He Makes Money With Home-Built "Lawn Sprayer"

He Makes Money With Home-Built "Lawn Sprayer" SPRAYING Miscellaneous 29-3-28 "It works like a big commercial farm sprayer," says Gene Cafourek, Stewartville, Minn., who made a state-of-the-art self-propelled mini spray rig by mounting a 13 1/2-ft. boom on front of his 17 hp Bolens hydrostatic garden tractor. There's a 25-gal. tank on back of the tractor, and another 100-gal. tank on a cart that pulls behind the tractor. "I use the sprayer to control weeds at local cemeteries and on a half dozen local farmsteads. I can cover nine acres at a time," says Cafourek. "The 3-section boom is made from 1-in. pipe, and each outside section on the boom is connected to a rope. By pulling on either of the ropes I can pull the sections back against the sides of the tractor, allowing the rig to squeeze through narrow spaces." A Hypro roller pump is belt-driven off a pulley mounted on the engine crankshaft. A Terra Tronics monitor, which mounts on a bracket in front of the steering wheel, is used to monitor field speeds and to measure acreage in order to get the proper application rate. The boom is equipped with flood jet nozzles spaced 40 in. apart. "I installed a manifold with six outlets û five for flood jet nozzles and one for a hand gun that I use to spot spray weeds," says Cafourek. "As a result, I can vary the spraying width on-the-go anywhere from 3 ft. 4 in. to 16 1/2 ft." The boom mounts on a length of 1-in. tubing and can be raised or lowered by pulling a pin. A 12-volt air compressor pump is used to make marker foam in a 2 1/2-gal. aluminum tank. "It really works good and is a lot of fun to operate," says Cafourek. "It has a total of 16 different valves that can be used at different times. There's also a relief valve to adjust spray pressure. "I have quick couplers between the trailer-mounted sprayer and the 25-gal. tank, so it takes only about one minute to unhook the trailer-mounted sprayer. It works better than a rear-mount boom because cemeteries have a lot of trees and grave stones, and I would get a sore neck from having to turn around all the time. The boom rides only about 12 in. off the ground, which minimizes drift. "I chose the Hypro pump because it's a high pressure, low volume pump. I crank the throttle on the tractor to adjust pressure." The tractor was originally equipped with a 14 hp Wisconsin engine which was worn out when Cafourek bought it. He replaced it with an 11 hp Briggs & Stratton. It worked fine on flat land but coming out of road ditches it didn't have enough power. So he put in a 17 hp Kohler engine, which works fine. He had to lengthen the frame by 10 in. in order to fit the new engine in. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Gene Cafourek, 1102nd Ave. S.E., Stewartville, Minn. 55976 (ph 507 533-6283).

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