Finally going to bit the bullet and buy my first ATV sprayer. I hate spraying and hate being around chemicals, but we're finding a few situations that will require one now. I'm having a hard enough time deciding between a boomless or boomed style (I've been reading up for a while and haven't drawn any conclusions but am leaning toward a boom style). However, my concern is with weight of say a 25 gallon vs. 16 gallon ATV mounted sprayer and its effect on navigating unlevel ground? We have a 500cc ATV, so it's not a monster by any stretch of the imagination, and I'm a little concerned about the weight of a full 25 gallon tank and how it may affect handling. Most recommendations seem to fall inline with the 25 gallon size, but a few people do mention that weight on smaller ATVs can be an issue. Thoughts? For guys running similar sized ATVs, what has been your experience here?
I've put a 25 gallon on a 400cc before. I didn't really drive over anything rough though. I would think you will be fine as long as you aren't mud bogging with it on there.
How much ground are you spraying? 15 gallons of mixed spray covers a LOT of ground for most average food plots.
I suggest using a Kolpin suspension lock on a 25 gallon. Reason being that atv will sag with the weight and coverage will not be the same as the tank empties with a boom sprayer and gradually rises. With the suspension lock your coverage is always the same. When using a sprayer you need to calibrate it to see how much actuall coverage you get out of a tank as herbicides are typically labeled in quarts or ounces per acre...Good luck..
By most calculations, I'm thinking I would rarely need the capacity of a full 25 gallon tank, but I'm also only going to expand in the future, and at that point, I'm hoping to get into possible 2+ acre plots to try out some more warm season annuals that I don't have the plot size for now. As it stands now, my biggest plot is ~3/4 of an acre.
I'm going to pick one up this year and I'm going to just do a 15 gallon with the Black Rain boomless head. I'll probably get the one Northern Supply sells with the 2.2gpm pump. I'll only be doing 2-3 different half acre plots so this should be sufficient. I doubt I'll need to but I don't care if I have to refill once, it's on the back of the ATV so I can just drive to wherever the water source is. I've put a 250lb deer on the back of my Grizzly with a Hitch/Haul and they don't handle well at all, so I can imagine a 25 gallon tank at 8lbs a gallon is going to be just about the same. I had to stand up and lean forward over the handlebars just to steer my ATV when my buck was on the back.
Double check the tire pressure on the 4 wheeler and you should be OK. I say that because my buddy tipped my dad's with the sprayer on the back end and a low front tire. Tried turning on a hill and over it went. Was OK though, except for the sprayer.
Yeah, I've weighed ours down in the past with fertilizer bags and it wasn't fun in off camber situations.
I've got a 660cc ATV and use a 25 gallon Fimco Boomless ATV sprayer on it. No such thing as smooth / level ground in my area. I took a 100 lb suitcase weight off the front of a tractor and laid it on top of the front rack on ATV and secured it using a couple bungee cords. I could more than likely get by without the weight, but I didn't want to take any chances. Here's a link to the sprayer I've got- 4 years and zero issues.... Fimco 25 Gal. Boomless ATV Sprayer - Mills Fleet Farm
Water weighs 8.34lbs/gal so a 25 gal sprayer is 208lbs vs a 15 gal sprayer is 125 lbs (not figuring the weight of the sprayer which isn't that much) . Doesn't sound like a deal breaker either way but I have no experience with that. Here is what I do have experience with. I have a 15 gal sprayer and I can do 0.50acre of plots on one tank pretty much perfectly and I am empty. Not sure on your total acreage but that might give you an idea how many times you would need to fill up.
I rock a 10 gallon Northern tool one and I made a boom for it. 25 gallons tank is big but you said you are expanding plots in the future. Until then just don't fill it up all the way. Other thing I did at first was run a tank of water through it to get familer with the spray pattern and what not.
You will be fine with the 25 gal. sprayer. I have the fimco 25 with the 10' boom and really like it. I also use it for along the edges of my driveway and my 1/2 mile easement. I made a bypass hose for doing the driveways. This way only the outside two nozzles on the right hand side will spray. Then you can drive along and spray a path about 3' wide on the edge of the driveway. Very handy. The spray wand is great for hard to reach spots.
Yeah I saw your setup in a thread when searching. That pump is still going strong for you? I fully intend the calibrate it, of course. Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
Greg, your setup is great. You have yours mounted to a UTV, though, right? Sent from Samsung Galaxy Note 10.1
If it were me I'd go with the smaller 15-16 gallon and boomless. You said your plots are smaller then 3/4 acre, so I am picturing smaller, tight, secluded plots. When you have all that weight on the back of your wheeler, they are tough to turn and on a smaller plot its important to be able to maneuver. A 25 gallon w/ booms weights 66-70 lbs empty; so add water and you're at 278 lbs. A 15 weights 22 lbs and add water to get about 145 lbs. Plus for about $10 you could get all the fittings/hoses you need to add "boomless" nozzles to a simple 15 gallon.
As a side note, I'm assuming the height of the boomless nozzles doesn't impede the contact with the vegetation even though they're so much higher up than a boom style sprayer? A lot of people say they are a fan of the boom style due to the height and the better contact with the plant surface (losing less to wind drift), but I'm sure that can be offset with the style of nozzle.
Depending on the nozzle you select, you can actually get more coverage area. You might get less overlap and possibly more drift, but at the level and locations you'll be spraying I wouldn't worry too much. A huge misconception is that the plants need to be sprayed to the point of saturation when if mixed properly, it only takes a drop on mix for the herbicides to do their jobs.
It all depends on what anyone wants and budget. Now these days (just like bows) all manufactures make good sprayers, Do you want direct contact or just to broadcast (i.e. boomless or boom) You can take a simple 15gal. 1.5gpm @ 60psi spot sprayer and convert it to a boomless sprayer for under $200, and will last for years. The weight will run about 140lbs. I go about 5mph and cover 1.5 acres in 10 min.
15 for me and also made a boom for mine. However, I have pretty quick access to water when/if I need to fill up. That would be the main question for me....accessibility of water.
