Do-It-Yourself Foam Marker

Do-It-Yourself Foam Marker SPRAYING Accessories I farm less than 100 acres so I couldn t see myself spending $300 to $400 on a commercial foam marker for my sprayer Instead I took an idea I saw in FARM SHOW and adapted it to my own situation says Lynn Stephenson of Angier North Carolina     The article that inspired him was about a mini foam marker made for a lawn sprayer He has a sprayer with a 24-ft boom and decided to make one for that     Stephenson made a small frame out of scrap metal and secured it to the back of his sprayer This is what holds his 5-gal soap mixture reservoir He says the 5-gal bucket s lid must be screwed down once the unit is built     He then used styrofoam to line a surplus army ammo box to hold a small air compressor he had bought for $14 at Wal-Mart The styrofoam lessens the noise and vibration of the air compressor which is run off the tractor s battery power     A 3/8-in rubber air hose runs from the compressor to the bucket Stephenson says he made sure the air hose reached to the bottom of the bucket and then inserted a 2 to 3-in long plastic tube into the end of it He closed off the end by heating and pinching it then drilled about 30 small 1/64-in holes     Foam comes out of a long piece of flexible plastic tubing which connects to the spout      The foam is just like what you d get when blowing through a straw in milk as a child Stephenson says     Through trial and error he found that it was necessary to place a baffle inside the bucket This slows down the water movement and keeps it from sloshing up in the pail disintegrating the foam in the hose     He says it s necessary to leave 3 to 4 in of air space in the reservoir so it works best to use about 4 gal of water and one cup of liquid dish washing detergent     The path of foam markings is left down the center of each of Stephenson s sprayer passes so he can visually judge the 12-ft distance he needs to allow for the next pass     To create bigger globs of foam that last longer Stephenson cut off a two-litre plastic pop bottle and shoved the spout into the end of the flexible tubing creating a funnel-like attachment This causes the foam to collect there until a 4 or 5-in glob has formed     The whole system cost only $35     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Lynn Stephenson 3625 Abattoir Rd Angier N C 27501 ph 910 897-8201

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