Sprayer Update

Me and the boys tore into the sprayer today. Replaced the pump, hoses and fittings. Wasn't all smooth. Ran out of hose and fell short two fittings. Had my Wife/Boss bring those items out and finished the work. Next up was to run water through the sprayer and get our settings correct relative to the GPM, GPA and forward speed so we would apply the right amount of 2,4-D. With protective clothing, etc., in place, we sprayed about 9 acres of our hay field. Will finish another day.

The pic is our "dry" run with water. My oldest boy is metering how many gallons per minute the pump is pumping with respect to the gallon marks on the tank.

Looking good Bill. Always run short on nozzles and hose, I ran short on fittings and hose today myself. How I calibrated my sprayer when I first got it (used) was to set up a set distance to drive spraying plain water ( for 22 inch nozzle spaceing it is 186 feet) with sprayer on and in motion hit a timer when I entered the marked area and again when I exited it. Made three or four "runs" and averaged the time, then set still with sprayer on and collected the water from one nozzle at a time in a two quart graduated measure ( I got mine at a pesticide meeting awhile back, but have seen them at the farm store too). Recorded each nozzle output for the averaged time from running the course (186 feet for me). The average of all the nozzles is how many gallons per acre put on at that speed. For example, if the average is 20 oz. = 20 gallons per acre, 10 oz. = 10 gallons per acre. You can also tell if any nozzle needs replaced this way - 10% variation between nozzles is the max if I remember right, could be less I would have to look that up. I recorded all that information in my spray log so if I decide to change to a different nozzle all I have to do is collect the water sprayed by the new nozzles and will know how much goes on per acre.