# Weighing Granular Products



## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

What is everybody using to weigh out granules? Ive always estimated but i'd like to get more precise. What kind of scales are recommended?


----------



## daniel3507 (Jul 31, 2018)

I steal the one from the kitchen and hope the wife doesn't notice. It does pounds, oz, and grams


----------



## pennstater2005 (Jul 17, 2017)

I bought this one from amazon for $10. Use it to weigh coffee beans though!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075FF9PD2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I did weigh prodiamine on it once.


----------



## Smokindog (Jun 20, 2018)

The problem with weighing granular product for "split use" is not the actual weight split but how you ensure your product is actually mixed and the active ingredient is equally dispersed.

It varies by type of product but I recently was told by the manufacturer of Negate 37WG to dissolve the product as a concentrate first and then use the fractional amount based on liquid volume. This is because there is so much "fill" that if you just split the dry granules you'd have no idea how much active ingredient you were actually getting.


----------



## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I use one of these and a bucket to weigh out larger amounts of granules.


----------



## Shindoman (Apr 22, 2018)

I use a small postage scale and a 5 gal bucket


----------



## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

Ware said:


> I use one of these and a bucket to weigh out larger amounts of granules.


I was reading comments on these on Amazon and some said these are wayyy off the actual weight. What do you think? This is the route I planned, but the kitchen scale looks like a good option too!


----------



## MarkAguglia (Jul 13, 2017)

pennstater2005 said:


> I bought this one from amazon for $10. Use it to weigh coffee beans though!
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075FF9PD2/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1
> 
> I did weigh prodiamine on it once.


That could work!


----------



## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

Smokindog said:


> The problem with weighing granular product for "split use" is not the actual weight split but how you ensure your product is actually mixed and the active ingredient is equally dispersed.
> 
> It varies by type of product but I recently was told by the manufacturer of Negate 37WG to dissolve the product as a concentrate first and then use the fractional amount based on liquid volume. This is because there is so much "fill" that if you just split the dry granules you'd have no idea how much active ingredient you were actually getting.


I'll be honest, I've never heard of this and am extremely skeptical of this statement. Those particles should be a homogeneous prill of technical compounds (active ingredient) and inert ingredients.

I'm going to reach out to some people at Quali-Pro to see what's up.


----------



## Mightyquinn (Jan 31, 2017)

I use to use the scale we had in the kitchen but ended up buying one just for the garage to weigh my lawn products. I ended up getting this one since it was fairly inexpensive and weighs up to 19lbs. Kitchen Scale

I also have a small "gram" scale that I use for VERY small amounts of product like Celsius and Certainty.


----------



## LowCountryCharleston (Jun 21, 2018)

osuturfman said:


> Smokindog said:
> 
> 
> > The problem with weighing granular product for "split use" is not the actual weight split but how you ensure your product is actually mixed and the active ingredient is equally dispersed.
> ...


I'll be really interested in what the response is but I suspect you're correct.


----------



## Smokindog (Jun 20, 2018)

I'll be interested to see if you get a different response but it makes perfect sense to me.

You're only dealing with 1.5 oz of source material for 1 acre of treatment. I'm going to go out out on a limb and say they've done a statistical study of their product that shows with a high degree of certainty the right amount of active ingredient is found in 1.5 dry ounces to treat an acre but can make no guarantee beyond that of the consistency of the distribution in the active ingredient in the product. While you may be OK you'll be taking some risk. They didn't just decide to put 1.5 oz of material in a 5 oz bottle but I'm just thinking out loud here. And they provide no instructions in the labels for smaller measure/treatment.



osuturfman said:


> Smokindog said:
> 
> 
> > The problem with weighing granular product for "split use" is not the actual weight split but how you ensure your product is actually mixed and the active ingredient is equally dispersed.
> ...


----------



## Smokindog (Jun 20, 2018)

Decided to do a chat with DoMyOwn after my last post. They were trained just yesterday per the CSR. Also, I provided my rationale in my previous post. I've had similar experiences with photographic chemicals.

Chat
Hello, thank you for visiting. May I help you in any way?
Rachel
I only want to treat 1/2 acre of lawn with my Negate 37. The bottle is for 1 acre and I was told to first dilute the entire bottle in a gallon of water and then use 1/2 of the gallon in my tank sprayer rather than trying to split the dry granules in half (I have a very accurate gram scale). Is the dilution step necessary and if so, how long will the liquid concentrate last on the shelf?
Me
Yes, it is. The granules are not uniform and it's worth the risk of losing your lawn
*it isn't worth
That initial 1 gallon solution is pretty stable, though
Rachel
and that is from Qual-Pro?
Me
Should last about 4 weeks
yes
Rachel
4 weeks isn't long.
so diluting it causes it to break down faster?
don't the granules have a 2-3 year shelf life?
hello?
Me
I apologize for the delay
4 weeks is actually a very long time for a solution
Rachel
NP, just wanted to make sure we weren't disconnected
Me
Most products have to be used within 24 hours after diluteing
Be sure you store it out of direct sunlight or extreme heat/cold and it may last longer
Yes, the granules will have a long shelf life.
Rachel
I won't have need of the rest of it then (if it works). That's too bad.
Me
But if you try to dilute only part of the bottle then you will not have an even distribution of active ingredient, and you will probably kill your lawn
You could use a different product like Revolver if you want to make a small amount: domyown.com/revolver-selective...
Rachel
and you're positive I run a risk by just dividing the granules dry? Again, I've got a VERY accurate triple beam gram scale
Me
But that product is a much higher price.
Rachel
1/100th of a gram
Me
This is what the manufacturer has advised us and they were here yesterday.
Rachel
OK, thx
Me
There are two active ingredients, and the active ingredients have different prills
so you could end up with way too much of one active and burn your lawn
which would be more costly than the bottle of herbicide
Rachel
can I get a transcript of this?
Me
Yes, you will receive this to your email once this chat has ended.
Rachel
Awesome and thanks again
Me
Please be advised that our current stock of Negate does not yet have the new residential labeling.
Rachel
Yes, I'm aware. I pointed out to you guys that it was recently OK'd 
Me
Thank you. Yes, we had training on this yesterday but in checking what is available to us the new label bottles have not yet arrived
Rachel
Please email me this transcript
Me
You will receive it automatically once this chat has ended
Did you have any other questions?
Rachel
no thanks!
Me
Ok, I hope you have a great day
Rachel
you as well
Me


----------



## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

Shindoman said:


> I use a small postage scale and a 5 gal bucket


This right here.

I use a 5 gallon bucket on this scale:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KYA0RC2/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1


----------



## Shindoman (Apr 22, 2018)

Yep, similar to the one I have.


----------



## AZChemist (Nov 7, 2018)

I have a 500g scale. Not very large capacity but I make it work. 
For dry product I'll weigh out 1lbs of product in a container and repeat for how every many pounds I need. 1 or 2 times in the container, Mark it, and be on with it. 
Generally I use ~19 pounds of the same stuff week after week. With that said I know exactly where the levels should be in my hopper and the scale doesn't even come out of the garage. A larger scale would be more convenient and in the end accuracy would probably be close.

For liquids if I do not have a large enough volumetric flask to measure I will find the density of the solution and then weigh out the mL accordingly then. This method is very accurate.


----------



## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

Basically, mix in the amount of WG you need to use and go from there.


----------



## Smokindog (Jun 20, 2018)

Interesting but the bottle comes with no such measuring device. I'll call him to ask why they advised differently and provide the name of the person so he can resolve.

UPDATE 1 -
I just got off the phone with Shannon. While discussing the issue he connected your email to the discussion so we're all good there. He said he doesn't deal much with Negate because of his territory (mid-Atlantic) and would reach out to both the Texas rep as well as the rep that deals with domyown to see if there is something that was missed. He took my contact info and told me someone would be in touch.

UPDATE 2 -
Jake from Qual-Pro (really, that's his name) just called me. He's the Texas rep who Shannon pinged. He actually live just down the road from me. *He said you DO need to dilute to solution and there is no measuring device shipped with the Negate.* There is with some product but not Negate. Since Negate is more than one chemical you run the risk of not getting the right amount of either unless you dilute the entire amount. As of now they have no plans for anything less than a "1 acre bottle". Most users (professionals) want larger bottles, not smaller.



osuturfman said:


> Basically, mix in the amount of WG you need to use and go from there.


----------



## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

Glad we got that sorted out and I stand corrected. Now I'm going to find out why the formulation is like that.


----------



## Hoosier (Jun 12, 2018)

For granular fertilizer, insecticide, grass seed, etc I use a bucket and luggage scale. $10 on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NW62PCA/ref=oh_aui_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Is it plus or minus .5-1 pound? Probably, but for those types of products, a pound or so likely isn't going to make a huge difference over 4-5,000 square feet, which is what I have each section of my yard split into. For some products that I consistently use, I've dumped the whole bag into 1 or multiple buckets, measured the height and divided by certain increments, then drawn a line on the inside of the bucket so that I have a "fill line" for 1 pound, 5 pounds, etc. This is assuming that the weight on the bag is actually the weight of the product in the bag, but I'll take their word for it.


----------



## FuzzeWuzze (Aug 25, 2017)

I bought this scale for measuring grain for homebrewing and it works great, the detachable faceplate and heavy weight limit works great. If you plan to use buckets on top, a detachable faceplate for these scales is crucial so you can actually read the damn thing when a giant bucket or box is on top. Plus its accurate enough you can use it as a postage scale if your into printing out your own postage.








https://www.amazon.com/My-Weigh-Ultraship-Electronic-Shipping/dp/B000JQTVLY/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1547250987&sr=8-2&keywords=My+Weigh+Ultraship+75+Lb


----------



## Jagermeister (May 18, 2021)

osuturfman said:


> Glad we got that sorted out and I stand corrected. Now I'm going to find out why the formulation is like that.


@osuturfman Did you ever use Negate? I am wondering how long the shelf life of the concentrate actually is. I am hoping to get 4 - 6 months out of 1 gallon - 1 app in the late fall and then again in late winter for any Poa, etc that breaks through. I would then have some left over for spot spraying.


----------



## osuturfman (Aug 12, 2017)

Jagermeister said:


> osuturfman said:
> 
> 
> > Glad we got that sorted out and I stand corrected. Now I'm going to find out why the formulation is like that.
> ...


Never used it but was told the shelf life of the diluted spray solution is 4 weeks.


----------

