Sprayer options and must-have features

[grass man]

If you're going to save £8k a year by buying a sprayer you can afford more than £8k for a sprayer....
£24k would be much more practical.

The op said his contractor bill is likely to be 7 - 8k a year. Its possible he/she won't save a single penny maybe even the opposite! He or she is on a mixed farm and might struggle to get round everything when it needs to be done

 

[ollie989898]

The op said his contractor bill is likely to be 7 - 8k a year. Its possible he/she won't save a single penny maybe even the opposite! He or she is on a mixed farm and might struggle to get round everything when it needs to be done

If you have the labour and time then I would argue spraying is the one activity you should be doing yourself because of timeliness and accuracy and the like. The drilling/cultivation/ploughing is less time sensitive and may be better done by a contractor, no right answer really.

 

[SpottedFlycatcher]

The op said his contractor bill is likely to be 7 - 8k a year. Its possible he/she won't save a single penny maybe even the opposite! He or she is on a mixed farm and might struggle to get round everything when it needs to be done

Yep, pretty much - intention is to have a 24 m sprayer on site to fill in if/when contractor can't, rather than vice versa. At the moment we have no option at all - done a bit with the 12m but that won't do the job on the arable!! Initially it would be used for spraying off winter cover crops, pre-drilling glyphosate and anything in between when weather windows are narrow. It would replace the 12m anyway, and that's done 40 ha of spraying off this year as it is, on a 600 L tank

 

[David.]

Do not be afraid to go trailed, it will travel the ground with less damage than a heavy mounted, and you don't have to fill it.
You will probably be able to cover your biggest fields with one tank load, which is a big win.

 

[ollie989898]

Get the right sprayer and the right aptitude and you could well end up contract spraying for others if you've only got 90ha of area then you won't know yourself with a 24m machine and 3000+ litres of tank. There are not a a plethora of capable spray operators in this day and age.

 

[David.]

Would be better things than contract spraying imo.

 

[Zippy768]

Use the full budget, 15k, and make sure you cover the lot yourself. 90ht with a trailed 24m with 2-3k litre tank shouldn't be too taxing.

The thing would probably still be worth 12k in 2 years, while saving you 16k; and I'd argue you're timeliness would be better.
There is nothing worst than waiting for a contractor to do anything.
All easy to forgot - because they have fancy dancey sprayers - that they bring good weather with them

 

[Nearly]

@Drillman
Self propelled Clayton 4120 at agrilinc for £10k if you like a classic.

 

[ollie989898]

Would be better things than contract spraying imo.

Not if you pick and choose what work you want to do. In the arable world putting on T0, T1, T2 and T3 is considered pretty easy and you can go straight from spraying your own crops to someone else's without any worries.

The real-deal spray contractors who are going grass, wheat, beet one minute and maize or something the next- that is hard work but then they can charge top dollar for it.

My spray contractor friend would tell you he prefers the top option because it is easy but in reality the bottom option work is where he probably makes the bulk of his money.

 

[B R C]

Sprayer £24k and a loadall £24k =
£48K over 60 months £1k a month probably. Sprayer pays the first 8 months and the loadall will pay for the other 4
Well a manitou or a Kramer would anyway... no promises about JCB...

That’s just not true though is it. You have to pay for every extra hour that the tractor does spraying, including fuel, and labour. Sprayer servicing including texting. True saving half the amount I would think.

 

[eagleye]

we bought old sp for about 4.5k 20 years ago as a back up, after a refurb and section control added it did all spraying on 200ha arable for several years and still going well today. refurb was about 12k with electric air compressor for 9 section shutoff. dont be too afraid of age as solid build and spares more important

 

[BRB John]

That’s just not true though is it. You have to pay for every extra hour that the tractor does spraying, including fuel, and labour. Sprayer servicing including texting. True saving half the amount I would think.

Haha yes we'll I was trying not to get too anal about it but yes you would still have the chemical to buy and fuel and your time and tractor time etc etc.
That said I'd still rather pay for my own tractor and sprayer than someone else's.
A bit like renting Vs buying land is it better to rent land at £200 an acre or buy land and pay a mortgage of £300 an acre?
If you want a job done properly you'd better do it yourself is what I always say...

 

[Drillman]

@Drillman
Self propelled Clayton 4120 at agrilinc for £10k if you like a classic.

Get sumat done with one of those pretty quick

 

[benferg]

Live boom - is that when the boom pivots and isn't fixed to the sprayer? Is that good or bad for contours? Got some humps and dips to negotiate - contractor has contour adjustment for the booms which looks really useful on our ground

Live boom is where even when sections are turned off there is liquid going past the nozzles (just not out) as opposed to old school sections where you have a bunch of pipes coming from a point on the sprayer where the section control valves are.
The up side of live boom is you get instant chemical at the nozzle when you start spraying a new Chem mix, not having to wait for initial Chem to flow from one point on the sprayer. It’s good if you do a lot of different Chem mixes and have to clean out often.

 

[Spencer]

Amazone sprayer, you’ll not go far wrong. Mounted or trailed.

 

[Fergieman]

Live boom is where even when sections are turned off there is liquid going past the nozzles (just not out) as opposed to old school sections where you have a bunch of pipes coming from a point on the sprayer where the section control valves are.
The up side of live boom is you get instant chemical at the nozzle when you start spraying a new Chem mix, not having to wait for initial Chem to flow from one point on the sprayer. It’s good if you do a lot of different Chem mixes and have to clean out often.

Recirculation we call it here.

 

[Barleymow]

Recirculation we call it here.

That's on the case trailed one I've just bought

 

[Fergieman]

it's so much easier to keep the lines clean, pump clean water through them every night.

 

[Nearly]

I stole a trailed Gem from @Dave W a few years ago. 24m 2600 litres. A bit over the top on 36ha of arable but it was less than a 1000l 12m mounted!
Buying 2 spare fastrac demounts and a trailed 3500 lit probably was a little rash but I sell a few spares to pals with Gems too.

 

[Dave W]

I stole a trailed Gem from @Dave W a few years ago. 24m 2600 litres. A bit over the top on 36ha of arable but it was less than a 1000l 12m mounted!
Buying 2 spare fastrac demounts and a trailed 3500 lit probably was a little rash but I sell a few spares to pals with Gems too.

You realise that was only the first of 3 instalments? I think the next must be getting about due