because now I'm faced with having to replace or repair my follower roller and it seems the "looped" one is quite a bit more expensive. Thanks, Andy