High-Capacity Flotation Sprayer

High-Capacity Flotation Sprayer SPRAYING New Sprayers 21-4-25 High capacity, low compaction, and ease of operation - that's what Dallas Henry, Seneca, S. Dak., wanted when he built his 90-ft. flotation sprayer equipped with a 1,000-gal. tank and big 18.4 by 26 dual tires. "I wanted the advantages of a commercial high flotation sprayer without having to spend the money for one," says Henry. "I spent only about $8,000 to build it. Commercial sprayers of comparable capacity sell for about $15,000 or more and don't have dual tires." The sprayer's axle came off an old Deere 96 pull-type combine and the tires off a Deere front wheel assist tractor. He narrowed the axle up by 28 in. so the inside tires run on 76-in. centers, allowing them to fit between his 38-in. corn rows (he uses single tires when working in row crops). He had a machine shop make spacer bands that fit between the wheels to mount duals. He used 4 by 6-in. steel tubing to build the sprayer frame and equipped it with a 90-ft., 5-section Blumhardt boom equipped with 3/4-in. spray nozzles. A home-built slide assembly on back allows the booms to be hydraulically raised or lowered 3 ft., depending on crop height. Each outside boom section can be hydraulically raised on side hills to keep it from digging into the ground. The boom folds manually for trans-port. The sprayer is equipped with a 45-gal. clean water tank for rinsing out the main tank, a 14-gal. foam marker tank, and a 3-gal. tank for washing hands. It's powered by a hydraulic-driven centrifugal pump. "I use it to spray postemergence herbicides on small grain in the spring and to spray Roundup on stubble in the fall, as well as to spray liquid fertilizer and preemergence herbicides on corn," says Henry. "The flotation tires allow me to spray in wet fields without sinking in. I use a 150 to 180 hp tractor, either 2 or 4-WD, to pull it. Using dual wheels on both the tractor and sprayer leaves a light footprint. I can spray 4 to 5-in. high wheat and in three to five days you can hardly tell I was in the field. The dual wheels also pro-vide a wider stance which makes the 90-ft. boom more stable. "I had been using a small pickup sprayer but I wasn't satisfied with it. It was hard to load and I couldn't cover ground very fast, which made spraying a drag. My home-built sprayer covers up to 100 acres per hour in small grain. The tractor cab has a filter on it so I'm always breathing clean air and I'm up higher so I have a better view. I use a MT3000 monitor in the cab to control sprayer operations. The boom assembly mounts on four bolts which makes it easy to remove, and the hoses hook up to Pioneer hydraulic quick couplers on back of the sprayer frame. By removing the boom, mounting a hitch on back of the sprayer frame, and hooking up the hoses, I can pull a tillage implement behind the tank to deep band liquid fertilizer. "To remove the outside tires I throw a block under the middle of the boom and lower it until the tires raise off the ground." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Dallas Henry, Box 69A, Seneca, S. Dak. 57473 (ph 605 436-6209).

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