Horizontal boom sprayer calibration
Spring always brings renewed interest in sprayer calibration. This is good, because a well-maintained and calibrated sprayer will protect crops more effectively and efficiently, as well as reduce the potential for off-target drift and point source contamination. Presently, there is no nationally-recognized standard for sprayer calibration in either Canada or the United States. As a result […]
Read More… from Compulsory, Standardized Sprayer Inspections
A properly-sized pump should produce more flow than is needed and work in conjunction with the atomizers to regulate that flow. Typical to high pressure pumps, a piston relief valve (aka regulator) should maintain the desired system pressure through the normal speed range of the sprayer, regardless of the number of booms (or boom-sections) that […]
Read More… from Pressure spikes and relief valves on air-assist sprayers
Picking the correct nozzle for a spray job can be a daunting task. There is a lot of product selection, and a lot of different features. We try to break the process down into four steps. 1. Identify Your Needs Before making any assumptions about the right nozzle for you, review your needs and objectives. […]
Where crops are planted in rows, growers can save on chemical costs and reduce potentially wasted spray by performing banded applications. A banded application is treating parallel bands (Figure one), unlike a broadcast application where the entire area is treated (Figure two). This means only a portion of the field or orchard/vineyard floor receives spray, […]
Sprayer math is important. It ensures the operator applies the correct product rate and has enough to complete the job. But, it assumes the airblast sprayer is behaving as expected… and it often doesn’t. After confirming the airblast travel speed, use one of the following methods to assess sprayer output. There are pros and cons […]
Read More… from Validate airblast output – nozzle calibration