|
| This is for the people who:
- have at least some of their ground that is flat and smooth enough to run that fast
- have a self propelled sprayer that will run that fast without overheating or otherwise being hard on it
I had a conversation with someone today who told me the reason that was a bad thing was because if you’re going 20+ mph, that’s like spraying when the wind is blowing 20+ mph (plus whatever the wind speed is on top of it.
It’s possible I misunderstood but I think he was saying my 20 mph was making it so I would drift more.
I explained that any “driftable fines” almost immediately join the airstream across the ground, slowing to the speed of the airflow (wind) that is already present so high travel speed does not negatively impact drift risk unless your terrain prevents good control of boom height (I didn’t say it that clearly on the fly).
I don’t remember his exact response but he basically said that was a nice story to tell myself to help me feel better. I laughed it off which lead to us mutually laughing it off but it made me curious, how many people actually believe drift is worse when you go fast (assuming you can keep boom height under control)?
What other reasons do you have for not going fast?
I would say only 25% or so of my fields allow me to run 20+ mph but for the ones that do, it sure is fun to cover ground rapidly while still doing a great job.
For kicks, here is my process for pretty much any field:
1. Make note of the slowest speed I need to go in the worst part of the field to be able to complete it without being hard on equipment
2. Adjust gallons per acre of my product mix so that I can travel at that speed while maintaining 60% or higher with my PWM nozzles
3. Spray the rough or challenging parts of the field
4. Switch modes on my PWM nozzle system so that they are on when the section is on rather than pulsing. Drive fast enough to keep my pressure where I want it.
This usually results in a range of speeds from 14 to 23 mph on the better fields. On the worst fields it might be more like 9 to 15 mph.
23 divided by 15 is more than a 50% productivity increase so I’m not sure why a guy wouldn’t do it.
I will say if I’m kicking up a lot of dust due to speed I do get a little more concerned about the quality of job and any swap nozzles to put on more GPA so that I can hopefully improve coverage. | |
|
Why don’t you spray at 20+ mph?