Near Intersection of I-35 & I-90 Southern Mn. | The pictures above show how yours could be plumbed. Various combinations are possible. Apparently yours are setup in three sections now. The column flow monitors can act as monitors and also as the distribution system.
We have a 24 row planter with which we monitor starter fertilizer and a spray product applied behind each row. The fertilizer is one entire section. The spray is in four sections.
We have two sets of 12 flow columns for fertilizer. One set is on the left wing and the other on the right wing. The output from the ground driven starter fertilizer pump splits to feed the center of each set of 12 such as shown in the second picture above. The pump starts/stops based on whether the planter is lowered or raised.
We have four sets of 6 flow columns for spray. Two sets of 6 are on each wing. The spray is delivered by a centrifugal pump which goes through an Ag Leader/Raven control system. The flow splits to feed each wing. A section valve is used for each set of 6 flow columns. This allows us or auto swath to control the spray in four sections. Each of these sets of 6 is fed from the end as shown in the first picture.
All 48 flow columns are the Wilger brand.
Like the pictures above we mounted our columns on a white background which makes the balls much easier to see. Different colored balls of different densities are available to chose the proper flow rate for your situation. Ideally the balls should run about 3/4 of the full height of the columns under normal operating conditions. This will allow the system to show under and over application.
This year I added a kit from the Wilger company that mates with their flow columns. The purpose of the kit is to give a visual depiction of the height of the balls on an Android tablet in the tractor cab. The kit consists of a paddlewheel type flow meter that is inserted between the top of each flow column and the elbow on top of the flow column These flow meters are connected to an electronics transmitter that sends information wirelessly to an App on an Android tablet in the tractor cab. The App can be configured for various situations. I have ours set up as two sets of 12, one for each product. This can be useful for those situations where it is not possible to visually see the balls in the columns or the columns become cloudy due to the product or breakdown from Sun exposure.
The hoods I've seen usually have 3 tips inside. As I see this you could have a column for each tip, a column for each hood or a column for each section. If it were me I would go with a column for each hood. That way if a column shows higher or lower than the others you know which hood to investigate. Having o column for each tip would get costly and doesn't serve much of a purpose. Having one for each section would be cheaper but if there is a problem, it would be more difficult to investigate.
The addition of the flow meter kit could be a useful option depending on your situation and ability to watch the balls and steer.
Edited by tedbear 5/24/2025 07:14
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Visaguage flow balls
