# Tow boom sprayer



## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

Just curious if anyone has experience with one of these. I was thinking about the Chapin push, but they are not very affordable at the moment and cost as much as a pull behind unit.

I want to speed up my time spraying product and the easiest way is to spray more faster. I have a tractor I would use to pull the unit, but my question has to so with efficiency.

Since a tractor takes wide turns, your passes aren't side by side. I am curious what others do that have experience with these. Do you just wing it? Rely on marking dye? Search for wheel marks?

And lastly, overall efficiency, is it difficult to use one? Is it totally worth it for the time saving?


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

It's much easier to use and a lot less labor intensive. Foam markers or marking dye help you with keeping track of where you've already sprayed. There's people on here that have made their own marking kits, and I saw a clever old man on YouTube that showed his homebrew marking kit. Before I bought the Chapin push sprayer, I bought a 20 gallon tow-behind sprayer to use with my zero turn. I wish I hadn't, because it just sits now... that being said, you can definitely be more efficient spraying fert, humic, iron, pesticide, herbicide, etc.

https://youtu.be/GV51OKhW1G8


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

Colonel K0rn said:


> It's much easier to use and a lot less labor intensive. Foam markers or marking dye help you with keeping track of where you've already sprayed. There's people on here that have made their own marking kits, and I saw a clever old man on YouTube that showed his homebrew marking kit. Before I bought the Chapin push sprayer, I bought a 20 gallon tow-behind sprayer to use with my zero turn. I wish I hadn't, because it just sits now... that being said, you can definitely be more efficient spraying fert, humic, iron, pesticide, herbicide, etc.


Which is easier, the pull or push?

As far as marking dye, is that on the lawn till it washes off? That seems the easiest thing.


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## Colonel K0rn (Jul 4, 2017)

@kolbasz if you've got more than 12 gallons, pull behind is the way to go. I can get around my yard with 12 gallons, but I do the front and the back separately, but I'm usually pooped by the end. And I'm on relatively flat ground with no slopes.

Dye is water soluble, and will wash off. On your skin is another story  It seems to take forever to get off my hands if I get any on them.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

The dye is expensive to use over a large area depending on how much you need to mix in order to make the spray visible. The darker green and taller your turf is, the more dye you will need. And yes, the stuff can be very messy!

Foam markers are an expensive investment up front, unless you can cobble together a DIY kit, especially if you already have some of the parts. But it's very clean and effective, especially for large areas.

The other option is to spray with the dew on the grass. That leaves an unmistakable tell-tale, just make sure you start early enough to finish while the dew is still on! Some sprayers drag a chain off the end of the boom that leaves a line in the dew.


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

Colonel K0rn said:


> @kolbasz if you've got more than 12 gallons, pull behind is the way to go. I can get around my yard with 12 gallons, but I do the front and the back separately, but I'm usually pooped by the end. And I'm on relatively flat ground with no slopes.
> 
> Dye is water soluble, and will wash off. On your skin is another story  It seems to take forever to get off my hands if I get any on them.


Funny you say 12 gallons, that is precisely what I spray on my 13k. Mix, 3 batches of 4gal and go. Take about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete everything and clean up.

Cutting it down would be ideal.


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

MasterMech said:


> The dye is expensive to use over a large area depending on how much you need to mix in order to make the spray visible. The darker green and taller your turf is, the more dye you will need. And yes, the stuff can be very messy!
> 
> Foam markers are an expensive investment up front, unless you can cobble together a DIY kit, especially if you already have some of the parts. But it's very clean and effective, especially for large areas.
> 
> The other option is to spray with the dew on the grass. That leaves an unmistakable tell-tale, just make sure you start early enough to finish while the dew is still on! Some sprayers drag a chain off the end of the boom that leaves a line in the dew.


Biggest free of the dye is the kids playing in the lawn before it rains and turning into Smurfs


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

The only other thing to note with dew. You have to do it early enough to have dew, but late enough not to piss the neighbors off.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

kolbasz said:


> The only other thing to note with dew. You have to do it early enough to have dew, but late enough not to piss the neighbors off.


Not a problem down here. It's not unusual for the dew to stay on until 10am or later if in shade!


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## kolbasz (Jun 7, 2017)

MasterMech said:


> kolbasz said:
> 
> 
> > The only other thing to note with dew. You have to do it early enough to have dew, but late enough not to piss the neighbors off.
> ...


True, if I think about it, if I just get up, I should be able to complete things. The front loses it first, that's where I start anyway, so technically the dew should work. Next big question would be storage, and what would time savings be like. I assume a lot given the width of the boom, one pass could be 4 walking,


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

MasterMech said:


> The dye is expensive to use over a large area depending on how much you need to mix in order to make the spray visible. The darker green and taller your turf is, the more dye you will need. And yes, the stuff can be very messy!
> 
> Foam markers are an expensive investment up front, unless you can cobble together a DIY kit, especially if you already have some of the parts. But it's very clean and effective, especially for large areas.
> 
> The other option is to spray with the dew on the grass. That leaves an unmistakable tell-tale, just make sure you start early enough to finish while the dew is still on! Some sprayers drag a chain off the end of the boom that leaves a line in the dew.


Foam markers? What is this you speak of? I tried using turf mark today and it is horrible. I tried 1/2oz 1k and 1 oz 1k with pathetic outcomes for both.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

CenlaLowell said:


> MasterMech said:
> 
> 
> > The dye is expensive to use over a large area depending on how much you need to mix in order to make the spray visible. The darker green and taller your turf is, the more dye you will need. And yes, the stuff can be very messy!
> ...


I ran just under 1oz/1k when spraying my prodiamine and it worked out well. But that was on dormant Bermuda. On green turf, the dye is very tough to see. Foam marker kits are big bucks unless you throw together a DIY setup. If you can spray in the dew, you can drag chains off the ends of the boom and that will leave a distinct trail.

EDIT: the chain trick only works on reel low turf!


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