He Built The Cadillac Of Spraying Equipment

He Built the Cadillac of Spraying Equipment CROPS Weed Control 14-5-11 A Minnesota farmer who didn't like the sprayers he saw on the market built his own "Cadillac" 90-ft. heavy-duty sprayer equipped with rear tractor tires. Allan Scott, who farms near Sargeant, used 2 by 6-in. 3/8-in. thick steel tubing to build the main frame and 4 by 4-in. steel tubing to build the cross members, then mounted a 1,000-gal. tank over an old semi truck axle. The tank and booms are carried by a pair of 38-in. tractor tires and six 6.7 by 15 in. gauge wheels. "I built it because I wanted a wide heavy duty sprayer that could spray accurately," says Scott. "Many commercial 90 ft. sprayers have erratic spray patterns because they either have no gauge wheels, or gauge wheels that are too small, causing the boom to bounce. The 15-in. gauge wheels roll smoothly over rough terrain and always keep the boom at a uniform height. The gauge wheels line up with the axle so they don't shift to the side during turns. I don't like castor wheels because they can easily get twisted when you try to back up in loose soil." Scott bought the used semi axle for $25. He cut out the center and removed the brake drums, then clamped the "stub axles" to opposite ends of a length of 6 by 6-in. steel tubing. He clamped a home-made axle to top of 2 by 6-in. steel beams. "I can loosen the clamp and slide the axle forward or backward to distribute sprayer's weight," says Scott. "I usually carry two thirds of the sprayer's weight on the axle and one third on the tractor."Het built his own wheels by welding tractor tire rims onto heavy duty centers that are bolted to a 10-bolt truck hub. A switch mounted on the spray boom lets Scott check for plugged nozzles with-out having to walk back to the tractor cab. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Allan Scott, Rt. 1, Box 83, Sargeant, Minn. 55973 (ph 507 584-6803).

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