Sprayer Built From Pull-Type IH Planter

Sprayer Built From Pull-Type IH Planter SPRAYING New Sprayers 22-5-31 Using the frame of an old IH 400 Cyclo pull-type planter and a pair of 30-ft. hydraulic fold markers off an 8-row 36-in. planter, Duane Baker built his own low-cost 45-ft. sprayer. The planter's 15-ft. frame serves as the center section of the sprayer and the markers serve as the booms. Baker stripped the 1970s 6-row double frame planter down to the frame and welded a 15-ft. long steel bar behind the frame to hold spray hose and nozzles. The add-on bar mounts behind the planter's four lift assist wheels to keep them from interfering with the spray pattern. To make the folding booms, he removed the discs from the marker arms. He also removed the 3-ft. long round steel rods that supported the discs and replaced them with sq. steel tubing, allowing the full width of the markers to be equipped with nozzles. He clamped the marker arms onto the frame high enough so theyære at the same level as the center boom. A 4-ft. high steel upright, made from 2 by 3-in. tubing, was welded onto each end of the planter frame to support the booms in field position. Steel rods extend from the top of the upright to the planter frame, and lengths of steel cable extend to both booms. A set of 200-gal. saddle tanks was mounted on the planter frame and plumbed to a pto-driven sprayer pump that's mounted directly on the tractor pto shaft. A small rinse tank sits next to one of the tanks. "It works good and saved me a lot of money," says Baker. "I use my International 340, 30 hp tractor to pull it. I bought new hoses, nozzles, mounting brackets, and a sprayer pump. My total cost was about $1,000. A commercial sprayer of similar capacity would cost $9,000 to $10,000. The key is that I was able to use the existing marker system instead of having to build new booms. I can shut the booms off electronically. "I use the planter's original hydraulic cylinders to raise or lower the sprayer and two more cylinders to raise or lower the markers. I can raise the boom only about 20 in. high compared to about 3 ft. for conventional sprayers. However, the low boom height reduces drift. "My sprayer causes far less crop damage on my farm than commercial self-propelled flotation sprayers because it follows the wheel tracks made by my 6-row 30 planter and my 15-ft. grain drill. Also, it has narrower tires and is pulled by a small, lightweight tractor." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Duane Baker, Willow Bluff Farms, 1469 E. 1600th Ave., Oblong, Ill. 62449 (ph 618 592-3349).

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