Sprayer/Liquid Fert. Rig

My pump is an AR 30. Make sure you buy stuff which is 'off the shelf' in your area.

Yes you can get a good deal on-line, but when it needs something having to track down parts can take days. Often the job will not wait days

AR30 pump and a 9 horse engine will squirt about 100 feet in the air with plenty of power to wet a tree.
 
For about 50 bucks you can make the PTO input on the cheaper pump into a female 1.25" keyed input. From there fab up a jack shaft with an 18" pulley on the pump, and a 3" pulley on the engine. The pulley and hub would set you back about $80, so were up to $130. You'd need 2 bearings, 2 belts, an axle, and fab up the frame (simple). So figure for less than $250 you could make the cheap pump work like the pump that cost $800 more work. The missing bit is a regulator, not sure if the cheaper pump includes that or not.

Anyone know what GRGI stands for?

Off to class!
 
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  • #29
Thanks for all the feedback.

Here in CT licensing is a must also. In reality you need a license to do anything to a tree besides remove it. 3 part test, written, ID, and oral, brought upon by the DEP. Not many people around here have it, they claim it's too hard, and the DEP doesn't enforce it enough to make it an issue which sucks for the people who have it. But its the law, and I got it and they claim a $2500/day fine if caught doing shotty work without it.

Anyways, I'd like to see some of your guys injection rigs when you get a chance, seems like a good idea. I have thought about just doing tree injections too Frans, as all the worrying folks and drift etc. I may just do that, but wanted to test the waters to see how much a "spray" rig would cost. Seems like a lot.
 
Figure on $3k for a skid setup.

For an injection setup, are you talking about basal system or soil injections?
 
LJ, the first link is the pump I have. But I might be wrong as I recently priced a new one at two different stores and got a price of a bit over 700 bucks.

Yes, after considering it, the pump may not be just right for spewing cheemikals (Claus Mattucks pronunciation) over 100' in the air.

I have sprayed pretty large trees with it, and it worked just fine.

However, the AR 30 pump is a fine pump for doing everything I want.



---by the way, my set up is BUILT, NOT BOUGHT. I got the tank for 20 bucks and built everything else.

The picture of the rusty engine is my old Briggs & Stratton 6 horse. You can see the gear box on the side for the gear reduction. My new Honda has an integrated gear reduction which uses the same oil bath as the engine.
 

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so heres my pump, tank and wand, inside the tank is my agitator. sorry i didnt put it together but i think you can see how it goes together, if not just say so. i use a heavy garden hose for a line.
 

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Snarf, the first is just the pump, w/o the regulator or the gearbox. The second is the pump, regulator, and gear box.
 
I don't know what kind og rig I used but today I put 'bout 600 gal. of boost (firt) in the ground I think Its a john bean
 
Frans,
I like your homemade rig, very similar to what I have only your trailor is much nicer looking than the junky thing I got for my skid mount Lesco rig. That old Briggs is the very same engine I have but I think mine is a 8 HP. I even have a Hypro pump on my rig. Even that Hanaway handcrank reel is the same.

Just to add a little more to the thread that I haven't seen mentioned is the type of pump and agitation method needed for applying chemicals and fertilizers.

There are two types of pumps. Diaphram and piston pumps. The diaphram pumps are ok for concentrated liquids that are diluted with water. For water soluable granular material like the Dogget fertilizer we use you need a piston pump. The abrasiveness of the granular material when in suspension will eat a diaphram pump up in no time. To me piston pumps are the best even though they are more expensive than a diaphram.

Two types of agitation are available for the tanks. Jet and mechanical agitators. Jet agitators work similar to a hot tub recircualting the water in the tank by using jets located in the tank. This type of agitation is ok for strictly liquid products. A mechanical agitator is a shaft that runs at the bottom of the tank with paddles on the shaft and is turned by a drive belt from the engine. Mechanical agitation is much better suited for water soulable granular fertilizers.

For simple soil injection of fertilizers I run about 125 psi sometimes 150. I don't if this is true or not but too much pressure can blow the root hairs off of the main roots. There have been a few cases of trees being injured from have high pressure or too much psi when doing soil injections.

All the other info given is right on for actual spraying of trees. Which I also avoid. It is all a matter of gpm on the pump size and psi that deterimes how high up a tree you want to go.

I hope this helps Brendov out a little. I have been down this road myself. Decisions decisions. Fertilizing is a good money maker because you can schedule it better if weather conditions are not favorable for high tree work. You can apply fertilizer during high windy days or if you want to don a raincoat you can fertilize in a pouring rain if you want too. Spraying for bugs and diseases is a matter of timing that never worked out for me and like has been said is pretty much frowned upon these days by John Q. Public. Not to mention the possible lawsuit your opening yourself up to.
 
my pump is centrifical and i run a soluble powder. i tried granular but always had junk left in the tank
 
Good post, thanks Larry. Those 'soluble' powders often do not really dissolve and leave junk passing through the system. I had not mentioned that. Many a filter has been gummed up from them.

I use a surfactant derived from the yucca plant which helps to get everything mixed a bit (I think)
 
hahahaaha:D i use it to try and kick start barren soils in new sub divisions and for pre/post construction treatments. i have a clear concsionce:)
 
hahahaaha i use it to try and kick start barren soils in new sub divisions and for pre/post construction treatments. i have a clear conscience

Those are about the only examples where I WOULD apply that stuff. Greenhouses with sterile soil is another example
 
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  • #44
I got that little water pump today, it's got a 5.5 hp Honda engine.

I was looking through Sherrill catalog and they have a 5.5hp Honda, with a "k40" pump, puts out 10gpm at 550psi. I'm wondering what kinda height that would reach.

I am now thinking if I can reach 50ish feet that would be good for most anything. Anything over that it would be a inject-able pesticide.

I can't seem to find what they are using as the "K40" pump.


Where you at CArl.
 
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  • #45
Ah, a Kappa 40 pump will reach 40'. If I get the pump/gear box combo similar to Frans, I would just need a tank, some hose, a frame, and a gun for spraying and root feeding. Doesn't seem to bad.
 
Belts could/would be cheaper than a gear box, and a gear box is only needed if the pump can't run at the engine's speed.
 
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