Great advice from Dave and Peter. Let me add one more, which for me has
been the most important. Buy from a dealer who will be there when you need
him for service and parts. A downed sprayer is worthless!

Mo Tougas
Northborough,MA


On Fri, Mar 27, 2015 at 11:48 AM, David A. Rosenberger <da...@cornell.edu>
wrote:

>  I agree with Peter Werts' comments.  At the Hudson Valley Lab, Peter
> Jentsch and I set up a tall spindle orchard (3 ft X 11 Ft) about 5 years
> ago.  We decided to spray it with a home-made vertical boom attached to a
> 3-pt hitch Pac-Tank sprayer, using air-induction nozzles as Peter Werts
> suggested.  When we looked at coverage following applications of Surround,
> it appeared that we were getting pretty decent coverage on 3 and 4 year old
> trees.  However, the reason that I would not recommend this to others is
> that effective coverage without the air-assist is dependent on using water
> rather than air as the propellant. Because we need to maintain high
> pressure at the nozzles to get a decent trajectory of the spray droplets,
> we found that we needed a minimum of 150 to 200 gallons of water per acre,
> depending on travel speed of the sprayer.  Even on small blocks of 3 to 5
> acres, the need to refill the sprayer so frequently is a real
> disadvantage.  As I recall, at the time we built our sprayer, the air
> induction nozzles had a some limitations that meant we could not set them
> up to deliver really small quantities per minute, and that  limit along
> with the need for pressure to create a droplet trajectory, made it
> impossible to develop a low-volume boom sprayer for the tall spindle
> spacing. We might have been able to use less water if we used conventional
> nozzles to create a mist, but then the small spray droplets would not have
> had enough mass to penetrate the tree canopy.
>
>  I much prefer to spray our small orchard blocks with our 3-pt hitch
> TurboTeuton mist blower  which we have calibrated to deliver 50 gal of
> spray per acre, although one could deliver much higher volumes if desired.
> The tank on our model holds about 130 gal of water, but the same kind of
> sprayer design is available in a trailer-mounted design. (I’m sure that
> there are many other sprayers that could be set up to accomplish the same
> things that I have described above.  I’m not trying to promote any one
> brand, just relating personal experience.) The advantages of this sprayer
> (from my perspective) are that
>        (1) it is a tower sprayer with an infinite number of adjustments
> for height, angles of air delivery, nozzle arrangements, etc..
>       (2) We can maintain uniform output and nozzle pressure at relatively
> low fan speeds. That means we can use lower PTO speeds while maintaining
> calibration so long as we use higher gears to maintain ground speed.  I
> found that I can operate this sprayer at three different gear/RPM settings
> while maintaining 3 mph ground speed. The lower RPM is very useful for
> small trees on a calm morning whereas higher RPM is necessary to fight wind
> or cover larger trees.
>      (3) The sprayer is relatively quiet compared to most air blast
> sprayers, and that is a real advantage for orchards that are close to
> neighbors. I wish we had a standard comparison of sprayer decibel  levels
> when the sprayers are operating at comparable RPMs because small growers
> with noise-sensitive neighbors should certainly consider the noise factor
> when purchasing a sprayer.
>
>  The disadvantage of the TurboTeuton that we have is that it does not
> move enough air to fight winds greater than about 6-8 mph, and for that
> reason it will not work well on large trees or in orchards with rows more
> than about 15-18 ft apart.    However, I am convinced that tower sprayers
> are essential for spraying tall spindle orchards with minimal drift.
>
>   ********************************************
> Dave Rosenberger, Plant Pathologist,
> Hudson Valley Lab, P.O. Box 727, Highland, NY 12528
>     Cell:     845-594-3060
>  http://blogs.cornell.edu/plantpathhvl/blog-2014/
> ********************************************
>
>  On Mar 27, 2015, at 10:29 AM, Peter Werts <pwe...@ipminstitute.org>
> wrote:
>
>   Hi Tatum,
>
> I have calibrated 20+ airblast sprayers in Minnesota and Wisconsin over
> the last two years, many for growers with tall spindle systems.  I still
> think the airblast sprayer is still the way to go.  There is much you can
> do with sprayer calibration to improve performance and accuracy of
> pesticide deposition.  I received my training from seminars led by Dr.
> Andrew Landers, Ag engineer at Cornell.  I think his work is right on
> target to address your questions.  If you have the time to research and
> read about your options I would get his book, “Effective Vineyard
> Spraying”, http://effectivespraying.com/.  This publication offers an
> in-depth review of all sorts of sprayer technology and how to select for
> your production system.
>
> A couple considerations could include:
> 1. Look for an airblast sprayer with an adjustable fan speed or a lower
> fan speed.  Reducing the fan speed will help you keep your sprays on
> target!  I know AgTec makes a vineyard sprayer with a lower fan speed.  The
> AgTec’s have been real popular in the upper Midwest, though I don’t think
> they are the standard in New England or Mid Atlantic.  This sprayer from
> Durand Wayland is an example of a rig with a multi-speed gear box for the
> fan and the option for a tower attachment,
> http://durand-wayland.com/spraying/redline_600HP.html
>
> 2.  Buy a sprayer that will allow you to use air-induction nozzles.
> Air-induction nozzles encapsulate little bubbles of air inside the droplet,
> creating a larger droplet less prone to drift.  When this larger droplet
> makes contact with the plant surface, it breaks into smaller droplets.
>
> 3.  Regarding your concerns for pesticide drift to neighboring organic
> farms, proper calibration is essential regardless of what sprayer you
> purchase.  Additionally, documenting your air temperature, wind speed and
> direction, on days you spray will demonstrate your awareness of this risk
> to the neighbors and may help mitigate accusations of drift, if such
> unfortunate events occur.
>
>
>
> Thanks,
>
> Peter
>
>
> =============================
> Peter Werts
> Project Manager
> Specialty Crops
> IPM Institute of North America, Inc.
> 1020 Regent St.
> Madison WI 53715
> Office: 608 232-1410
> Cell: 612 518-0319
> Fax: 608 232-1440
> pwe...@ipminstitute.org
> www.ipminstitute.org
>
>
>
> *From:* apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net [
> mailto:apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net
> <apple-crop-boun...@virtualorchard.net>] *On Behalf Of *Tatum Stewart
> *Sent:* Thursday, March 26, 2015 3:07 PM
> *To:* apple-crop@virtualorchard.net
> *Subject:* [apple-crop] Airblast Sprayer for Tall Spindle?
>
>  I have a small (3 acres) established orchard on M7 that I have worked
> for about 10 years.  I have some new land about 15 miles away that I have
> began planting a new orchard using the Tall Spindle method.  I only have
> about one acre planted now, but it will end up being about 5 acres of
> apples as PYO.  I also have peaches and blackberries.
>
>  I have been planning on purchasing a new airblast sprayer for the new
> orchard in the future so that I don't have to haul it and my tractor back
> and forth from each place.  And it is hard to get good spray timing when
> the sprayer is at the other orchard.
>
>  However, do I need an airblast with the tall spindle system?  With the
> M7 trees and bigger you need the air to push through the tree to ensure
> good coverage, but with the M9s the canopy is so much smaller.  Could you
> not use a tower type sprayer with-out the airblast? Drift would be greatly
> reduced (a big deal with organic farms on surrounding my property), Tractor
> requirements would be less allowing for tighter row spacing, and obviously
> the cost would be less.
>
>  What would be the down side? Poor coverage of the underside of the
> leaves due to no swirling air?  Droplet size too large?
>
>  Thanks
>
>  Tatum Stewart
>  Stewart Orchard
>  Ashland City and Nashville, TN
>   _______________________________________________
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>
>
>
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>
>


-- 
Maurice Tougas
Tougas Family Farm
Northborough,MA 01532
508-450-0844
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