# My NorthStar 21gal Tow Behind Sprayer TeeJet Mod- Writeup/pics



## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

The NorthStar 21 gallon tow behind sprayer, from the factory, provides a really good base for a turf sprayer. The nozzles are the limiting factor. It has 2- one on each end of the boom. They are alright, but not great. Not a perfectly even spray, not a perfect overlap etc. Fine for an average yard. It has a nice strong pump, pressure regulator, and agitator. Also includes a wand for spot-spraying, or things like spraying trees/shrubs for insects.

https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200646314_200646314

Ready to be worked on. Capacity is roughly 3.5 cats









Before I get too carried away, my goal was to be able to swap 2 different kinds of TeeJet tips. 
One tip would spray finer droplets, more of a mist, for contact/foliar applied products like PGR, fungicides, herbicies, etc. Another tip would spray larger droplets for soil applied products like pre-emergents, insecticides, Kelp Help, etc.

These are the tips I settled on:

XR TeeJet- Yellow- Part # XR11002- 110 degree spray
https://www.spraysmarter.com/visiflo-teejet-tip-xr11002-vp.html









Spray Pattern is very fine, and spray is straight down:









Turbo TeeJet Induction- Brown- Part # TTI11005- 110 degree spray
https://www.spraysmarter.com/teejet...-0215373e47004d8bb98390bfa226fcdf.html#85=892









Spray pattern is large droplets, absolutely dumps liquid. Spray is angled away from the sprayer:









This is how the nozzles TeeJet nozzle system works. 
There are several types of mounting systems and nozzle insertion types you can use from TeeJet, but I chose the most basic.










Pictured here, from bottom to top, are:
-Triple hose connection: # 8124-NYB-406TD
-100 mesh tip strainer: # 8079-PP-100
-Turbo TeeJet Induction nozzle- Brown: # TTI11005
-Extended Length Nylon nozzle caps: # CP8027-1-NYB

The largest challenge I had to figure out was how to mound the nozzles and their hose connectors to the boom on the NorthStar sprayer. From the factory, it includes really nice folding booms, but no way to just easily insert the TeeJet system.

I settled on PVC pipes, drilled and mounted to the existing folding boom.
Then, attach TeeJet pipe clamp assemblies to the PVC pipe, which will then mount the TeeJet hose connectors.

TeeJet ½" pipe clamp assembly: # AA11-½
https://www.spraysmarter.com/teejet-clamp-assembly-d71abbcc8fbb80bcfa7e373dd48b4e2a.html

Like this:



























You can see in the above pictures that I also added a different shut-off valve for the boom.
From the factory, the sprayer comes with a shut off valve on each end, for each nozzle. So I removed the factory shut off valves, and plumbed one on in to shut off the entire boom.

I replaced all the factory hose with new hose, and had to add some extra to allow for the 3 nozzles I wanted, and to allow room for the boom to fold. A bit of a mess. Someone could probably figure out how to make this more clean. Basically, the main feed hose from the pressure regulator feeds the middle triple hose connector, then a hose to each of the single hose connectors at the end.



















Here it is finished up:



























Each nozzle is 20" apart from each other, and 20" from the ground. The boom and pipe clamps let you adjust the width to meet your needs.

Spaced like this, the spray of one nozzle reaches to the middle of the next nozzle. So the width of the middle nozzle has 2 full nozzle's-worth of spray on it. Area covered by the outside nozzles will need an overlapping pass to get the correct, matching volume of spray.

The spray patterns overlap like this: (Im not an artist, obviously…)










When you turn around to make your next pass, depending on your nozzle spacing, you will have to offset your next pass to make sure the turf that got the outside nozzle's spray from the last pass gets equivalent spray from this pass's outside nozzle. Since the middle portion of the boom does this for you, you have to overlap the outside 20" of spray.

Something like this:









Hopefully this is helpful to some folks. 
I'll probably edit this a few times to add further part number and maybe improve my illustrations.


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## jayhawk (Apr 18, 2017)

ah...i just got back from Topeka, Lawrence, Kc and kept noticing the prevalence of zero turns, which makes sense since the yards are quite large. i'd love to help her out but her spreader and sprayer just makes it too impractical...nor does she really care 

I did dig a few 10' gutter drains and pop-ups for my mother, couldn't help covet the dirt / topsoil you have.

nice write up - looks like a winner.


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

I'm glad you wrote this up as I will be doi g this or something similar


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## JWAY (Oct 16, 2018)

@craigdt 
Your build looks great!
I see you went with the yellow 11002 nozzles? 
I run 3 x red 11004 with the same 2.2 GPM pump so I can get a little over 1 gal/M at 2.5 MPH and 40 psi.
Just wondering why you chose the lower flow nozzles.


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## Ge0rdi3brit (Aug 30, 2018)

@craigdt what size hose does this utilize? Is it 3/4" OD, 1/2" ID? I know you said you replaced the factory hoses, were they just cheap quality?


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## Jgolf67 (Apr 27, 2018)

Nice modifications! Looks similar to the modifications I made to my first sprayer (also the northstar).


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## Dkrem (Mar 16, 2019)

So my thought is, just checking to see if it agrees with your motivation for this, is that by adding the third nozzle and converting from the fanjets to the 110's your overall spray width per pass is the same or reduced, but you should have better/uniform coverage within that.

I was thinking about moving the existing fanjet nozzles 20" further out and adding a third in the center. Then I could increase my tire-track to tire-track spacing from 40" to 80". Same spray quality as factory but increased effective width.


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## Jgolf67 (Apr 27, 2018)

Dkrem said:


> I was thinking about moving the existing fanjet nozzles 20" further out and adding a third in the center. Then I could increase my tire-track to tire-track spacing from 40" to 80". Same spray quality as factory but increased effective width.


This is what I did when modifying the boom on mine. I put on 4 low flow tips so I could spray an acre per tank. Also installed a circulation line.


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## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

Ge0rdi3brit said:


> @craigdt what size hose does this utilize? Is it 3/4" OD, 1/2" ID? I know you said you replaced the factory hoses, were they just cheap quality?


They are 3/8" hoses.

The factory hoses were _okay_, but the hose I got at Home Depot was a bit thicker and better quality.
I also replaced all the hose clamps. Leaky hose connections drive me crazy.


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## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

Dkrem said:


> So my thought is, just checking to see if it agrees with your motivation for this, is that by adding the third nozzle and converting from the fanjets to the 110's your overall spray width per pass is the same or reduced, but you should have better/uniform coverage within that.
> 
> I was thinking about moving the existing fanjet nozzles 20" further out and adding a third in the center. Then I could increase my tire-track to tire-track spacing from 40" to 80". Same spray quality as factory but increased effective width.


Yes, correct. I did want a more even spray.

A wider boom would be nice, but I didn't want it to be so wide that I would start running into trees, etc.

A tow-behind naturally is already a bit less maneuverable.

Although, I certainly could go to a 2 nozzle setup at the same width- I might play with that setup at some point.

Edit- Yeah, your wider boom setup would be neat to see. Would speed things up, you'd think


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

I like the setup, good work! 3.5 cat capacity was good too...LOL. :lol:


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

Random question @craigdt - generally how heavy is this thing? I don't have anything to tow one of these with, but I'm curious if I could rig some sort of handle and just push it around in reverse?

Would need to get a battery obviously, but didn't know if this thing was simply too heavy to do that with.


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## CenlaLowell (Apr 21, 2017)

Do you use turf Mark or some kind of grass dye when you spray with the Northstar? @craigdt


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## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

CenlaLowell said:


> Do you use turf Mark or some kind of grass dye when you spray with the Northstar?


No, I don't. 
I was really nervous about not using dye at first, but I apply it in enough water that I usually have to make 2 or 3 overlapping passes. I figure that will ensure even coverage.


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## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

adgattoni said:


> Random question @craigdt - generally how heavy is this thing? I don't have anything to tow one of these with, but I'm curious if I could rig some sort of handle and just push it around in reverse?
> 
> Would need to get a battery obviously, but didn't know if this thing was simply too heavy to do that with.


Yeah, I mean, it's pretty heavy.

21 gallons of water will weigh something like 160 pounds. Probably 200 pounds, with the weight of the whole sprayer.

You know, a handy person could mount a large swiveling wheel under the frame where you'd normally attach it to the tow machine.

Then affix a handle of some sort, and go to town.

But they do make battery operated sprayer made to be pushed. Basically look like a broadcast spreader with a tank on top.


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## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

JWAY said:


> @craigdt
> Your build looks great!
> I see you went with the yellow 11002 nozzles?
> I run 3 x red 11004 with the same 2.2 GPM pump so I can get a little over 1 gal/M at 2.5 MPH and 40 psi.
> Just wondering why you chose the lower flow nozzles.


This is a great question, and I can't say why I chose the yellows. Maybe I'll give the reds a try.

I'd like to reduce my number of passes required, to lower my ground impact/compaction. Red nozzles would help.


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## adgattoni (Oct 3, 2017)

craigdt said:


> adgattoni said:
> 
> 
> > Random question @craigdt - generally how heavy is this thing? I don't have anything to tow one of these with, but I'm curious if I could rig some sort of handle and just push it around in reverse?
> ...


Understood - I know about the spreadermate and copycat builds, I just figured this might be cheaper. If I could just stick a handle on it and push it ($3-400 vs. ~$600 for a copycat spreadermate vs. $1000 for a spreadermate B). Appreciate the perspective!


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## Timbo3985 (Mar 19, 2019)

Do any of you who use the north star have issues with the pickup not being able to get the last few gallons of liquid from the tank? I have a 26 gallon ATV style but I assume the pickup is the same in the tow behind model. I typically have to fill the tank with a few gallons the than I need and then dump the rest once the pickup tube no longer takes up the remaining liquid


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## craigdt (Apr 21, 2018)

Is your pickup nozzle all the way down in the sprayer? The screen should be basically touching the bottom.

Also, when hooked up, is your sprayer tilted forward? That would cause the liquid to accumulate away from the pickup tube.


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## cglarsen (Dec 28, 2018)

Timbo3985 said:


> Do any of you who use the north star have issues with the pickup not being able to get the last few gallons of liquid from the tank? I have a 26 gallon ATV style but I assume the pickup is the same in the tow behind model. I typically have to fill the tank with a few gallons the than I need and then dump the rest once the pickup tube no longer takes up the remaining liquid


I usually have a gallon or so in the bottom when my nozzles start spitting some air. Maybe on a flat parking lot you can get most of the water out.

The problem I'm getting after a season of use is the Northstar pump not self priming as easily. Sometimes I have to manually prime it on the pump intake side. Might need to go back to Northern Tool for a replacement.


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## LAXBP16 (Aug 20, 2020)

Can you update the pictures or post a YT video, I can only see 2


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