DIY boomless sprayer

[M-5]

so last week I decided I needed a boomless sprayer to spray some areas that were under water last year and in a wooded area that I can not get the boom in . I started with a 55 gal blue drum (free) and electric pump form an old 25gal sprayer (also free) I purchased 10 1/2" pvc pipe some elbows and threaded fittings ( approx. 20$)
rain bird tip cst 15 ($1.75) the tip I used required a little tweeking. it was spraying a little to much out the top but a solidering iron fixed it. It covers 18' swath puts out 8 gal of water an acre. Here is the set up

 

[tater74]

Looks good. Let's see a shot of it in action

 

[ga.prime]

Your weeds look like my weeds.

 

[greybeard]

I've forgotten--is that what weeds such as fennel look like without 2' of water on them?
In the last pic, why is the grass under the weeds all dead looking?

 

[ga.prime]

I've never seen wood ducks like anything better for roosting than flooded dog fennels.

M-5, does that rainbird spray a quarter circle or half circle or what?

 

[M-5]

CST 15 sprays qtr circle both sides

 

[ga.prime]

Interesting rig. How many gallons/minute?

 

[M-5]

I have not done the math on it. I just did a standard calibration marked ft to travel set speed and then measured output over that time. At slow speed its about 8 gal per acre. I then determined amount of chemical needed

 

[M-5]

I also riged a toggle switch to shut it down when I turn and move from one place to the other.

 

[greybeard]

How do you do your mixing M5? I put a tee and valve in both my spray tanks (35 & 300 gal) to circulate so the chemical and surfactant get mixed good with the water, tho by the time I get where I'm going to spray, just the sloshing around probably does a pretty good job...

 

[M-5]

Slosh mixing

 

[CaddoFarms]

Thanks for posting, a sprayer is on my list of things to buy. I think I'll build this instead.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Thanks for posting, a sprayer is on my list of things to buy. I think I'll build this instead.

If you pick up one of those 300 gallon tote tanks and mount it on a little trailer makes
a dandy sprayer to pull behind the tractor. Get a six roller bearing pump
This is the best boomless nozzle I have found for atomizing and covers 30' a pass.
http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/t ... t-spraying

 

[lavacarancher]

That's a pretty neat sprayer, M5. I made an attachment to my spray rig once and mounted a boomless spray head. I had so much drift that I had to take it off. Wind was almost nothing when I tried it but still the chemical drifted well beyond the spray width. How does yours do with drift?

 

[greybeard]

That's a pretty neat sprayer, M5. I made an attachment to my spray rig once and mounted a boomless spray head. I had so much drift that I had to take it off. Wind was almost nothing when I tried it but still the chemical drifted well beyond the spray width. How does yours do with drift?

Drift is usually caused by pressure not matched to nozzle size--or vice versa. Pressure too high causes fine atomization to the point of a mist which = drift in even the slightest breeze. Most nozzles have an operating range---to get larger droplet size (less drift) use the lower end of the reccomended pressure range.
My 35 gal sprayer uses Boominator type nozzles--I do not care for the sizes I have at all. They do a good job, but in order to get an acceptable swath width, pressure has to be run up so high that they tend to produce a mist. 15' wide is about the best I can do with it and not get drift. They come in different configurations, but here's a simple 180° fan shape.
Boominator:

On my 300 gal sprayer, I have 2 nozzle setups, controlled by a rotary valve that allows me to choose which nozzle set I want to use, as well as any combination of nozzles and a circulating bypass to mix with.

I have this boomjet cluster nozzle, but since this picture was taken, I added a little short 4' long Fimco setup, that is located below and forward of the boomjet cluster.

The Fimco I use if I don't need a real wide swath or if I want to shut off one side or another (each of the 3 nozzles has an intergal shtuoff valve)

Boomjet spraying (not my picture) --you can see that it is producing an output that will be large droplet sizes:

I run it right at 30-35psi while actually spraying. This is the 3rd year I've used this setup--and am pretty happy with how it works--I'd be a lot happier if it weren't so far travel back to the well to refill when I'm done with a tankfull. I do also wish I had bit the bullet and just bought a lower profile cylinder shaped 250-300 gal tank. Climbing up on that trailer to mix chems up on top of that tote is getting wearisome on this old man.

 

[highgrit]

Thanks for the tank configuration tip Greybeard. I've been wanting to build one out of one of them caged tanks, but I'll just buy me the right tank.

 

[Caustic Burno]

Thanks for the tank configuration tip Greybeard. I've been wanting to build one out of one of them caged tanks, but I'll just buy me the right tank.

I prefer my three point hook up spray rig to the trailer tank.
Use the same boomless sprayer great for East Texas around all the trees

 

[greybeard]

Thanks for the tank configuration tip Greybeard. I've been wanting to build one out of one of them caged tanks, but I'll just buy me the right tank.

I prefer my three point hook up spray rig to the trailer tank.

I like my 3 pt too when using the small 35 gal tank, but with a bigger tank like 300 gallons, that's 2500 lbs of sloshing around weight for just the tank and liquid hanging on the 3 point arms. In my case, it was a choice of
1. buy a bigger tractor=$$$$$,
or
2. put it on a trailer=$$$.

 

[Caustic Burno]

They do make 100 and 150 gallon tanks as well.
The trailer model doesn't work as well for me on that steep hill on the east
side GB. There are spots that the pucker factor is high on the tractor with
the 60 gallon tank.
Don't go to whining about trips to refill either :lol: you can't have
your cake and eat it.

 

[greybeard]

I know, it's always a trade off somewhere-stability loss for tank volume, but that's another reason I wish I had gotten a low profile cylinder shaped tank--a lower CoG. A smaller tank (150 gal) means more trips back to the well to refill, whether on a trailer or 3 point, and my biggest area for spraying means a round trip across the dam for every tank full sprayed--It's in good shape, but I try not to drive on the dam any more trips than I absolutely have to. I've toyed with sucking or pumping water out of the ponds, but clogged suction strainer, clogged nozzle screens and clogged nozzles just ain't worth the trouble.