# Considering New Sprayer



## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

Back in March, my wife and I moved into our new house which is sitting on 1 acre of land. Not having a mower, I went out and purchased a push mower for the Bermuda/Zoysia grasses around the house. Well, that lasted till about April when she took pity on me and let me purchase my 1st John Deere riding mower...a S240 which has got me thru our first mowing season.



Great mower! My next planned purchase will be a John Deere Utility Cart, 7P Poly - LP21935 to help spread the sand I plan to put down to level the yard this coming February.



I am now looking to add a sprayer to my equipment inventory. I have been leaning towards a John Deere Mounted Sprayer, 15 gal. (57 L) (100 Series and S240) - LP53283 and need guidance (I have never owned one).



So from what I have read here on the forum, my fertilizer and pre-emergent are laid on a square footage calculation which implies a 'calibration'. Given all the different spayer nozzles on the market, is it as simple as putting 1 gallon of water in the tank and conducting test runs on a known area of lawn (say a 1000 sq. ft.) to get the desired coverage?

Also, I plan to follow the 'Bermuda Bible' and could use some guidance on which liquid fertilizer and pre-emergent to purchase come 02'19.

Thanks in advance for your help.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Fair warning, if you have a large lawn, you will be refilling a 15 gallon tank a few times for most products.

I like the idea of doing a mounted sprayer vs a tow behind though.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

+1

The ideal is 1gallon/ksqft. You can get by with less. Your calibration needs to ensure proper overlap (per the nozzle specs) and consistent drive speed to archive the 1g/ksqft.


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## gene_stl (Oct 29, 2017)

+1 on the size. 
15 gallons is not enough for an acre. I bought a 9 gallon Sprayer Mate to go with a power spreader but I am now eyeing some 25 and 30 gallon tow behinds. The other thing good about them is that they spray is behind you. That is not a real big thing but probably preferable.

Although I see the point of hitch mounted it puts all that water weight on the tractor when first loaded (only about 120 lbs on a 15 gal) If your lot is an acre you might get away with one refill. More likely two. That is a pia I can tell you. It takes three to do my front lawn. I would recommend at least a thirty gallon and make sure it has a double boom with four spray heads. Which spray from behind you. JMO


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

Thanks for the feedback! So if I am reading things correctly, both the pre-emergent and fertilizer products will use a #ounces/gallon/1000 square feet formula, which means the 15 gallon sprayer, once I get it dialed in, will cover 15,000 square feet...correct? As you can see in the attached photos, I have approximately 7500 square feet of Bermuda in the front/side yards and once cleared, expect to have another 10,000 square feet of Zoysia in the back yard (this past summer I installed the first 4500 square feet of Zoysia).





BTW, if I want to stay with a mounted sprayer, the only unit the S240 will support is the 15 gallon one. And, if I am not in the weeds (which I am currently weed eating in the back of the lot), this would mean that I would need to make two batches of each product and it would probably make sense to mix 10 gallons and 10 gallons to keep the weight down (80 lbs each batch).

Does this track?


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

I know that 1gal/M is recommended but I spray all soil products at 0.5gal/M. If you have uniform coverage, test on driveway, I would try that rate for foliar as well. Fine droplets would help here. Half the liquid would be very nice... If you cared, matt martin sprays at 0.25 gal/M for everything... That might be a tad low though but he makes it work.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

@Suburban Jungle Life , is your 'M' the 'X' in my equation? And if I read your comment correctly, you are doubling the amount of per-emergent per gallon of water, thus making it twice as strong...correct?


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

M = 1000sqft = 1ksqft. It comes from the Roman numerals (MXVII). The turf industry uses it to avoid confusion with potassium (K).

So, no. You still apply the same qty of prem (or any product) per sqft. You just use less water (aka carrier). With some products you can use less carrier per sqft. Why this could be a benefit? Cover more area with the same tank mixture. Risks? Less room for errors (overlap).


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

G-man is right. Drawback is less room for error. Less liquid means less coverage on the leaf for foliar products and therefore each leaf can have more concentrated product per drop with fewer drops per leaf. I do what I can to try and increase efficacy by using multiple adjuvents to aid in mitigating the lower rate of water.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

Thanks everyone! I have always said that if I can learn just one new thing each day....

Well, I have learned two new things today! I learned that the Turf Industry designates 'M' as 1000 (totally understand why) as well as the meaning of the word 'adjuvents' which I looked up in the dictionary!

I think I now have a good handle on getting started with my own applications and feel confident in the pros and cons with the equipment listed at the beginning of this thread.

And given that I am just getting started, I think it makes the most sense to stick with the 1 gallon/M sqft to give myself some room for error.

BTW, I want to continue tapping your expertise in selecting the best liquid pre-emergent as well as liquid fertilizer by starting a thread over in the proper section of the forum.


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

Pre-e, use prodiamine. Use the link at the top of the page to pick up a 5 lb jug. It's cheap per M. For fert, urea is the cheapest but cost aside, there are many other options. I recommend a soil test to see where to start.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

@Suburban Jungle Life Thank you for pointing me to that link. If I am comparing apples to apples, it appears that the Prodiamine at that site cost 30% less than the same product offered by one of the local companies here in Central Texas.

As to getting a soil test to determine what fertilizer will work best, I plan to send a sample over to TAMU.


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## jdc_lawnguy (Oct 30, 2018)

@datcope, I am so glad you posted this! I have been debating a sprayer upgrade. I tried searching for this and never found it so thought I would have to go pulled behind or a completely different route. I was actually debating building a 50 gallon sprayer with a 300' hose so I walk and spray kind of TruGreen does. I had even thought about the Lesco 80 lb option.

Those routes are definitely more expensive, so looks like I have at least one more option to consider.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)




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## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

The mounted sprayer is a nice option.

I ghetto-rigged one when I still had my rider:









After getting my ZTR, I had to move to a tow-behind, and it's just not quite as convenient.
More capacity is definitely more versatile though.

I did do a full TeeJet upgrade. Talk about going down a rabbit-hole... :lol:


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

I ordered my new sprayer from John Deere today. While I am waiting for it to come in, I am reviewing what/how to put down for the pre-e (per the attached photo, I think I need to get it down ASAP).



I am going with @Suburban Jungle Life 's suggestion and plan to lay down Prodiamine. To keep it simple, I plan to go with 0.5 gallons of carrier (water) per M. If I understand the instructions in the attached photo, will I be putting .83 lbs of Prodiamine per gallon of water?



Also, am I correct in assuming that I can use this on my Zoysia as well as the Common Bermuda?


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## jdc_lawnguy (Oct 30, 2018)

I suggest read the actual instruction booklet carefully. They call for 0.38- 0.83 oz(ounces)/M.

Your post indicates lbs/m.

My guess is applying that much prodiamine/M would be very very very bad for your lawn. ☺

Not sure what your seeding plans are, but I would suggest you read application instructions carefully and determine where you want to be in that range.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

@jdc_lawnguy , good catch...thank you! So, if I calibrate my sprayer to put down 0.5 gallon of carrier (water) per 1000 square feet, then I would use 1.5 tablespoons (0.7 ounces) of Prodiamine to each gallon of water.


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## g-man (Jun 15, 2017)

@datcope the limit of 0.83oz/M is per year. I would not do that all at once. Since your weed season is likely longer, I would try to split it across the year. Post the question in the warm season forum for guidance. I would follow the recommendations from folks in your area.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

thanks @g-man....will do. Obviously, this is why I need guidance from the forum.


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## Suburban Jungle Life (Mar 1, 2018)

@datcope Just be sure to practice with water in a measured area. Best to have your drive speed and spray setup calibrated to avoid mistakes. I'm in the middle winter and it's hard to imagine others are concerned about crab grass! :lol: Check soil temps with a thermometer or look at greencastonline.com for the temp. I prefer to put it down with soil temps around 50°. Crabgrass tends to pop up in the mid to upper 50's.


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## dslab (Oct 18, 2017)

@datcope How much was the mounted 15-gallon sprayer from John Deere?


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

Update: Received my new sprayer this afternoon and got it assembled/attached to the lawn tractor.



All I need to do is to run the wires/switch from the battery. Who knows, with a little luck I might be putting down some Prodiamine this weekend.

@dslab I got mine from JD for $453.


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## jdc_lawnguy (Oct 30, 2018)

Looks great. Interested to see how you like it. I almost went that direction but ultimately ran across a deal on a G&C Spreadermate.

I may still pick up one of these down the road for some of my more open areas.


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## Atlanticlawn (Jun 30, 2018)

If you are serious about spraying and want to do it right, you really need a foam marker kit, low cut Bermuda is a challenge to spray without overlapping and potentially applying twice the recommended rate. If you are spraying herbicides that are really thick , like prodiamine I would recommend using a paddle type paint stirrer attached to your battery operated drill to mix. Even when mixture is bouncing around in the tank it will begin to settle out in a short period of time. Double dosing with pre is nowhere near as noticeable as double dosing Speedzone or Msm.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

With the addition of a higher capacity pump and a jet agitation system, most electric spray systems can apply lawn chemicals. Speedzone tends to break and float to the top of the tank making the last bits hot. MSM and other dispersible granule products settle to the bottom causing the opposite issue. If one is fortunate enough for the tank to be designed with a sump that the intake system draws from, what is drawn first will likely be more concentrated leaving the rest of the tank mix lighter in concentration.

From what I have seen on the market, those spray systems will apply RoundUp and Three Way Amine acceptably without modifications.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

@Atlanticlawn @Greendoc thanks, these are good points....this first time should be interesting.


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## Greendoc (Mar 24, 2018)

I looked at your lawn size. Last time I sprayed a 1 acre lawn, it got done with a 100 gallon tank sprayer powered by a 10 GPM engine driven pump. Whatever was not needed in the boom was used to power jet agitation nozzles in the tank.


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## datcope (Oct 29, 2018)

I am going over the final details before I apply my first application of Prodiamine. I am planning on two applications of 0.4 ounces/gallon of water/M, one the first of March and one the first of September.

While I plan to do a test run with water only, to get closer to the right application rate I have been reviewing the manual for my sprayer and would appreciate it if someone can validate my thinking....



If I am reading the chart correctly, to get 1 gallon/M, I will need to be going 3 mph. If that is the case, I have downloaded a speedometer application (thanks @gene_stl for the idea).


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## gene_stl (Oct 29, 2017)

Thank you for the mention but I actually haven't been using the smartphone GPS speed apps. They certainly seemed like a good idea. But the speed indicator jumps around so much I don't trust it. I think they probably work better with cars , boats and maybe bicycles or motorcycles.

Since I have very long east west straight runs I have measured off some areas and used the smartphone stop watch to actually measure and calculate speed.

There is a locally boosted version of GPS called RTK (Real Time Kinematic) which if you buy it from Trimble is still 7 to 10 thousand bucks. But there is a company selling it for $600 and another company selling DIY hacker boards (you need two one on the mower sprayer and one at a known location and also an internet connection which can be wifi or a phone connection) for $200 the pair. These will allow robot mowers without burying cable. Still more money than I want to spend on speed control. You can goog GPS RTK and get the whole picture which is changing fast. The price will come down to nothing eventually.
But you can get bicycle wheel turn counters for not too much money. They count the turns of a mounted magnet and give a rate. You tell them the diameter of the wheel that the magnet is mounted on and they digitally read out the speed. Almost free these days. One our members posted pix of his installation.  Pete1313  https://thelawnforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=436#p8101


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## SCGrassMan (Dec 17, 2017)

What?


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## krusej23 (May 8, 2018)

@datcope What's your opinion of the sprayer after a couple years?


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