I don't like the fact that it fails to mention max pressure. That is an essential piece of info that makes me question the ethics of the manufacturer or seller. Gallons per minute is meaningless if you don't know the pressure.

I wish they made a light, well designed gas powered cart sprayer in this country. I had one once that was made in Japan and powered with a 2-stroke. It held 5 gallons and could really put out a lot of spray in a hurry. When the engine blew had to throw it away- no replacements here.

I now use a Canadian battery powered job for small jobs and it is terrible out of the green house, for which it must have been designed. Too much work on uneven ground. The tank is too high, wheels to small and frame too heavy. It cost around $700 too.

This one is only $199, not much more than my backpack.

What would be an acceptable pressure rating?

For fruit trees I would want at least 100 PSI- at maybe a gallon per 3 minutes. You need to penetrate foliage. Some back pack sprayers with manual pumps get up to 150 PSI. Takes a long time to empty 3 gallons though.

However, I'm no expert on small sprayers and I'm not sure what pressure my battery powered one gets to. It certainly puts out a lot more spray with more power than any back pack job with a manual pump.

Maybe I can get a chance this weekend to get the specs on my Canadian sprayer. Similar power would work great for a home orchard. If the snow keeps me from trees tomorrow I might even check it out then.

I did see something that there's an automatic shutoff at 40 psi.

Sounds like it will be stellar for applying roundup.

I bought a 15 gallon sprayer from tractor supply for $99 last year. It doesn't come with any wheels, you have to put it on a garden cart or something. It runs on 12v rechargeable battery which I got from amazon for $12-15.

My husband has been using it to spray our 4 peach trees. He likes it a lot.
It only takes a few minutes to spray each tree now.

http://www.tractorsupply.com/en/store/fimco-15-gallon-spot-sprayer

25 ft. horizontal throw
15 ft. vertical throw
15 gal. corrosion resistant polyethylene tank
Ideal for gardens, driveways, ditches, ponds, etc.
1 year limited warranty

Thanks, sara. That helps.

I'm pretty sure the sprayer I looked at will meet my needs for the fruit trees. If it cost more, I might look for alternatives, but this one isn't much more than the backpack, which I can now repurpose for lawn spraying.

[I always keep one sprayer for herbicides-only]

My brother had a sprayer like that he used in his greenhouse, worked quite well actually his used a gell cell battery that could be replaced easily. You need to leave those charged up all the time or the battery will go bad.

Product report

I bought this sprayer, it came yesterday, and today I used it to apply dormant oil. I'm pretty pleased with it. It came mostly assembled, the rest was easy. The cart is substantial, it's easy to push around, the only problem is that it's back-heavy and tends to tip when empty.

It reaches the top of my trees, that are all below 15', and it covers them really thoroughly, really fast. I only have a dozen trees, and some are still small, but the battery held out while I did the whole job.

It does leave about a quart of liquid in the tank, but the drain is quite convenient, the tank is easy to clean out.

Definitely beats the backpack. I'd recommend it for someone with a dozen or so trees that aren't too tall.

Itilton,

Thanks for the report. Just wonder if it would work well with Surround WP.

I am looking for a new sprayer that could work well with Surround and other liquid spray.

I think it might, but the problem is always getting it clogged up with lumpy stuff.

Yes, clogging is the concern. I also consider Solo 475 B with diaphragm pump. It says it'll work well with WP and liquid spray but it's a backpack sprayer.

What you might consider is seeing if you can remove the filter from the nozzle.

But you don't want to spend $$$ on a sprayer just to experiment with.