Educate me on smaller sprayers

[Ken Macfarlane]

Never had a proper sprayer on the farm, need to lay down
triclopyr for smooth bedstraw on maybe 30 acres a year and may
need to spray some small fields (5-10 acres) with roundup for
reseeding.

There are no as in 0 custom sprayers in our area, so no that isn't
an option. A friend has a small hardy sprayer but he has an
orchard he sprays in and I don't dare contaminate his tank with
triclopyr.

What I think I'm looking for is a small 3 point sprayer that a 6000
lb tractor can handle with 30-40 ft folding booms and pto pump.

What I don't know about is many used sprayers are advertised as
having rate controllers, markers, rinse tank etc. Rate controller
nice but I don't think needed. Markers not really needed I don't
think. Not sure why a rinse tank in on the sprayer, just to save a
trip so you can blow tank out on field on same trip?

What about interchangeable tips, compatibility of pumps/hoses
with spray chems etc? Seems a lot of cheaper sprayers need
replumbed as hoses rotted off.

Old George White sprayers seems very cheap and come with nice
stainless tanks vs trying to see if the plastic tank is about to fail,
any drawbacks to stainless?

 

[paul]

All the plastic and rubber parts are going to rot down over the years, sun and stress and pressure.... Tanks hold up well, but the hoses and tips and such.

Tips are pretty easy to swap out on any standard tip holders.

I hear stainless is great.

A fairly simple roller pump will power 20 feet great, for 30 or more the pumps with a belt to speed up might be better. They seem to come in 3 materials, works for a while with roundup, is rated for roundup, and is really good for roundup. Use what you got until it dies, replace with a middle or top quality when the time comes. Some have rebuild parts if you have a good quality to start with. Flush with diesel fuel or oil to prolong life.

I have tips sized to spray about 12 gallons an acre at my speed, that seems to work well, size your tank how you need. Some chemicals prefer 20 gallons, some prefer 10 gallons, many are fairly happy with 12-15 gallons.....

I don't have a rinse tank, not common on small setups, but would be nice. Bit of a safety feature if you get yourself spilled on too. Adds a bit of weight if you are on a smaller 3pt setup, your call.....

Paul

 

[rrlund]

For 5-10 acres,I'd forget about a 30-40 foot boom,you'll just end up with a bunch of overlap. 20 feet is plenty. I'd forget the used stuff too. Just go someplace like TSC and get a new 50 gallon that is already set up with everything you need for what little you plan to do with it.
Go to your county extension office and get a CORE Pesticide Manual. It'll tell you everything you need to know about sprayers and how to use them. A whole lot more than anybody on here can tell you in just a few paragraphs.

 

[RodinNS]

For as much as you're doing I don't think I'd be too fussy. I saw a couple of 150 gal Hardy's floating around on Kijiji this summer. Dunno if they're still on there or not.. Something like 1500 bucks I think.
I'd have a strong inclination to stick with something like that simply so you have a good pump. We used an old sprayer with a roller pump for years... and it did the job... but the pump was always stuck or needing repair or leaking.
If you want simple then a 45 gal drum, a roller pump and a set of teejet tees and tips will work but... I'd rather a decent little Hardy. Also see some M-S stuff around here but I don't think it's as good as Hardy.

Rod

 

[Dave H (MI)]

You've been given really good advice so far. I'll throw in some of my recent small field/sprayer experience.

TSC sells a nice small 3 pt sprayer and I have one, used it on my lawn, would not consider it for spraying 30 acres and would have to give a lot of thought to using it on 5-10 acres. Everything about it is scaled small and I am not sure it will deliver what you need in terms of GPA in all situations. Working from memory on that as I have not used it in a while.

I did a smallish acreage in corn this past year just to get my feet wet. I used what I believe to be a home made sprayer that I bought for $35 at a sale. $150 later it actually worked. This would be a 100 gallon poly tank on an axle with three booms totaling about 18'. It was a bear to use. Bounced a lot, booms would jump, hard to keep track of where you had been exactly BUT, when I was done, it had done a remarkably good job. I calibrated it with plain water in a mowed hayfield. I had nearly 100% coverage and die down of weeds. I will never know how much I over sprayed. Main problem was it ran out of solution a lot and I had to drive off the field and refill it. Awkward and inefficient.

In 2015 we expand again so I have picked up a couple new sprayers on spec. One is a White that has a 500 gallon tank, 40' booms and very basic controls just like the small sprayer I used this year. No markers. Very easy to use if you can reach the controls. I will try it out and see if it is maybe something I want to add GPS to(?).

The other is a Hardi with 500 gallon tank, foam markers, controls on tractor. Really nice small sprayer with 40'+ booms. Needs work but what doesn't? Heavier than the White. Bigger pump, not the little PTO pump. I will try it also and see how it does.

If you can find a smallish PTO sprayer with good output I think that is your best bet. Make sure you clean your pumps religiously or you will spend a lot of money replacing them. Definitely go to extension and get the book. HTH

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Thanks for the advice folks. I probably should have mentioned we just setup a 25 gal spot sprayer on our ATV and a little handheld spot sprayer with roundup in it that rides in the truck all season. Not interested in boom/boomless on ATV as there is no speedo on it.

Thanks for the course info, have another course book here for ag applicator licence covers a lot of info on the chem/mixing/handling etc but not basics about sprayer.

 

[DeltaRed]

Ken,I think you're 'over annilizeing.....I ues a 100 gallon pull type.On a small two wheel 'trailer'.Dont like 3 point sprayers. pull it with an H Farmall.The booms cover 8 30" cornrows. 20 ft.I spray 50 to 70 acres corn in small/odd shaped fields every year with it.8002 tips at 30psi traveling 5 mph(3rd gear wide open) will do 10 acres pretty fast. yes,the hoses do deteriorate after several years,but some of the original (25 year old) hoses are still in good shape.TeeJet makes a whole 'raft' of parts/accesories for sprayers. It's really not that hard on complicated.Consult your local farm Chemical people

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

No local farm chemical folks really. Spraying not big here. I don't have a place I can go to look at new or used sprayers other than what shows up on Kijiji (our craigslist). Dealers don't stock or even really know much about them. The little tractor supply across the border in Maine has a few tips on the wall and ATV sprayers but nothing more. Not even much for chemicals other than RTU lawn care stuff.

I can order chem from our farm coop but you need to know what you want because they have 0 expertise in it.

Buddy has a pull type hardy with tandems and a big tank and big booms, orders his parts in from Ontario, I think bought the sprayer in Ontario. (12 hour drive away)

 

[Lazy WP]

Do your research. Tee Jet has a web site that gives lots of information. I just got done building a 12 1/2 foot boom to go on my Gator. Can either go in the front or rear receiver hitch. I have a 50 gallon Shaben sprayer which fits in the back of the Gator. Shaben's have an awesome web site, and will ship anywhere.
The biggest thing is to figure out how much water you are spraying at the speed you want to go. Don't put any chemicals in, until after you have that mastered.
For up to 100 acres, a person doesn't need much for booms.

Here is Shaben's web site http://www.agspray.com/schaben_products.html

Tee Jet web site http://www.teejet.com/english/home.aspx

Hardi sprayers web site http://www.hardi-us.com/

All of these sites can give you lots of information.

 

[johnwayne360]

they are all over down here. bought one for 175 on a sale, spent 2 or 3 hundred on electric valves and new tips and I was spraying. For 30 acres speed/pressure should be fine. You can buy a manual selector valve for less than a hundred I think. Lets you split the boom into three sections if you need it. Or you can go to the farm store and pay roughly 2k for the same setup, just newer, but will be 3pt mounted.

 

[RodinNS]

Mabey you need to call down to some of the NS dealers. VanO's should have lots of stuff and expertise to help you out. Probably have something to sell you too...

Rod

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Will likely start looking that way, still over 5 hour drive one way. Gives me a bit of knowledge to look at a couple of used ones around here too.

 

[GordoSD]

You can get a speedometer app for your cel phone.

 

[Don-Wi]

Just last week I picked up a pull behind with 200 gallon tank and 30 ft. booms for $80.

Probably have to redo the nozzles as they seem kinda far apart, but it's got the basics of what a guy needs. The pto pump is tight now, but it's an ace pump and parts are easy to get for it.

There was also 300 gallon hydraulic driven sprayer that went for 110, but that would have limited which tractor we could use to spray with.

Donovan from Wisconsin

 

[JMS/.MN]

Distance between nozzles depends on what model nozzle they are. They don"t all have the same spray pattern. I like those that are made to run about 20 inches apart- too much drift possible with the wide spray pattern.

 

[DoubleR]

I brought a small 50 gallon 3pt sprayer at an auction probably about 15 years ago. It seems like I'm always making changes on it and upgrading something to make it work better for me. I cover about 50 acres a year with it.
I would just buy one of the 3pt. sprayers at TSC or somewhere. Then as you use it a little you may want to change this and that to fit your needs or to just plain make it work better. It won't really take allot of money to do so.

 

[RodinNS]

Is there nothing up towards Hartland at all? Must be ~something~?

Rod

 

[Ken Macfarlane]

Yup, they turn up every so often. Just pricing is nuts. There is a spray coupe for sale cheaper than some of the 3 point sprayers.

 

[Leroy]

We sprayed for years with a 55 gallon drum 3 point sprayers and that was on way more acres than you are talking about. Then went to a 110 gal tank on trailer sprayer also for years. I would not in any condition want bigger than the 110 gallon and max of 20 foot boom as with longer you get way to much bounce on outer end of booms unless you have the big commercial setup with extra high flotation tires on multiples and enough framework you need heavy hydrolics to fold and unfold multiple sections of boom and on the big commercial sprayer setups like that you still see that end of the boom bouncing up or down several feet, with a little uneven ground I have seen them draging the end of one boom while the other is 10' off the ground, no way do they get a decent spray pattern. And the rince tank is for drinking quality water (you do not want to put dirty water in your eyes or mouth) for if you have trouble of any kind and get some of the spray mix on you if you do not get it rinced off imediatly you may loose your eyes or more. Not all sprayes are that dangerous but some. Then on some you need heavy rubber gloves as well. And for your size fields a 55 gal sprayer you might have to fill twice but that is better to fill the second time when you are more sure of how much you are going to need than to have way more spray left setting than you used to start with as if you get too big of a tank will happen.

 

[RodinNS]

Is there a coupe listed up there now? FB me if you're not looking at it...

Rod

 

[paul]

Yea, the 20 inch setup seems pretty standard in the ag row crop world any more, nicest overall pattern.

Some sprayers for pastures and such just have one nozzle cluster, and it spews stuff across 20 feet from that one ball. Yikes that would be awful in a row crop type situation.

Paul

 

[paul]

For the record I got a 3pt Demco 100 gallon, 20 foot sprayer in early 1990s.

Cover several 100 acres with it, all close of course.

Got a 300 gallon pull type 40 foot a few years ago, but I still use the 3pt a whole lot, one on corn, one on beans or some such.

The 3pt is sure handy and doesn't make extra tracks in the crops.

For 100 acres or less you sure wouldn't have to have bigger.

Paul

 

[Rodeo man]

I've got $120 in this. It holds 270 gallons of water, and sprays 40 feet. Works for me.