Advice Needed on Spayers

First I'll give you a few facts:
30 Acres
1967 MF-135 Gas
2002 4wd 1500 Silverado

Background: I live in mid-Missouri, and I am converting a fescue hayfield to warm season grass. I am working with the MDC on this project. This fall, after the hay is mowed and we've gotten our first frost, I will be spraying the field with generic roundup. I will be mixing the spray at the rate of 1 ounce of spray per gallon of water. 1 gallon of spray, which would be 128 gallons of solution is supposed to be used for every 3 acres. So I will be buying 10 gallons of roundup and be spraying 1280 gallons of solution. I am trying to figure out the most efficient and cheapest way to get the spray applied to the field. I need to buy a sprayer/pump/boom.

From what I can find so far, my best options seems to be to buy a 250 gallon spray container for about $350, which I would set in the back of the truck, then get a 12v pump, which I can run off of a marine battery (already own the battery), and the buy a boom that would some how mount to the tailgate of my truck.

I am also planting about 1600 trees this coming spring, and I thought I could use the same tank (after a thorough wash) to water the trees to keep the survival rate higher in case we end up with a dry spell next summer like we did this summer.

Does this solution seem feasible? Is there a better/easier/cheaper solution using the tractor or truck?

Thanks for any advice you can give me.

I've castrated untold thousands of calves, but the few girl-type animals I've had spayed (just a dog or two), I've always carried to the local vet. :>)

Your cheapest and best will be go have your local sprayer guy come and do it and your done .

The route I would go is to hire a custom applicator at the local farm service store. The equipment cost will be more than you can have it done for, plus they will probably do a better job than you will be able to do yourself. Battery pumps do not provide sufficent volume to supply a boom, they are best for spot spraying with a hand gun. My opinion, I have been wrong many times though. Joe

Hi JR: Ya might try this post on "Crop Talk" on the AgTalk forum? http:talk.newagtalk.com/ They get into spraying and crops in detail. etc

for a cheap tank get used chem tote from bigger farmer or farm supply here there cheap or free

Smart a$$. You made my day.

I agree with the others, hire your local ag applicator or ask a neighbor if he'll spray it for you. I'd probably rather do it myself too, but you'll save money. I wanna say we paid $6 per acre last year in northern MN for custom application on corn.

you won't get the kill you'd like to have if you wait until after frost to spray Roundup. I'd also question the quality of your hay if baled at that point also.

My suggestion is that you probably should get the hay off now, let the pasture green back up some if you get the rain, and spray around Sept 1. Having a custom applicator for that acreage is probably best, they shouldn't be too busy that time of year. Probably looking at around $10/A for application (top end) and $7/A for chemicial (top end)

If you do it yourself, you'll need a pump, boom, nozzles, then calibrate it to know how to mix, and what speed to drive. Quite a bit more to spraying than just dumping it into a tank and slopping it out on the ground. Alot of folks typically run 10-15 gallons of water/A, and run 1qt of a generic glyphosate/acre, though for killing fescue, I'd suggest a stronger rate, more like the 40-48oz/A rate like you've been told. Also need to mix in a product called AMS, it's a spray grade Ammonium Sulfate that helps soften the water, inrease absorption, and tie up cations that can otherwise tie up the glyphosate molecules.

I agree with the others about hiring it done (cheaper plus better coverage than a 12V pump will give). On a side note, that sounds like a lot of water- I've learned 7-8 gallons per acre of water is a great plenty. Even 10-12 and we notice a less effective kill. Also, we generally put on 48 oz./acre of generic glyphosate, plus the ammonium sulfate (granular works, but liquid is easier to mix). Just my two cents. Good Luck.

LonM

we spray a quart to the acre and about 20 gallon per acre water.We usually add some weedar 64 for better control.

If you're located in cenral Mo, there surely are custom applicators around your area. All the below posts are accurate. You will NOT be satisfied with a 12v pump to do your spraying of herbicides. A small roller pump used on your tractor will be much more satisfactory for spraying as well as delivering water to your trees. I"m also thinking you've got your math wrong on the amount of water needed to spray the field. Redo your math. Usually, 1-2 quarts of roundup are needed along with (ballpark) 15-20 gallons of water per acre. Where did you come up with 1280 gallons?
Where are you located in C MO.?

43 gals per acre is WAY off the chart. I think you should talk to someone else. I'd say closer to 12 gals per acre with a roundup rate of 40oz per ac.

Here's how I did the math: I went to the MFA store in Columbia. The guy that helped me said that I need to mix it at the rate of 1 oz of roundup per gallon of water. He said that one gallon of roundup would cover 3 acres. Since 1 gallon is 128 ounces, then that would be 128 gallons of solution for 3 acres. Since I'm looking at doing 30 acres, then it would be a total of 1280 gallons of solution. I think I did the math right, but maybe the information the guy told me was inaccurate.

It is actually getting mowed for hay in the next week or so. The plan is to kill the fescue but not the native warm season grass that is there. I was told by MDC to wait until after the first frost to spray the roundup so that the warm-season grass would be dormant and the fescue would be actively growing so that only the fescue will be killed.

Thanks to everyone for the advice, especially on the part that the battery pump probably won't get the results that I want.

I will talk to the guy that is haying it and see if he'd be willing to spray it for me.

Your guy is giving you some bad information. The amount of roundup he's suggesting is ballpark close. The amount of total water he is suggesting is WAY off.

I think you best look around for an old boom sprayer. If you want something cheap find and oldie with tee-jet nozzles and a roller pump. Don't expect too much life of the roller pump but if it's decent now it'll do what you want.
Ideally, if you happen to be in the right place at the right time you will get something like a 100 or 150 gallon Hardi sprayer with a Hardi pump. A Hardi pump, properly cared for, will last a LONG time. The downside of Hardi is that the nozzles are Hardi specific, not cheap (like Tee-Jet) and virtually nothing on a Hardi sprayer is quick or easy to obtain unless you've got a good servicing dealer handy. It's not too bad here so most of us go with Hardi... and I think they are probably one of the best sprayers out there.

As far as volume of spray... you're within the ballpark for product rate. You are on the higher end, depending on what you want to kill. Water volume would be more like 20-25 gpa; probably a bit better than half what you're figuering.
I'd also suggest that you make sure that the grass is actively growing when you spray or you're not going to get the kill you want.
Keep in mind also that probably a 100 gal sprayer is enough for the 135... but a 150, if it's available AND it has Cat 1 lift pins will work. You don't necessarly need to fill it.

Rod

Your best bet would be to just hire the local Commercial spray guys to do it. They usually charge about $5 per acre if you buy your chemicals from them. You get an operator that knows what he is doing plus better equipment then what you can cobble together.

Also your figuring your rate and water needed wrong. 1) calibrate your sprayer to see how much water per acre you are putting on. 2) Then take that number and see how many acres your tank will hold. Example: 20 gallon per acre, 200 gallon tank = 10 acres per tank full. 3) Then at the rate of round up quoted, you would need 44 onces per acre or 2.75 pints. So using the tank example from above: You would need the rate per acer 44 x (acre per tank full) 10 = 440 ounces or basically 3.5 gallons.

You are confusing handheld spot sprying solutions with a field rate.

Do _not_ mix up the stuff you have been told for 30 acres!!!! That fella is not right.

You want to spray a pint, maybe a quart, of 4 lb (about 40%) generic glyphosate per acre.

You want to apply about 10-15 gallond of liquid per acre. Glyphosate actally works better with less water per acre, 10 gallons, than other types of spray, which often work better at 20 gallons per acre.

All this will depend upon the sprayer you get - more pressure means smaller droplets of water - which is often good for other sprays, but bad for glyphosate - you want medium or large droplets. So 20 lbs of pressure should be enough.

Different tips have different rates, so you gotta test your sprayer & see how much it sprays out. You can adjust slighlty by changing your driving gear - speed.

I have a little 110 gallon 3pt sprayer, it's set up to cover 8-9 acres. I have a 300 gallon sprayer, that one is set up to cover about 24 acres. If you check the math, they are both set up about the same.

So, I'd put 300 gallons of water in the sprayer, and 25 lbs of AMS (you ARE using this or a liquid equivilant aren't you???? It's a special nitrogen product that helps soften the water as well as help the glyphosate work better on the plant, it's needed more in harder water, important to add).

Then I'd add 2 or 3 2.5 gallong jugs of glyphosate, and let it all aggitate for a few minutes.

Then I'd spray that on 24 acres or so.

There is NO WAY you should be appying the amount of water or glyphosate your buddy at the store is saying. He's got some lawn-sprayer rate that is not apporpriate for your broadcast uses. Don't do that!

You need to start with the sprayer you get, and see how much spray it applies per acre. Spray some water out & figure it out. If it doesn't spray around 10-15 gallons of water per acre, then adjust your speed, or the pressure, or change the tips to a smaller or larger tip so you get in that 10-15 gallon oer acre range.

And you want to apply up to a quart per acre it really fry the weeds you are dealing with. And you want to add some AMS before you put the glyphosate in the tank - it keeps the glyphosate from binding up with hard water, as well as flushing the weeds a tad.

Some gemneric glyphosates - most really - have a sticky already in them; a few do not. If you get one without then you need to add some type of oil or soap which either helps open up the weed leaves, ro helps the spray stick to the weed for longer so it has time to soak in. Glyphosate typically likes the soap type moreso....

There is no way you should be applying 43 gallons of spray per acre. That is very wrong with glyphosate. Also I'd think 7.5 gallons of glyphosate would be plenty, you'd do ok with 5 gallons and some AMS in most conditions.

No wonder farmers are looked down upon for using GMO & modern technologies, when this bad a misinformation is being spread around by a fella that should know better! He's going about this all wrong. For applying to 30 acres, you find out what your sprayer does, and then do the math from that side - a pint or 2 per acre. His dealership licence for pesticides should be pulled!

--->Paul

You might consider that locality plays a role in the application rate... Around here 1 qt per acre is considered the bare minimum by the label. 1.5-2 qt per acre is not unheard of, particularly to get a good kill on quack grass. Granted we never use AMS here. That's not something that would be particularly easy to obtain here, at least on short notice. The only way we would ever use less than 1 qt per acre of product would be with the WeatherMax type stuff that has a higher concetration.

Rod

The 12 volt sprayers will work fine if you get a good one. Freind has one from a local farm store. Isn't worth 2 cents except for spot spraying. I have one I got from NT a few years ago. Works fantrastic. I made a 3 point mount for it and got the boom as an add on. Freinds came with the boom. I paid as much for the tank, pump and hand sprayer as he did for the whole works including the boom, hand sprayer and mounts for a 4 wheeler. ONly thing I don't like about mine is that it's only 20 gallons so you have to fill up often.

Rick