Leaf Blower Fly Sprayer

Leaf Blower Fly Sprayer CROPS Insect Control 20-1-6 Hog producer Lavern Heller, Atkinson, Neb., made a low-cost fly sprayer out of an old leaf blower and a backpack sprayer. "I wear it like a backpack and use it to control flies in our nursery and finishing barns. I spent less than $300 to put it together. Comparable commercial sprayers sell for $450 to $500 and don't work as well," says Heller. The backpack sprayer was originally equipped with a pump handle on one side to pressurize the tank. Heller removed the handle and mounted a small liquid pump and a 12-volt motorcycle battery onto a 1/ 4-in. thick plastic plate that he attached to the bottom of the tank. He then ran a small hose from the pump to a spray nozzle inserted into the end of the leaf blower pipe. A by-pass valve on the intake side of the pump is used to control the flow of liquid from the spray tank. "I use the sprayer twice a week during the summer. It really works good," says Heller. "I fill the tank with a mixture of water and concentrated fly spray. It takes only about 15 minutes to spray one barn. I can set it to spray anything from drop-lets to a fine mist. The blower delivers air at 150 mph and has enough velocity that the spray reaches the top of the barn where flies seem to settle the most." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Lavern Heller, Box 169, Rt. 1, Atkinson, Neb. (ph 402 925-2657).

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