"Massey" Crop Sprayer

"Massey" Crop Sprayer SPRAYING Miscellaneous 28-6-40 "It's a great way to make use of an old combine. It saves me a lot of money," says Alan Brule, Crookston, Minn., about the 60-ft. wide, manual-fold crop sprayer he made out of a 1967 Massey Ferguson 510 combine. The combine sprayer is equipped with a commercial 60-ft. boom with 24-ft. wings and a 12-ft. middle section. The front-mount boom mounts on a bracket Brule built out of sq. tubing and strap iron. Nozzles are on 20-in. spacings for broadcasting herbicides. Brule removed the combine's grain tank and replaced it with two spray tanks that hold 200 and 300 gal. each. The machine rides on its original tires. "It works as well as anything on the market. The only difference is that it cost a lot less," says Brule, who made the conversion six years ago. "The booms came off an old sprayer that I already had. I paid $200 for the combine and $100 for a sprayer pump." He started by removing the header and all grain-cleaning components from the machine. The engine, drive train, and cab were left in their original positions. The fuel tank was moved to the other side to allow room for a ladder between the tanks. Combine hydraulics are used to raise and lower the boom. The boom wings fold manually. The boom can be adjusted in height from 20 to 48 in. The sprayer pump is belt-driven off the combine's separator clutch. "I use it mainly to apply post emergence herbicides to soybeans, wheat, and sunflowers. The wheel spacings on the combine worked out for 30-in. rows. The two tanks are hooked together with valves, which works great. If I run out of spray in the field I just stop where I am and transfer the water from the rear tank to the front tank, add chemical, and I can finish the field," notes Brule. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Alan Brule, 19457 260th St. S.W., Crookston, Minn. 56716 (ph 218 281-7456; email: acbrule@gvtel.com).

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