# Weed Wipers



## PaMike

Thinking about getting a weed wiper for the front of my UTV. I have some pasture that has a lot of clover in it, and I dont want to kill the clover to eliminate the ragweed.

Anyone have one of the ones from Rosco? http://rodgersinc.com

It uses rope loops and a PVC tube..

Also most people say use 1:1 roundup/water. Anyone ever use Crossbow or 2,4d? I only want to kill broadleaves so why use Roundup???

Any input? Looking at one 6 ft wide.


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## Vol

PaMike said:


> Thinking about getting a weed wiper for the front of my UTV. I have some pasture that has a lot of clover in it, and I dont want to kill the clover to eliminate the ragweed.
> 
> Anyone have one of the ones from Rosco? http://rodgersinc.com
> 
> It uses rope loops and a PVC tube..
> 
> Also most people say use 1:1 roundup/water. Anyone ever use Crossbow or 2,4d? I only want to kill broadleaves so why use Roundup???
> 
> Any input? Looking at one 6 ft wide.


We built a 20 footer just exactly like that many years ago....I used it for weeds and it worked pretty good. You need to drive pretty slow so that the wicks have time to load up. It worked the very best on Johnson grass with gly. There are others that are much better and of course more expensive because they use a sprayer to quickly load a sponge type wiper allowing one to drive much faster.

There are directions still out there on building a PVC wick wiper. I don't think I would make it less than 10 feet long....one joint of piping.

Regards, Mike


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## PaMike

I was wondering if you couldnt put a valve stem on the top of the pvc pipe, then put a couple lbs of air in it to help push the fluid out.

I do this with tote tank. Only takes a couple psi, and when you open the valve at the bottm the fluid comes out way quicker...


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## RockyHill

Have used two different ones -- canvas & sponge. The canvas was the first one and started out with it on an ATV. For hay fields, the ATV thumb throttle was wearisome so Jeff made a mounting bracket to use on the back of the 40 John Deere. When we got the sponge type Jeff built all the frame to also use on the JD 40.

Have a 10' one of these canvas type. Instructions call for a very thorough cleaning between uses (so the gly doesn't dry in the pores of the canvas) along with using the non-plus gly products. On our hills the gly will run out the ends so need to go up/down hills which slows down the process.

http://www.qualitymetalworks.com/products/weed_wiper.htm

This year we bought a 15' one of these sponge types. It uses a pump but the sponges stay saturated without too much drip problems. Cleanup until the end of season is just a rinse off. Sponges are giving better coverage than the canvas and can use any formulation of gly or other chemicals.

http://www.smuckermfg.net/#!ATVModels/zoom/rhz7k/dataItem-imw7hh6v

Shelia


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## Vol

PaMike said:


> I was wondering if you couldnt put a valve stem on the top of the pvc pipe, then put a couple lbs of air in it to help push the fluid out.
> 
> I do this with tote tank. Only takes a couple psi, and when you open the valve at the bottm the fluid comes out way quicker...


I don't think it would hold air Mike....it would leak out the wick hole and the wick material.

Regards, Mike


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## PaMike

RockyHill said:


> Have used two different ones -- canvas & sponge. The canvas was the first one and started out with it on an ATV. For hay fields, the ATV thumb throttle was wearisome so Jeff made a mounting bracket to use on the back of the 40 John Deere. When we got the sponge type Jeff built all the frame to also use on the JD 40.
> 
> Have a 10' one of these canvas type. Instructions call for a very thorough cleaning between uses (so the gly doesn't dry in the pores of the canvas) along with using the non-plus gly products. On our hills the gly will run out the ends so need to go up/down hills which slows down the process.
> 
> http://www.qualitymetalworks.com/products/weed_wiper.htm
> 
> This year we bought a 15' one of these sponge types. It uses a pump but the sponges stay saturated without too much drip problems. Cleanup until the end of season is just a rinse off. Sponges are giving better coverage than the canvas and can use any formulation of gly or other chemicals.
> 
> http://www.smuckermfg.net/#!ATVModels/zoom/rhz7k/dataItem-imw7hh6v
> 
> Shelia


Shelia,

How much chemical/liquid do you typically use? Can you go through a gallon or two per acre? I was assuming it didn't take much liquid. Also, what type of pressure do you use to the sponge? I was looking at the Smucker wipers. Weren't sure if they were worth the money?


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## hcriddle

I just built a 20' and used it to wipe Johnson grass last weekend. It will hold about 7.5 gallons and I used a 33% solution of Round-Up because I was being overly cautious with my newly sprigged Tifton 85. I was very pleased with the results. You can find the plans online and I got the rope and the fittings from Gulf Rope and Cordage in Fairhope, AL. Easy to make up and get going. I used about 4 gallons but I was just hitting spots of Johnson grass here and there throughout my pasture.

Buddy


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## RockyHill

PaMike said:


> Shelia,
> 
> How much chemical/liquid do you typically use? Can you go through a gallon or two per acre? I was assuming it didn't take much liquid. Also, what type of pressure do you use to the sponge? I was looking at the Smucker wipers. Weren't sure if they were worth the money?


Jeff was going for a 25% gly rate. Probably used around a gallon per acre -- this was scattered, not solid johnsongrass. It isn't pressurized, just turn the pump on for a few seconds to saturate the sponges. The recommended pump needs 1.8 gpm. Probably got $1,000 in it plus some materials for the frame and Jeff's time building it. Also looked at one carpet covered and motor to turn the rolls -- looked like it would have done a good job but couldn't justify the extra $$$s. Have talked with Rob Smucker a couple of times and he was very helpful. So far looks like we're getting a good kill.

Shelia


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## PaMike

I have a 3 pt 110 gallon sprayer with 12 ft booms...mainly used for fence rows..Thinking of buying the Smucker sponges and hanging them on my booms. I would already have the pump and tank. Might be a little tough getting flow low enough with a roller pump, but might work...

What do you think?


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## RockyHill

PaMike said:


> I have a 3 pt 110 gallon sprayer with 12 ft booms...mainly used for fence rows..Thinking of buying the Smucker sponges and hanging them on my booms. I would already have the pump and tank. Might be a little tough getting flow low enough with a roller pump, but might work...
> 
> What do you think?


Jeff thinks that would work, connect to a spray nozzle for the supply -- that is one way it is done. Might be a bit more waste to get a smaller amount of chemical mixture in large tank. Should be able to use your regulator to get pressure that would work. The sponges come in 5' sections so you could go 15' without much problem if you wanted to. Sure that Rob Smucker will be glad to give you specifics on getting it set up.

Shelia


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## PaMike

Thanks, I will give him a call and see what he says..


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## luke strawwalker

We used to run a rope-type one on the front of our cultivator tractor when we were row cropping cotton to take out johnsongrass and sometimes even pigweed/palmer amaranth (if it was tall enough above the crop-- if you could get a wipe on about 8 inches or so of the top, it'd usually kill the whole plant; if it was 6 inches or less, usually it'd just kill the top half of the pigweed; either way it really reduced the competition and weed problems later on.

The rope wick one worked "okay" but in heavy infestations the ropes go dry easily and don't recharge fast enough. Ours eventually got old and the ropes were pulling out of the pipes because the rubber grommets were about shot, so we junked it.

Later, I got one of the Speidel wipers... they use a 2 inch PVC pipe covered with sailboat canvas, which re-wets/re-saturates the canvas VERY quickly after running through a patch of grass, so it could handle heavy infestations a LOT better than the rope type ones. BOTH the rope and canvas machines use a controlled vacuum on the pipe to prevent excessive dripping... at a 33% Roundup (glyphosate) solution, a single drop can kill a desirable plant it lands on. The rope applicator we had used a shorter pipe above it as a "tank" to hold the chemical til you got to the field, then you'd open a center valve which allowed it to run down into the rope wick "boom" and then you closed the valve slowly until the ropes quit dripping-- this would hold a light 'vacuum' on the wick section as the fluid went out the ropes and was rubbed on the plants, slowly emptying the boom, but not allowing too much to seep out onto the ropes and drip off. You DEFINITELY would NOT want to 'pressurize' the boom with air pressure-- it'd leak like a sieve and glop gly all over everything and kill a bunch of your crop. The canvas type Spiedel applicator used a hose bib on the ends of each section, which you'd just BARELY open until it let in JUST enough air to keep the canvas thoroughly wet without dripping. If it dripped, close up the hose bib a tiny bit, if the canvas was getting dry, open the bib just a TOUCH...

I've seen the carpet roller types, both motor and ground driven at farm shows, and I've seen the sponge types, but never ran either.

The most important thing is, there MUST be height difference between your target and your crop sufficient to get a good wipe on at least about a THIRD of the target plant for good RELIABLE control. I had some pigweeds that just the top two leaves were touched by the wick while cultivating and it would burn them to the ground, and I'd see some that got the top 4 inches wiped barely get sick, or just burn the top foot off the plant. I'd say you need to get a good wipe on about, at a MINIMUM, the top 6 inches of the target plant to really ensure a good clean kill. That means it's gotta stick up about 8-12 inches above your crop canopy, because if you rub the top of the crop, it'll usually kill it. You want at LEAST 4 inches of clearance IMHO... and we typically ran a foot above the crop just to be sure, as plant height varies across the field and from plant to plant...

The second thing is, if you have a field that's just SOLID with the target weed species, you're probably gonna have to make several passes to do a good job... the canvas type recharges FAR faster than the rope type does, not sure about the sponge type machines. BUT, with target plants CONSTANTLY hitting the surface and getting chemical wiped on them, it CAN 'suck it dry' and you've got "dry ropes" that aren't smearing enough gly on the targets to actually kill them, ESPECIALLY in high concentrations of dense weeds. You have to SLOW DOWN and make multiple passes, preferably from different directions, to make sure you get enough wiped on everything, and especially the central areas of dense stands of weeds, to do the job well.

Best of luck! OL J R


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## Vol

Another thought PaMike is to spray with 1 pint to the acre of 2-4d. It will set White clover back here, but will not kill it....especially now while it is still hot and the clover is at a bit of a lull.

I have sprayed here many times with 2 pints/ac. of 2-4d and was hoping it would kill the clover and it did not...only suppress it for a bit.

Red clover is in hibernation here now....but if it was not the 2-4d would kill alot of it.

Regards, Mike


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## PaMike

I ended up getting a weed wiper from Smucker. It works ok. I went through a field, waited a week then hit it again to get a better kill. Using 2,4d instead of roundup. It worked well on ragweed.

Now I got some nightshade I gotta take care of. That stuff is too low for the wiper...

I am leaning towards getting rid of the clover and going straight grass. The management of mixed stands when you have weed problems is just too much time and money..


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## rjmoses

My experience with weed wipers is that they are so-so.

Used a 16' canvas wiper on a thick infestation of watergrass in an orchardgrass field mounted on the front of my compact tractor. Did a pretty good job on the water grass, but where my tractor tires ran over the water grass, the roundup was mashed/transported onto the OG. Left two nice streaks of dead WG/OG everywhere I went. Didn't try that again.

Ralph


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## Vol

rjmoses said:


> My experience with weed wipers is that they are so-so.
> 
> Used a 16' canvas wiper on a thick infestation of watergrass in an orchardgrass field mounted on the front of my compact tractor. Did a pretty good job on the water grass, but where my tractor tires ran over the water grass, the roundup was mashed/transported onto the OG. Left two nice streaks of dead WG/OG everywhere I went. Didn't try that again.
> 
> Ralph


That does happen....rear mounts prevent this but the negative of those is that you flatten some areas with your tires that need treatment.....pick your poison.

Regards, Mike


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