Latimer, Iowa (north central) | Don’t forget about all the support equipment you will need to spray efficiently.
Not to discourage your thought process but there is a reason coops don’t run old small self propelled sprayers doing custom work. The cost per acre of operation of an old sprayer is not competitive to a sprayer covering many acres. The man hours and tending equipment can’t be justified. If you cover 3% of the acres of a custom big sprayer annually it means they have 97% more dollars to operate. At 5.50 an acre it’s not worth your investment and labor opportunity cost.
Efficiency of operations is the key in any manufacturing/processing which is essentially what agriculture is. Lowest $ per acre wins.
Have you priced out the tin shed retailers compared to the coops prices on the quantities of chems you use? Sometimes we buy from a tin shed, sometimes from the coop. Not a guarantee to have significant savings.
We spray 10,000 acres a year with a $20,000 pull type and can’t justify anything more than that. 5.50 an acre might leave a $1.50 an acre after all expenses without labor. Is it worth it for 1,300 bucks a year? Don’t forget insurance and getting water too.
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Decision on buying a sprayer
