Sprayers101 Archive
Search our archive of expert-written, data-driven analysis of spraying techniques, equipment, strategies, and more.
“Bee” Responsible with Pesticide Sprays
Horticultural crops cannot be produced commercially without the use of pesticides to manage the impacts of insects and pathogens. Growers recognize the importance of…
Smart Spraying Tips and Tricks
This 2018 article was written by Victoria Berry for the Ontario Grain Grower. In the era of social media and keyboard warriors, it’s easy…
Spraying Large Nut Trees – Part 2
This article continues from Part 1. Droplet size Droplet size influences droplet behaviour. The following table lists the pros and cons to changing droplet…
Spraying Large Nut Trees – Part 1
Introduction I’ve studied spray applications in a diversity of crops, both broad acre and specialty, but perhaps nothing is as challenging large tree nut…
Airblast Towers are Worth Considering
Are you considering shelling out for a tower extension for your airblast sprayer? Spray towers are an excellent investment, but they warrant special consideration.…
Dual Fan Nozzles in Broadleaf Crops
Wondering which (if any) dual fan nozzle to buy? Well, first, understand they are intended for vertical targets, like wheat heads. Here’s a diagram…
Agrifac Launch – Endurance II is a High Tech Offensive
Agrifac shunned the Agritechnica show last year, choosing instead to introduce its latest Condor Endurance II alongside a wide range of high-tech controls at…
Sprayer Turn Compensation
Turn compensation is a feature in pulse width modulation (PWM) sprayers in which nozzle output matches the boom’s speed during a turn. When turning,…
ExactApply Primer
ExactApply is an application system capable of PWM, introduced by John Deere in August, 2017, with its first customer field season in 2018. ExactApply…
ExactApply Auto Mode Nozzle Selection (Excel File)
ExactApply Nozzles Auto Mode
TechTour Live Promo Video
In 2018 Tom and I were invited to participate TechTour Live, Real Agriculture’s live educational event spanning four Prairie cities in four days. How…
Nozzle Sizing and Calibration Charts
Need to find the right nozzle size for your application? Sometimes a simple chart is the easiest way to figure things out. Print it…
Diluting 20,000-Fold with a 30 Gallon Remaining Volume in a 1,200 Gallon Tank
(This short article is an addendum to this article) Our goal in this example is to dilute by a factor of 20,000. The maximum…
How Clean is Clean?
One of the more perplexing questions in tank cleanout is knowing when the cleaning process is good enough to prevent harm. This question is…
Testing the Effectiveness of Sprayer Rinsing Methods using Dicamba
This work was performed with Mike Cowbrough, Weed Management Specialist (Field Crops) with OMAFA. The unprecedented number of dicamba drift complaints in the United States…
Application Recordkeeping: Focus on Environmental Conditions
Note: This article was written by Bob Wolf of Wolf Consulting and Research, and first appeared as an NDSU Extension Service publication. Bob has…
Spray Coverage in Carrot, Onion and Potato
This research was performed with Dennis Van Dyk (@Dennis_VanDyk), vegetable specialist with the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. Prior to 2017,…
The Agitation over Agitation
Sprayers101 recently received a couple of seemingly unrelated questions about airblast sprayers: What are the advantages and disadvantages of mechanical versus hydraulic agitation? Why…
Exploding Sprayer Myths (ep.9): Airblast Air
In this, the season three finale of Exploding Sprayer Myths, we join Jason and the Tom-inator as they “tackle” airblast air settings. There are…
The Vermorel Nozzle – Humility in the Face of History
It’s a rainy Friday in 2017 and I decided to deal with the articles, factsheets, manuals and other sprayer-related documents that have been piling…
Unit conversion tables
Canada, like most of the world, is officially Metric. Our American friends are US Imperial. It sounds very cut and dried, doesn’t it? Anyone that’s tried…
The Misplay of our Generation
We tend to overestimate the effect of a technology in the short run and underestimate the effect in the long run. –Amara’s Law of…
Plumbing Projects That Make Spraying Easier and Safer
Some of our biggest struggles in spraying involve the start and end of each spray day. When starting a new field after the sprayer…
Question of the Week: Fine Sprays for Fungicides?
The following question arrived from one of our prairie clients last week: “A retailer is promoting the use of hollow cone nozzles to be…
