Spray Air Sprayers

[Yusishen]

We are looking at a Spray Air model 3600 Trident pull-type sprayer and are interested in experiences, opinions, etc.

We currently run a 97 ft flexicoil for chemical spraying and have everything else (liquid fertlizer, fungicides, pre-harvest) custom done.

We are comparing the Spray Air with other suspended boom pull-type sprayers (Summers, etc.) as our acreage (3000) doesn't justify even a used self-propelled.

[cris]

Check with the neighbours of people that have spray air sprayers and see if they would recommend them. We have a couple neighbours with them and often get some free spraying (2,4-D on canola for example)

[frustrated1]

We ran the spray air pull types for years. On most sprays we ran at 67%, on the cheaper sprays we ran at 80%. We found that on the better sprays(triumph, achieve, etc) anything above 75% we saw crop burn. We never managed to kill anything of the neighbours except wilted the peas in a garden. I was not happy with pre seed burnoff. Too much dust blowing up with no green growth as in crop conditions to catch it. We ended up buying an old wilger just to burn off. The other thing was we didn't have autofold which was a pain. Last year we bought a flexicoil 67 and traded in the spray air. If it wasn't for the burn off we would have bought a new spray air.

[Yusishen]

Thanks for the info. The new models all have the autofold. In fact, they fold up much more compact than our existing flexicoil and might actually fit in a shed. We don't do a lot of pre-seed burnoff and even then, we are in eastern Manitoba where dust in springtime is rare. I don't know about older spray-air models but it seems that in the newer ones, you can turn down (or even off) the air and just run conventional if that was an issue.

We were a bit concerned about drift as we are used to having wind curtains on the flexicoil. The sales guys assure us that with driving it down into the crop, this shouldn't be a concern. You can also turn down the air to get larger droplets that should drift less. No-one in our area has a spray-air but we still have occasional drift issues usually with the high-clear sprayers.

[frustrated1]

I think the drift thing is more a timing choice than anything. Some of the worst wrecks around here have been from custom sprayers pushing too hard. You are right, the new spray airs you can turn down the wind and adjust the droplets. We didn't have that option on ours. With full wind the spray would actually roll up out of the canopy again so we were careful of conditions. Inversions were our worst fear but we never had any wrecks.

[chuck]

I had a 3290 Spray air and liked it so much that I traded in for the new 3600 series. Drift is not a problem when you manage you air pressure properly and the coverage that can be obtained cannot be beat. I save on mainly grassy weeds and on water. Water is free but the time saved in filling and hauling is huge.
As for the new boom that they have it is very strong and follows the ground very well.
I think that with their new boom and the dial a drop system, this is an great sprayer.

[mgh]

One thing to watch for on the Spray Air machines, the "air shear" system does not work well with high water volume chemicals, like Liberty, Buctril M, Pardner, as well as any fungicide products. These products require high (10gal/ac ) water volumes, and the air system is not capable of putting out these amounts. It is my understanding, however, that the new Trident boom has a normal boom and nozzle system as well, which would allow compatibility with all chemicals. If you are looking to use the air shear part of this machine, good luck but really watch wind speeds, as well as hot days with no wind at all. Your mist can be lifted up and carried a mile or two away! I've seen guys have lawsuits over these machines, which burns up chemical savings fairly quickly.

[Yusishen]

The new Trident booms do have the option of going completely conventional which would help with chemicals that need that higher water. Thanks for the heads up on that.

[poorboy]

Most researchers will tell you that if the conditions are such that you can reduce chemical rate with a spray air sprayer and get good control, that you could also cut the rate to the same degree and get as good a control with your conventional sprayer. Most crop burn is caused by too little water (ie. droplets have a higher percentage of chemical in them)and not an overdose of chemical. In extremely heavy foilage crops the air helps, in 3 to 6 leaf crops grown in western canada there is no difference.

Make sure you are buying the sprayer for the right reasons. With the new nozzle choices most sprayers can apply low water volumes.

[frustrated1]

For what it's worth, we've run the buctril, triumph, achieves, odessey,sundance, etc at 2.5gals and never had any problems. It may be different now but 2-5 years ago the chem cos. simply hadn't done testing at that low of volumes to be able to give the ok. Everything used to be a 10gal recomendation, now most are ok at 5. As they continue testing maybe everything will be fine at 2.5? Part of the other problem was the original spray airs had such low volume pumps that mixing and agitation were issues. Not sure if they still do but several chemicals used to specifically say do not use with air foil sprayers. Wishing I'd checked out the new spray airs a little closer now as I'm still convinced of consistent chemical savings. Still don't think you need to drench the plant if you're getting complete coverage such as the spray air.