How to Select an Agricultural Spray Equipment for Turfgrass

Is this your first time to buy agricultural spray equipment?  Or are you thinking of replacing your old one?  Whichever the case, there are several factors that you must consider before you select a spraying equipment.

These factors include the following:

•    The size of tank that you will buy depends on the total acreage that you’ll be spraying.
•    You should also consider the type of material that makes up your tank.
•    Moreover, you have to determine if the sprayer is mounted on a utility vehicle, truck-mounted, or tractor-drawn.
•    In addition, choose also the nozzles for the sprayer.
•    And finally, evaluate the accessories that you need to add in order to achieve a more efficient spraying job.

Tanks and Pumps

Turfgrass sprayers usually range from 100-300 gallons.  And it’s usually made from 2 types of material – polyethylene and fiberglass.

Polyethylene tanks are impact resistant, lightweight, and offer UV inhibitors which protect the poly from cracking or drying out.  On the other hand, fiberglass tanks are durable – these are normally used when your standard procedure includes mechanical agitation.

But one of the most important factors to consider when buying agricultural spray equipment is the pump because it is the heart of the sprayer.  There are 2 types of pumps called centrifugal and diaphragm pumps.

Diaphragm pumps (positive displacement) are high-pressure, low-volume, self-priming, and compact units.  The design will keep spray material from corroding or contacting the internal pump components.

Alternatively, centrifugal pumps (non-positive displacement) require no special relief valves because they have a rotating impeller which will feed the liquid (instead of capturing and then discharging fixed volume material like the diaphragm does).  So even if you close the outlet, the impeller will simply rotate harmlessly.

Spray Nozzles

For agricultural spray equipment, there are different nozzle types available which could provide different patterns, droplet sizes, spray angles, and flow rates.  In turfgrass, you could choose from full-cone, hollow-cone, raindrop, flood, and flat fan.

Majority of these nozzles can produce either coarse, medium, or fine droplets.  Often, you need to base your selection on the droplet size.  This is very important because the efficacy of your chemicals will be dependent on the coverage of your spray.

Accessories

So once you have chosen your agricultural spray equipment, you should also consider the extra accessories that will help you enhance the productivity of your sprayer.  Available accessories include kits for controlling drift, electric boom lifts, outer-wheel kits, hose reels, foam marker system, rinse tank, personal wash tank, and electric controllers.

Posted in Agricultural Spray Equipment  on April 1, 2009 - 10:17 am by admin  |