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 > _______________________________________________ > apple-crop mailing list > apple-crop@virtualorchard.net > http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop > > > > _______________________________________________ > apple-crop mailing list > apple-crop@virtualorchard.net > http://virtualorchard.net/mailman/listinfo/apple-crop > > -- Maurice Tougas Tougas Family Farm Northborough,MA 01532 508-450-0844
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