spray equipment

[nolagreen]

Iam looking to by a spray rig to take back home Need 30' 40' vertical reach any suggestion

Thanks

 

[pdqdl]

When it comes to spraying trees, you need a higher volume pump, not higher pressure to reach taller trees. 20 gallons per minute at 450 lbs will spray to the top of a 65' pin oak, but only if you hook it up to a large diameter hose (1" for 100').

300' of 1/2" hose: it will only spray 35' up that tree.

The gun you use needs to be able to deliver the volume through the nozzle.

You can hook up a 4000 psi car wash sprayer, but you still won't get past 25'. One advantage to higher pressure: you get smaller droplets. Smaller drops gets better penetration into the foliage of a tree. Fewer gallons of product mix needed, and you can mix your "active ingredients" at a higher concentration.

 

[nolagreen]

spray rig

thanks for the reply what about engine size and gun type for that 20 gpm pump

 

[pdqdl]

Most spray rigs are matched up by the manufacturer. So horsepower generally will be already matched to the pump.

If homebuilt: it's a gamble. Run it up to pressure and test before you buy. If you are building one yourself, dig into a physics book and look up some formulas, or just steal ideas from the manufactured units.

My ancient John Bean sprayer [new in 1984] came with a 12 hp Kohler. It still has the same pump [20gpm @ 500lbs] that it came with, although I have rebuilt the heads a few times. It's still in use today, using the still shiny stainless steel tank that I bought 25 years ago for $7,000.00

I had a 25gpm pump that promised 800psi; it ran on a 23hp Kohler. Too bad the regulator didn't deliver all the pressure it was supposed to give me. I was never able to load down the oversized engine.

 

[pdqdl]

Gun type? For trees, there is always the gold standard: FMC tree gun. Expensive, but they last forever and really do a good job. I'll bet a man couldn't stand up holding onto that gun if it was delivering 48gpm at 800 lbs. I had to really brace myself for 20gpm at 450psi.

[imagine the thrust delivered by 20 gallons of water per minute (160lbs) coming out of a tiny hole 14/64ths of an inch across!]

http://kscdirect.com/item/BEA+785/JOHN+BEAN+SPRAYER+DIV_785+JOHN+BEAN+SPRAY+GUN%0A

Shucks! I have two of them, and haven't used them for years. I should put them on EBAY.

 

[dbotos]

[imagine the thrust delivered by 20 gallons of water per minute (160lbs) coming out of a tiny hole 14/64ths of an inch across!]

It's not as bad if you use a 7/32" hole.

 

[pdqdl]

Ar! Ar! Ar! Ar!

Before you pick on my lack of proper math presentation (failure to reduce a fraction), you need to understand that the spray gun in question had a number of different discs that can be inserted to give different spray characteristics and volume.

All the discs come with a "number": #12, #14, #8, etc. The "number" of each disc corresponds to how many 64ths of an inch are used to define the size of the hole.

So I called it a 14/64ths hole instead of a #14 disc.

 

[dbotos]

I've seen stuff like that before. Lots of "smart" part numbers have key info built in like diameters or lengths, many of which are just "X" amount of some increment and sometimes make unreduced fractions, like you said. I'll take you off the math police list since you explained.

 

[nolagreen]

spray rig

pdqdl
what do you think about 7.8 gpm, 0-250psi 8 roller pump to reach spray heights of 30-35'

 

[pdqdl]

Well...

It will probably make it, but not real well. You will need to be careful about the nozzle size on your spray gun in order to balance the height of spray against the atomization. I have used roller pumps for lawn applications, mostly on boom sprayers. It will probably be ok if you do it on a really calm morning, and everything else is tested out in advance.

Tree spraying done well requires not just a stream that goes as high as the tree, it also requires teeny tiny droplets that penetrate into all the crevasses and give good coverage. A powerful fog is best, and makes the best use of your time and chemical.

Too big a nozzle, you get big droplets and poor penetration, despite spraying as high as you need to go. Then you waste chemicals with too much runoff. No Problem, just dilute the chemical and spray more water, right? No. Then you accomplish less by putting too dilute a product onto the tree surface.

Too small a nozzle: great atomization, wonderful penetration. Perfect for the job, except there is a much higher demand for horsepower to overcome the force required to make those tiny drops. Adding engine horsepower won't help, each pump can only deliver so much horsepower to the line, then it falls short.

Nozzle is just right, you have great atomization, but low flow (too small a pump): great penetration, but the underpowered fog doesn't carry as high into the tree as you would like. It takes volume AND pressure to reach greater heights.

What are you spraying? It might make a difference.

 

[nolagreen]

buck moth caterpillars in my oak trees

 

[pdqdl]

From what I read, those are a nasty caterpillar to play with. We don't have them in our area.

I suspect that you are too late to give good control, the life cycle is winding down to pupation about now. Nothing I have read indicates that they harm the trees; I'd leave them be.

Prevention would be your best bet. Try spraying some Dormant oil next January; this should knock out the eggs before they hatch. It also rather benign in the environment.

If that isn't effective, spray the caterpillars in March with some pyrethrins, when they are not so mature. For a ecologically safe option, I'm sure that Bacillus thuringiensis would work also, although I have never tried it out.

 

[nolagreen]

so what are you saying once there caterpillars there is nothing i can do to kill them in the tree

 

[md_tree_dood]

To get back to your original question.

Get in touch with Minnesota Wanner at

Minnesota Wanner

To my knowledge you can buy reconditioned rigs from them for a fraction of the cost of a custom built rig, granted each will have different features but hopefully the one you purchase will have the feature set you're looking for.

 

[deerhunter1]

so what are you saying once there caterpillars there is nothing i can do to kill them in the tree

I just read where New Orleans is getting hit hard with the buckmoth caterpillars. The article stated hundreds are falling out of trees onto sidewalks, porches, littering streets. Not only oak trees affected but also willow trees and roseplants. The article stated caterpillars should dissapear in a few weeks. You should be able to get more info from your local news seeing that its affecting New Orleans at this time. Or your local nursery can help answer your questions. It also stated you and your pets should be careful not to get bit by them. Very painful and you'll need to clean area and use lotion with steroid in it.

 

[pdqdl]

so what are you saying once there caterpillars there is nothing i can do to kill them in the tree

If the caterpillars are still in the trees, they are still feeding and growing. Pyrethrin insecticides will almost always work on any insect they hit.

I have no experience with this bug, but what I read indicates they are not much of a problem until they descend out of the trees to go to ground to pupate. Then people start getting stung by their hairs, pain causes a desire for revenge, insecticide gets sprayed all over the tree, the natural predators of softbody insects get killed by accident, and you are set up for more caterpillars in the tree than you started with. And you might very well miss the majority of the buck moth caterpillar population because they have descended out of the tree to pupate, and they are crawling around where you are not spraying.