# Help me decide what type of sprayer I want



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I have been going back and forth since fall trying to decide what type of sprayer would best suit my needs. I have some features in my mind that I want for sure(I think)but I need a guiding hand on making a final decision.

One thing that is holding me up is I am trying to be a diversified operation so I will be spraying quite a few different chemicals and rinsing out the sprayer is a real time consuming and pain to do. Some of the things I will be spraying is herbicide and insecticide on alfalfa, soybeans, burndown, and for grass hay things like remedy, grazon and milestone. Now those chemicals for grass hay are extremely dangerous to alfalfa and soybeans as y'all well know and I'm starting to wonder if it would be wise to have two sprayers.....one for broadleaf crops and one for grass crops that way I could get by with less rinsing.....I'm scared to death some of the chemicals might not get rinsed out and could damage my alfalfa. I know there is going to be times when two or more different crops need to be sprayed at the same time....how do y'all get around this issue?

I want to get a easy to use, good, accurate, and most importantly a safe sprayer but I don't want to spend a ton of money especially if it would be in my best interests to get two sprayers. What are some of the must haves and features for a sprayer to meet my criteria and not break the bank?

These are some of the things I think I want. 
GPS
Pull type....for ease of hookup and I don't need a great big tractor to lift the weight of the filled sprayer. 
Hydraulic fold booms 
Automatic rate controller....my understanding is this will regulate the amount it needs to be pumping while my ground speed fluctuates. 
I'm not sure what it is called but I have heard that there is something that will keep my booms level while going across a hill so ones not dragging in the dirt and the other 10 foot in the air.

Any opinions or other things I need to add to this list?

Thanks, Hayden


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

http://cropsprayersiva.com/ You could check these out made by Lancaster County Amish , I do not own one I believe you get a lot for your money.. He may have a dealer down your direction ?


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

I'll second the vote for iva sprayers, I have a well made boom from them on mine. I like your list of features but the only one I have off of it is a pull type. I think you could manage with one. Cleaning protocol isn't so bad.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

endrow said:


> http://cropsprayersiva.com/ You could check these out made by Lancaster County Amish , I do not own one I believe you get a lot for your money.. He may have a dealer down your direction ?


 I'll check and see if there is a dealer for them down this way. The two brands I saw when I was at the Southern Farm Show that I liked the most were the Crop Care sprayer which I believe is also made up your way and the H&H which is made down here in Monroe NC. I haven't really been worrying about which brand to buy yet....first just trying to decided what basic features and type of sprayer I want.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

SVFHAY said:


> I'll second the vote for iva sprayers, I have a well made boom from them on mine. I like your list of features but the only one I have off of it is a pull type. I think you could manage with one. Cleaning protocol isn't so bad.


 I have to admit the pull type was pretty high on my list of must haves....the home made spray rig I used to have that I junked was 3 point and I swore I would not buy another.....I'm just not a huge fan of 3 point equipment....hard to hook up and going to need a lot of counter weight on the front of the tractor for going up hills. I know that a pull type is going to cost more but besides this is there any reason you would recommend a 3 point?


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## cornshucker (Aug 22, 2011)

. Check with Kernersville Farm Equipment in Kernersville N.C. they usually have some good used pull type sprayers. Phone is (336) 996-6361.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

FarmerCline said:


> I have been going back and forth since fall trying to decide what type of sprayer would best suit my needs. I have some features in my mind that I want for sure(I think)but I need a guiding hand on making a final decision.
> 
> One thing that is holding me up is I am trying to be a diversified operation so I will be spraying quite a few different chemicals and rinsing out the sprayer is a real time consuming and pain to do. Some of the things I will be spraying is herbicide and insecticide on alfalfa, soybeans, burndown, and for grass hay things like remedy, grazon and milestone. Now those chemicals for grass hay are extremely dangerous to alfalfa and soybeans as y'all well know and I'm starting to wonder if it would be wise to have two sprayers.....one for broadleaf crops and one for grass crops that way I could get by with less rinsing.....I'm scared to death some of the chemicals might not get rinsed out and could damage my alfalfa. I know there is going to be times when two or more different crops need to be sprayed at the same time....how do y'all get around this issue?
> 
> ...


I WOULD ADD : Rinse tank and chemical inductor


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Sorry to get a bit off topic but saw this rig for sale today and thought it was neat, can't find a lick of info on them.


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## SVFHAY (Dec 5, 2008)

Maybe we are misunderstanding each other. I am not recommending a 3 point. They would be better for small row crop jobs like veggies I suppose . I doubt iva will have a local for ya They will custom build and have a list of prices that makes it easy to pick what you want.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

FarmerCline said:


> I have been going back and forth since fall trying to decide what type of sprayer would best suit my needs. I have some features in my mind that I want for sure(I think)but I need a guiding hand on making a final decision.
> 
> One thing that is holding me up is I am trying to be a diversified operation so I will be spraying quite a few different chemicals and rinsing out the sprayer is a real time consuming and pain to do. Some of the things I will be spraying is herbicide and insecticide on alfalfa, soybeans, burndown, and for grass hay things like remedy, grazon and milestone. Now those chemicals for grass hay are extremely dangerous to alfalfa and soybeans as y'all well know and I'm starting to wonder if it would be wise to have two sprayers.....one for broadleaf crops and one for grass crops that way I could get by with less rinsing.....I'm scared to death some of the chemicals might not get rinsed out and could damage my alfalfa. I know there is going to be times when two or more different crops need to be sprayed at the same time....how do y'all get around this issue?
> 
> ...


Around here there are plenty of short line dealers handleing sprayers that could set you up with anything you want.

For a rate controller you would need a speed sensor and a rate controller.Micro Trac is a pretty common one here.
http://www.micro-trak.com/

You can get boom sensors that will autamaticaly raise and lower the boom as needed.Not sure what the brand name is but have seen them at farm shows.
http://www.bestway-inc.com/


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Check out Paul B. Zimmerman, too. I really wanted one of their big wheel pull type sprayers, just don't have the coin for one. Made right near me in Lancaster County, PA
http://www.cropcareequipment.com/


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

Instead of two sprayers pick up a poly tank to hold rinse water, rinse it out and store the water till you use that one again. We have a 750 gallon stainless tank mounted over the rear axle of a White 4-175, up on the top is three assemblies specifically for rinsing, apply water to them and they have a internal nozzle that rotates to hit all of the tank. Haven't burnt anything yet.

We run a Century three point boom on the back of the tractor, 60 foot, hydraulic fold. I was going to invest the money at one time on auto section control as well, but it appears I'll the only one that uses it and I rarely do all the spraying. So cost versus the amount it will be actually used and it doesn't pencil out.

You don't mention what you'll be using for guidance, with our auto steer engaged you don't need auto boom height as you have plenty of time to watch the booms and adjust manually.

One last thing, get the hydraulic drive pump.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Ok, thanks fellas for all the suggestions. Have to ask some more questions now.....bear with me if some of my questions are dumb as I really don't know nothing about sprayers. I will start of with the list of features again.

Pull type 
Hydraulic fold booms 
Speed sensor and rate controller
Automatic boom leveling
GPS for guidance.....the reason for thinking of going GPS is my understanding is that I can also use it for spreading fertilize and planting and there is no recurring cost of buying foam for a foam marker....yes or no?

I will touch on a few things mentioned that I'm not sure about and maybe get a better understanding.

Chemical inductor.....my understanding is you poor the chemicals into the inductor and it transfers them into the tank rather than me just pouring them directly into the tank. What are the benefits of this a dis it really a much needed feature? 
Rinse tank....I'm not positive I understand how this would work as am I not supposed to rinse everything out 3 times?


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Yeah, I don't get the chem inductor, either.
Unless some mixed chemicals and water lose effectiveness overnight.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

The induction cone is for adding your chemicals to your water while filling. It takes a totally different and expensive setup to inject your chemicals into your water stream while spraying.

We have a trailer I built out of an old straight truck, you can either use each tank independently and haul a 1000 gallons of 28% and a thousand gallons of 10-34-0. Or they can be hooked together for hauling 2000 gallons of water to the field. On the front of the trailer between the front tank and transfer pump is our induction cone. Pour the chemicals in you intend to use and any adjuvants, start the transfer pump and open the valve on the bottom of the cone, while you are filling your sprayer tank the flow of water is pulling the chemical out of the induction cone and mixing it with the water as it flows thru the pump and into the sprayer.

We also have a agitation nozzle in the top of the cone, shut the main valve from the main tanks, open the induction cone valve and the agitator valve, start and run pump at an idle and agitate your mix, especially useful for some of those stubborn powders or granules that don't always mix 100% on their own.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

The Inductor - you simply pour the chemical out of the jug it's in, and into the inductor. The inductor will feed it into the main tank solution as it agitates. It's really just to better mix the chemical into your water. Some of them also have a gizmo in the inductor to rinse out your chemical jugs. That works **REALLY** nice. The rinse tank only holds clean water, like 60 gallon or more (depending on the size of sprayer). It will be the source for the water for a foam marker, and you use that water to rinse out the main tank so that it's clean for the next crop you're spraying.

So to add to your list:

Chemical inductor

Fesh/clean out water tank

Double or triplet nozzle bodies (so you don't forget where you put the nozzles when you need to apply different volumes of water.) (and so you don't get messy changing nozzles)

hydraulic driven pump - so the pressure does not vary so much with different engine RPM.

I'm not sure that your auto boom height is a really big deal - It sounds like you have a 3pt sprayer right now, and you'd like to go to a pull type, afew hundred gallon???? Get a single wheel if you can, vs a tandem axle. The big ag tire will do less compaction and damage when you make your turns. I'd just have some sort of protection on the outer edge of the boom to prevent it from hitting the ground, that can be anything from a wheel to some sort of skid......

Rodney


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

So like with my Demco 500g, I pour my 24D into inductor tank and the right amount of water, I move the lever to agitate, wait ~10 minutes, then spray?
When spraying the chem inductor is all done its work?

What about something like cimmaron, its a powder. Do I put that in inductor? I wouldn't think you would, unless you put a few gallons of water in with it to make a "concentrate".


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Iva and crop care are both sprayers made in Pa. They are both good sprayers although I like Iva better. With the rinse tank, you can add that water to your tank and rinse out in the field that you are spraying and not have to come back to the farm to add more water and rinse. The jug rinse is nice to clean those out and that goes into the sprayer also. You put the jug over the upright nozzle, turn on the valve and it shoots water up into the jug and the water falls back in the tank and you are done with the jug clean out. Different manufacturers do it other ways also. A high wheel sprayer with 750 gallons and all the options you want and need complete with GPS and 60' booms is around 22 K.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Rodney R said:


> The Inductor - you simply pour the chemical out of the jug it's in, and into the inductor. The inductor will feed it into the main tank solution as it agitates. It's really just to better mix the chemical into your water. Some of them also have a gizmo in the inductor to rinse out your chemical jugs. That works **REALLY** nice. The rinse tank only holds clean water, like 60 gallon or more (depending on the size of sprayer). It will be the source for the water for a foam marker, and you use that water to rinse out the main tank so that it's clean for the next crop you're spraying.
> 
> So to add to your list:
> Chemical inductor
> ...


 I did use a 3 point 200 gallon homemade spray rig last year.....it was very inaccurate and unsafe to use. It got junked this winter. The reason I thought that I may need the auto boom leveling was I am farming very unlevel rough terrain that even the 30 foot boom was dragging a lot. I'm not sure what size I definatly want yet.....I was thinking something along the lines of a 300 or 500 gallon, 40 or 45 foot boom. I had heard that the tandem axle was not good for turns, which I will be doing a lot of in the irregular shaped fields. Would a single flotation tire be better than these big tractor tire sprayers?


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Hayden, you can go to Iva's website and price up what you are looking for. 45' booms would probably be the best for you. You can also use a wheel and tire out on the booms to keep them from dragging if your terrain is that uneven. I used to use a 3 pt sprayer (300 gal) and they are a pain to use and dangerous on uneven ground. It takes a lot of front weight to balance it out. Mike


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

FarmerCline said:


> Would a single flotation tire be better than these big tractor tire sprayers?


The big tractor tired sprayers pull a lot easier esp in soft/wet ground.The lugs keep the tires turning in muddy ground where the smaller flotation tires will slide.They also ride smoother.Most every new sprayer here is set up with the tall tires.Some can also be setup to straddle 4 x 30" rows for 120" wh spaceing so your boom rides better also in rougher ground.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Some of y'all have said to get a hydraulic pump....why is this better than a pto roller pump? Does it take a lot of hydraulic flow to run properly?


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## jtpfarm (Aug 19, 2011)

A PTO pump will drop pressure when the engine is throttled back where a hydraulic pump will not. (unless maybe going from wide open to dead idle. Watch auctiontime for sprayers. My sprayer is a 665 redball. It has 60 foot booms, rinse tank, hydraulic fold, hydraulic pump, 14.9-38 tires, and a 440 raven monitor with auto rate control. Got the whole setup for under $8000 off craigslist like new. If you are getting GPS look into using the guidance monitor to control your rate and then you will also get auto boom shutoff and overlap control.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

JD - you'd put all of the clear water in the big tank. you'd then switch the valves to turn on the inductor, and then you would add the 2,4-D in there. By having the inductor 'on' it will agitate the spray mix water. powder sprays will still have to go in the top, don't plop them in all at once, and have the agitator going while you do it. A word of caution - the inductor gets its water from the spray tank, and to make it handy, they are all lower than the top of the spray tank - when the solution pump is NOT running, the spray mix will come out of the inductor if you did not shut it off. So you just have to shut the valves, and not leave it on all the time for agitation. Clear as mud???? The inductor tank is just there so we get things mixed better, that's all. Used to be it was all done through the big lid on top, and it can still be done that way, but the inductor is much nicer, especially if it has a jug cleaner on it......

Cline - you might have to go to 500gallon to get a big wheel - not sure how cost compares to 300gallon, but it would be worth it. Another poster talked about the hydraulic pumps, and that's right on. I think you'd want 45ft booms. I'd also opt for a radar and a Raven 440-450 controller - something that will vary the amount of product applied given your actual speed. like NDVA said - a wheel kinda like a bike wheel) on the ends of the booms will keep them from bottoming out, and busting nozzles. One of the sprayers we had, used a round stock bent in a big circle - looked like a wheel, just didn't move.

Rodney


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## NDVA HAYMAN (Nov 24, 2009)

Hayden, I meant to tell you about cleaning out the sprayer. You had concerns about using different chemicals on beans and alfalfa. I use a neutralizer in my sprayer when changing chemicals to keep that from happening. I buy mine at Agri-Supply. Not sure if places like Tractor Supply sell it or not but I would think you could order it off the Internet. Mike


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I was thinking some more about the hydraulic pump and with it I understand the pressure will not drop like a pto pump would when you throttle down but how do you keep it pumping all the time? Do you have to tie the remote lever down? I don't know if it matters or not but more than likely I will be pulling the sprayer with an IH 986....not a newer tractor with high hydraulic flow.


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## jtpfarm (Aug 19, 2011)

I think you are overthinking how much flow that hydraulic pump will use  On my 4240 I have to turn the hydraulic flow down to keep the pump from running too fast. It doesn't use much flow at all and you should have pleanty of hydraulic flow for it. As far as the leavers the detent should hold the leaver engaged to keep the pump running. Keep in mind when you shut the pump off you need to put the leaver in float so the pump coasts to a stop instead of stopping rapidly. The best thing to do is to add a case return and put the return flow of the pump in that. Case returns are cheap and simple.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Good thing you're buying a new sprayer. I bought a used one and have no idea where all these freakin wires go!!!


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## ajj0034 (Jul 31, 2011)

If it were me I would find two because it's not uncommon to have a touch of 24 d or cimmaron still in there and poof there goes a couple acres of beans or alfalfa. I know a lot of people that have burned off stuff. I know people are not going to agree with but oh we'll. find a tee jet monitor with color monitoring we paid I believe 500 for ours. You would be amazed when fertilizing how much of a gap you leave especially in pasture ground.


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## JD3430 (Jan 1, 2012)

Sorry if its a hi-jack, but question the speed sensor on the wheel of my sprayer- what does it talk to? The tee jet monitor?


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

JD3430 said:


> Sorry if its a hi-jack, but question the speed sensor on the wheel of my sprayer- what does it talk to? The tee jet monitor?


CORRECT


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

FarmerCline said:


> I was thinking some more about the hydraulic pump and with it I understand the pressure will not drop like a pto pump would when you throttle down but how do you keep it pumping all the time? Do you have to tie the remote lever down? I don't know if it matters or not but more than likely I will be pulling the sprayer with an IH 986....not a newer tractor with high hydraulic flow.


I'm not familiar with IH tractors, doesn't the lever lock in position to raise or lower implements?

The pump should come wit instructions for use on various hydraulic systems. On our Oliver's and White's we install a restrictor on the pressure side of the pump. Then if I remember correctly you hook it up so when your lever is in the lower position that runs the pump. Also doesn't hurt the least bit to install a zero return.


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## Rodney R (Jun 11, 2008)

For years we used an 826 on the sprayer, and used a rubber tarp strap to hold the lever in place. That lever would lock, but not enough to run the motor. We have a newer JD on the sprayer now and that lever locks in place by itself. I know that on the fertilizer spreader those spinners are hydraulic (on ours), and there is a knob to turn, depending on the kind of hydraulic system - if the oil gets hot then it's the wrong way.

Rodney


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

FarmerCline said:


> I was thinking some more about the hydraulic pump and with it I understand the pressure will not drop like a pto pump would when you throttle down but how do you keep it pumping all the time? Do you have to tie the remote lever down? I don't know if it matters or not but more than likely I will be pulling the sprayer with an IH 986....not a newer tractor with high hydraulic flow.


If I was buying a sprayer for an old IH with open center Hydraulics I would by a pto pump.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

mlappin said:


> I'm not familiar with IH tractors, doesn't the lever lock in position to raise or lower implements?


 I don't think you can lock the lever in position but I'm not positive on this....when raising or lowering implements I just pull the lever. I was told for running my JD 1590 drill on the IH not to tie the lever into a position where it would be constantly running or it would damage the hydraulic system on the tractor. That is what was concerning me with a hydraulic pump for the sprayer....I was assuming the lever would have to be kept in a working position for the pump to run.....wasn't sure if that would damage my hydraulic system.


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## mlappin (Jun 25, 2009)

FarmerCline said:


> I don't think you can lock the lever in position but I'm not positive on this....when raising or lowering implements I just pull the lever. I was told for running my JD 1590 drill on the IH not to tie the lever into a position where it would be constantly running or it would damage the hydraulic system on the tractor. That is what was concerning me with a hydraulic pump for the sprayer....I was assuming the lever would have to be kept in a working position for the pump to run.....wasn't sure if that would damage my hydraulic system.


I'm pretty certain HYPRO offers a hydraulic drive spray pump that will work with open center systems. Our 4880 MF uses a gear pump open system for the hydraulics and those levers will lock in place when raising or lowering an implement.

If your IH is any thing like an oliver or white, pop the dust cover off the end of the spool and use a long allen wrench to adjust the spring that controls the detent. The MF 4880 requires a person to completely disassemble the spool assembly to add or remove shims if the detent isn't properly adjusted, lack of planning on somebody's part there.

Biggest thing about running a hydraulic motor with a open center gear pump system is to make sure you have that zero return installed to further reduce any additional heat buildup from added back pressure.


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## blueridgehay (Dec 25, 2012)

I too am a looking for a pull type 300 gal sprayer. I priced one from Crop Care in PA, H&H Machinery in Monroe, and Redddick in Williamston. Each was spec. out almost exactly the way you wanted. H&H was over 12,000, Crop Care was 11,800 and Reddicks was round 8500. Went with Reddick. I didn't go with automatic rate control cause of the increase in price. Most of the monitoring systems can add as much as $3500 to the price.


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