North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["David Doud" <doudone@netusa1.net>]

this is a unit that your FIL has used in the past? - - if that's the case,
I'll pass on the maintenance issues of oil in the pump and such,  as those
are things with which he should be familiar - - tank may leak a little,
fill it up with water and it should tighten up as the wood swells - I
wouldn't worry about cleaning it out,  no doubt has had many nasty's in it
over the years,  just leave 'em rest - stay out of the power take-off,  it
will grab you and kill you -
make sure the hose is in servicable condition,  I expect the sprayer has a 2
or 3 cylinder piston pump that developes 175-250 pounds of pressure,
blow-outs are unpleasant -
mix the chemical at the 'dilute' rate - pounds or ounces per hundred gallons
(do you know how big the tank is?) adding the material to the tank with the
appropriate amount of water agitating in it - give it time to thoroughly
mix -   and then spray enough solution to thoroughly wet the target - adjust
the pattern of the gun to conditions - sharp stream to reach distance,
difuse spray for stuff right in front of you - does the gun have a
rigger?  -
it's always easier to spray 'down',  one reason for riding on top the
machine - your arms/neck will get tired working off the ground - I prefer to
hand gun with a 2-3-4-5mph breeze,  it allows me to stay up wind of the
spray - - if you have enough hose,  you can park the sprayer and drag the
hose down the row - no need to stay close to the machine - Dad used to have
a 'stationary spray station' and had pipe with risers/valves thu the
orchard - walk out with your gun and hose,  hook to a riser and drag the
hose around - -
old fashioned way to do it,  you'll gain respect for the people who used to
spend all day at it...





----- Original Message -----
From: "Thomas Olenio" <tolenio@sentex.net>
To: "North American Fruit Explorers" <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2005 7:49 PM
Subject: [NAFEX] Old Sprayer?



Hi All,

This year I get to spray the farm orchard.  I am sure my father inlaw will
teach me all he knows about the antique sprayer he uses, but does anyone
have any experience with OLD orchard equipment?

This sprayer is powered by a PTO from the tractor.  It has a wooden, oak
spray tank, which has a wood paddle agitator.

The hose end of the sprayer has an adjustable spray head.  you can make a
wide fan of spray, or a narrower stream that at one time could shoot over
standard trees..

It is similar to the one in this picture;
http://www.tractorbynet.com/forumfiles/406995-AAAA%20005.jpg

Any tips on using a sprayer that is most likely twice as old as
I am?  Other than hoping the pressure relief valve does not stick.

 From the few bits of info I have found on the web, people stood atop the
sprayer (trees were taller) as a tractor pulled it around the orchard.
This makes sense of the wood frame in the picture to help someone be
stable up there.

I still have to spray a handful of tall standard trees planted in 1918
(yellow tranparent, northern spy, macintosh), but the vast majority are
modern dwarfs.

The only non-windy times are dawn and dusk.  Any suggestons appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom
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