Small-Acreage Sprayer Has Big Rig Features

Small-Acreage Sprayer Has Big Rig Features SPRAYING Miscellaneous Lyndon Miller couldn’t find a small acreage sprayer that had all the options he wanted so he built one himself He pulls it behind his Deere 317 garden tractor “I wanted something that would pull easy and roll over ground better than the solid axle models that I found on the market I also wanted something with a folding boom so I could spray in small areas ” says Miller He started by building a steel frame and adding walking tandem axles made by using the wheels and axles from off-brand tractors He built a folding 10-ft boom in sections; each section can be turned on or off as needed He also added a 50-ft long hose reel with hand wand for spot spraying After some trial and error he installed a foam marker system to avoid overlaps He also added a 5 gpm pump and Tee-Jet nozzle bodies that won’t drip when the pump is off All the components are stainless steel “I mounted halogen lights on front and back of the tractor and also behind the sprayer so I can work at night when there’s less wind ” says Miller He had a local fab shop build a stainless steel cradle for the 60-gal tank “With the extra weight I had to use lugged rear tires on the tractor ” he says “I installed oversized tires on the front and rear and filled the rear tires with windshield washer fluid It provides added weight for better traction especially when pulling the sprayer on slopes ” He uses a GPS mounted on the tractor’s hood to track his ground speed “With the pump foam marker and lights I installed separate switches on the tractor’s dash so I can flip them on and off with my thumb while controlling ground speed with the tractor’s hand-controlled hydrostat transmission ” notes Miller Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Lyndon Miller Highfencefever@gmail com

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