Loader-Mounted Sprayer Easy To Fill, Move And Use

Loader-Mounted Sprayer Easy To Fill, Move And Use SPRAYING Miscellaneous 24-1-13 Rex Barber doesn't like climbing up on sprayers, so he and his sons Dominic and Bill built a sprayer that comes to him. Their loader-mounted sprayer allows them to easily adjust sprayer height to match the situation. "I am an older man, and I don't like climbing up on tanks," says Rex, a Mapleton, Iowa farmer. "With this unit, I can set the tanks on the ground and put in the chemicals and water with no climbing." The Barber's quickly discovered multiple benefits to their front-end system when they pulled out of the farmyard with it for the first time last spring. Not only was it easy to fill, but matching sprayer height to target height was a snap, whether in a corn field or a pasture. Visibility was increased many fold and turning at end rows was easy, too, without a trailing spray tank and booms. No trailer also meant fewer end row plants being run down. "We wanted a sprayer where we could have complete control of the height of the unit at all times," says Rex. "I can raise and lower it to get just the right coverage. With the booms up front, I can see if a nozzle plugs up, where I might not notice with the booms behind me." The price of the unit was right, too. Barber figures they have less than $150 invested in it, not counting labor. A set of belly tanks picked up at an auction came complete with a perfect set of valves. The farm's existing trailing sprayer provided booms and a pump. The only other purchases were the Westendorf quick-tach for mounting the unit to the loader and new hoses for the pump. The belly tanks were mounted on either side of a 4 by 4-in. box frame salvaged from a pull-type sprayer. A second frame made from 4 by 4-in. box-end pipe provided a base for the tanks, booms and the Westendorf quick-tach that hooks into the Westendorf loader. Mounted on an 1175 Case with a heavy duty front-end, the sprayer is ready to handle anything, even windbreaks and hills. " We planted a row of ash trees alongside one field," explains Barber. "We were able to simply lower the sprayer on that one swath to ensure we didn't get any spray on them." Steep hillside pastures also proved no problem for the unit, something that couldn't be said for two pull-type sprayers that rolled over in past seasons. Rear duals provided excellent stability and the booms raised easily to pass over low timber and brush. Of course, spraying fence rows was as easy as spraying crops. " I've never seen anything like it before," says Barber. "It's a complete joy to operate." Contact: FARM SHOW Follow-Up, Barber's High Hills Ranch, 10445 Pecan Ave., Mapleton, Iowa 51034 (ph 712 882-2750).

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