question about injection equipment

[masterarbor]

i like to offer diagnosis and treatment to my customers, but i don't have an application truck, so i sub it out to trugreen. i hate having them as my sub and i don't like having another company in my customer's yards. if i could figure out a way to do the fertilization myself, then i'd just sub out the nasty stuff that i don't like anyway. ie "cides" does anyone have any experience with those small hand held injectors that sell in the sherrill catalogue? i have a 3500 gvw single axle trailer that i could put a tank on and a pump, but i don't do a ton of ferts, maybe 30 a year, so it's not that cost effective. plus the trailer would kind of have to be a dedicated vehicle then, which isn't convenient. any advice would be awesome!
thanks, kevin

 

[treemandan]

Sound like you are one busy guy.I have fed trees using a little injector spike you hook up to a garden hose put the fert in a little cup on top. I don't feed to many trees. I usually just put granular down these days but still have the little injector spike somewhere. I don't really provide this kind of service anyway and I have no credentials.
The cost to get set up is pretty substantial as you had better know. There is , apparently, big bucks in it which you should allready know as well. Combine the 2 and you can get a big headache.
One option is to use cambium injectors which cuts equipment cost real quick. A rig on a pallet can be taken off a transport unit when not being used.I guess a cheap one could be built like I built my wvo filter. A 55 gal drum, pump and hose. It should work to soil inject but I don't think it would spray very high. Now they have those backpack blowers that spray.
I use a backpack sprayer(hand pump) made by Stihl( thank you) to spray poison ivy which is the only thing I do spray. Actually I am not even allowed to do that without credentials so I do it for "free". I use Round up. Someone has to do it.

 

[OLD CHIPMONK]

I'd suggest granular applications over liquid. Easily stored,measured,applied & transported. Readily purchased, no evaporates or wasted, unused product. No need for expensive applicator equipment & you'll be the only one on " your customers property ". One call does it all. Get rid of that sub !!!

 

[pdqdl]

I'd suggest granular applications over liquid. Easily stored,measured,applied & transported. Readily purchased, no evaporates or wasted, unused product. No need for expensive applicator equipment & you'll be the only one on " your customers property ". One call does it all. Get rid of that sub !!!

I agree. Furthermore, most of the people that sell tree fertilization (in our area, don't everybody get up in arms at me !) really are not doing an adequate job, and only put enough fertilizer in the tank to make a nice pattern of green spots in the yard.

If you throw the right amount of fertilizer on the ground, the trees and the lawn will both benefit. The exception to that might be trees planted in small holes in concrete sidewalks, or similar paved areas.

Do a soil test, follow the recommendations.

 

[masterarbor]

I'd suggest granular applications over liquid. Easily stored,measured,applied & transported. Readily purchased, no evaporates or wasted, unused product. No need for expensive applicator equipment & you'll be the only one on " your customers property ". One call does it all. Get rid of that sub !!!

i've thought of that and it's not off the table yet. would you suggest the 2" auger and backfill method or broadcast? the problem with broadcast is that it feeds the grass and ground cover more than the trees. i definitely need a cost effective method. keep the ideas commin' guys, i need a good solution. last fall was a headache tracking all those invoice from trugreen.

 

[masterarbor]

I agree. Furthermore, most of the people that sell tree fertilization (in our area, don't everybody get up in arms at me !) really are not doing an adequate job, and only put enough fertilizer in the tank to make a nice pattern of green spots in the yard.

If you throw the right amount of fertilizer on the ground, the trees and the lawn will both benefit. The exception to that might be trees planted in small holes in concrete sidewalks, or similar paved areas.

Do a soil test, follow the recommendations.

i guess i'm a little nervous about going off the beaten trail on this issue. the people around here are trained on injection. if i felt certain that the auger or broadcast method was comparable, i could confidently sell it.

 

[OLD CHIPMONK]

Auger application, in conjunction with further ground application is an old, time tested, proven method. You can't go wrong with proper soil samples & testing. Formulate, measure the field & apply accordingly. A foolproof methodology. No expensive equipment, no spray applicators license , no forms ( only your records ) & 100% satisfaction from the homeowner. You might consider doing customers' lawns , with a large broadcast spreader. Our state laws are unforgiving, where spray applications are concerned. Heavy fines are not uncommon.

 

[BC WetCoast]

We do soil injection fertilization. There is a bit of money in equipment: a tank, 300 psi pump and motor and hose and injector needle.

Depending on the size of tank (the amount of work you'll do in a day) you can put it in a pick up or on a trailer or on your chip truck.

Fertilization is a good service to provide. A good applicator will generate the same revenue as a 2 man tree crew with little risk of damage. And liquid injection is significantly more productive than auger/granular. Tying it to an soil test and pest inspection makes for a complete IPM.

I can understand why you don't like using the "cides" but there are several benign (to us) products that are available and important components to Integrated Pest Management strategy. In several municipalities that have pesticide restrictions, these products are all you can use anyway. These would include things like; dormant oil, lime sulphur, soap, copper oxychloride, sulphur, sticky bands, nematodes, ladybugs, pheremone traps etc.

 

[Urban Forester]

Contact your closest Lesco. They have a low profile unit designed for a 2500. Also there is Lehman Co. they design units for 2500's. Thirdly Spraying Devices Inc. (SDI) in Calif. have many units that are "skid" mounted for mounting in trucks.

 

[masterarbor]

well i sold my first vertical mulch fertilizer application today. the customer accepted my procedure as specified. i think this will be a good solution to my problem. no more subs in my yards! now i need to buy and auger to use... also sold a boxwood leafminer app to him. i have been using the ortho tree and shrub imidcloprid systemic for almosy every pest. so i can be independent this year. the only drawback is that none of the applications are as speedy as hydraulic is, but it's a step in the right direction. thanks for the encouragement!

kevin

 

[Bob Wright]

My neighbor just got started fertilizing tree roots and bought a used trailer mounted sprayer but didn't get some of the parts like the spray handle and wand and some of the tank mixing parts were gone. I made him some mixing parts that churn the mix real good and made him the wand and spray handle with 6 extra tips to go into the ground for next to nothing. But other than that i don't know how it works...Bob