| Maple Leaf - 6/9/2013 08:57
How many here remove endcaps of each boom section? I had some custom sprayed last year and I had some contamination which caused a slight yield reduction which they compensated my for. I asked spray operator how often he removes endcaps and he says never have in 4 years he owned the machine. He sprayed one field where there was damage then came back a week later and I made him remove an endcap and he was shocked since you could tell everything he sprayed the last few years meaning there was a layer of white for Halex or atrazine product, then a yellow for Prowl, back to white, etc.
You may never see big damage in your field but enough stress to cause a yield reduction. I thought I would mention this because a lot of spray operators never think of it. The sprayer involved was a John Deere self propelled and if you look end caps are hollow and go six inches past last nozzle so great place for powders to settle.
I installed valves to replace all my end caps, makes cleaning booms much easier. I see some dealers are starting to do this, it should be a standard feature on all sprayers. I run my rinse water out in the field than open all valves to dump remaining solution. I also installed valve on agitation line to completely drain sprayer. I then put 200 gallons of water with ammonia in main tank and flush out booms with the valves open, close valves and spray remaining solution out the nozzles, then open all valves to dump all water. Follow with rinse water and spray out booms and dump any remaining water. Usually takes me over a hour or more but have never had crop injury as a result of poor cleaning. |
sprayer flushing ? on new to me sprayer.
