Dye Marker Is Part Of Spray Rig Designed By Farmer

Dye Marker Is Part Of Spray Rig Designed By Farmer SPRAYING New Sprayers 3-3-20 A Kansas wheat farmer, Virgil Simpson, knows where he's going with his chemical weed control program. He's developed a new dye marker for crop spraying that prevents overlaps and misses. The dye marker operates independently of his spray rig. Dye is carried in a 20-gallon tank and pumped to the end of the spray boom with two 12-volt marine pumps that run off the tractor power take-off. The dye is applied behind a disk on the end of the boom. The purple dye Simpson uses is an intense paper dye that lasts several days. If he has a sprayer breakdown, he can return to the field the next day and find where he left off. One-half pint of dye dissolved in 20 gallons of water will spray 25 acres at a cost of a little more than 10 cents per acre for the dye. The dye marker sprays for 4 seconds and then has an 8-second non-spray interval. Dye spraying intervals are controlled by a sprayer-mounted timer. Simpson designed his entire spray rig with some special built-in features. The booms are 40 feet long and 20 inches off the ground with nozzles placed every 20 inches. Coulters at each end of the booms support and keep them from flopping and applying an irregular spray pattern. He can control the rate of spray application by changing ground speed. The PTO-driven pump changes the pressure as ground speed changes. Simpson has been using his precise spraying rig for several years, and has built a dozen rigs for neighbors. He isn't planning on manufacturing them himself, but is looking for an interested manufacturer. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Virgil Simpson; Route 1, Ransom, Kan. 67572 (ph 913 731-2700).

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