Mike:

I really can't help you chose a sprayer. But would point out that northern tool has three tree sprayers. Two are the sprayer you listed with and without a cart. The other is 26 gal, 60 psi, 5.5 gpm, and a different spray wand. I like the looks of the spray pattern from the nozzle on the 16 gal, 200 psi sprayers better.

I think I'll get the 200 psi and mount it on a nursery cart to move around my greenhouse and orchard.

I'm wondering if a deep cycle marine 12 volt battery would be better than the automotive type?

Definitely a deep cycle. Northern Tool says pump could be damaged if voltage drops low. I have electric power all around my orchard fence I will be hook up a constant power souce.

The 200 psi pump is a piston pump. Do you think the WP's we use are too abrassive for a piston pump?

Mike

In my days spraying ag pesticides we avoided piston pumps for those type pesticides. We went with the roller type which I assume is the higher volume lower pressure unit. I haven't sprayed a WP in the last 10 yrs and don't know if those issues are a major concern.

Thanks for the heads up about battery.

I ended up buying a gas powered sprayer with high pressure piston pump. They claim it will handle WP formulations.

I hope you can find a sprayer that meets your needs.

Here is a link that might be useful: Dramm sprayer

I'm wondering if a deep cycle marine 12 volt battery would be better than the automotive type?

fruitnut. the Deep cycle marine battery would indeed be monumentally better than an automotive type battery. Automotive batteries are designed for short bursts of very high level current flow which is not what you'd be dealing with in a sprayer. The deep cycle is precisely what you want, albeit a tad more expensive. The DC also handles repeated charging of batteries that have fell below voltage thresholds that an automotive battery would not typically see.

Also my friends experience with sprayers "he's had a ton of them" is to stay away from the diaphragm type pumps. I don't know what the northern tool sprayer has, but it's likely a diaphragm pump since they must be the cheapest to produce. He ended up building his own high quality spray rig, but he had a fortune in it.

Appleseed,

The 40-70 PSI pumps are diaphram type.

The 200 PSI pump is a piston pump. It is needed for the high pressure.

I was just wondering how a piston pump would hold up using WP pesticides.

Could you please get some feedback from your friend if he uses WP's.

Thanx
Mike

Mike,

The possibility of clogging is mentioned repeatedly in the manual for the sprayer you are looking at. The ordinary electric spot sprayers with diaphram pumps probably wouldn't clog as easily, and Northern's 26 gallon tree sprayer with the big electric diaphram pump (at a higher price with tree spray wand included) seems like a better option for powders.

If you are considering spraying Surround WP, Michael Phillips of Lost Nation Orchards used one of those tow behind gasoline powered sprayers with a twin piston pump with Surround for many years. He just needed to have the pump rebuilt every year. Mackissic (and other companies) made these sprayers and they can often be found on Ebay at low cost in need of a repower or pump rebuild.

The best sprayer for powders would include a Hypro D252 or Hypro D50 or similar diaphram pump connected to a gasoline engine. These items could repower an old tow behind sprayer like I described above and be used to rapidly spray your 75 trees.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mighty Mac Sprayers

This post was edited by swampsnaggs on Sat, Nov 1, 14 at 12:33

Swampsnaggs,

Just to clarify, the 70 trees in my orchard are all espaliers and are 6-7 feet tall so it is not like spraying a normal 70 tree orchard.

I don't have to spray into a canopy and I spray from a relatively close range. When I spray it is almost like painting a wall with those paint sprayers.

My reason for looking at the high pressure sprayer is because it can be adjusted to almost a mist/atomizer. My thought was that the mist would provide better coverage and more easily get into the nooks and crannies.

At different times I spray with Captan, Imidan, Kocide, and others which are water soluble. I do NOT use surround. I was wondering if these would damage a piston pump.

I was wondering if the droplet size from the 40-70 PSI diaphragm sprayers are fine enough to do the "nooks & crannies" thing.

I would still get the 200 PS model if the stuff I use does not damage the pump.

Mike

Mike, I have a Northern Tool 200psi sprayer and I have been using it for 6 years trouble-free. It is (was) a 16 gallon sprayer. I have since added a larger tank. I have been spraying 250 apple trees which are all 8-10' dawarf and have no complaints on the sizes of the droplets of spray. I had lost 60 trees last winter to "Cold & Rabbits"( Dam Rabbits)

Fruitnut I just use a standard sprayer from the hardware store which I know has plenty of disadvantages but is the length of the stream sprayed and width significantly better with the higher end sprayers or is it more about the volume of spray which you can deliver between refills? I'm getting good coverage with my cheap sprayer. When I switch to spraying powdered sulphur next year part of the time I may find out it's time to upgrade. Applestem the rabbits appear to be in record numbers in Kansas again this year. As soon as the snow hits the ground they are on the fruit trees like hogs in a sweet corn eating contest. I paint the trunks with tanglefoot.

Applestem123,

Thanx for the input.

I think I will go for the 200 PSI Northern Tool. Was leaning that way and have heard no negatives.

Thanx
Mike

Mike,

For my backyard orchard, I use a 60 gal diaphragm type pump. One disadvantage of this pump is that it doesn't handle oils well (although some diaphragm pumps do handle oils, this is a pretty cheap pump). I had to put new diaphragms in the pump after about 5 years, but it's not hard to do.

For the orchard at the farm I use an airblast sprayer which has a piston pump. It's made to spray pretty much anything used on fruit trees. Most airblast sprayers use either a piston pump or centrifugal pump and will spray just about anything.

It surprises me how much commercial grade sprayers have gone up in the last few years. About 6 years ago I could buy a 4 hp honda airblast sprayer with a 25 gallon stainless steel tank (think how much more expensive that is than plastic) on bicycle wheels for what FN paid for his greenhouse sprayer. Now my sprayer costs double.

That thing FN has purchased will be a pain to roll around on uneven ground- I have a battery powered commercial greenhouse sprayer with a marine battery that comes standard. I hate wheeling that thing around but it should work for FN.

For the single non-commercial orchard I would run with a cheap Northstar, I think.

>>I hate wheeling that thing around but it should work for FN. Not sure why they put these horrible wheels on, I would put some kids size bike wheels under or 4 wheel barrow wheels.

I won't be wheeling it around very much. The 60ft hose will reach nearly everything. And the floor of my greenhouse is smooth and hard. It may be a mistake but I make those every day.

FN, I don't think it is a mistake to buy a sprayer designed for use in a greenhouse if you plan to use it in a greenhouse. You deserve the highest quality sprayer for the purpose- you've earned it, IMO. You'll probably never need to purchase another.

I just wish someone made as good a quality small sprayer that rolled well on uneven terrain. My main sprayer is overkill for small applications and holds about 3 gallons of material just in the hose. I only use the wheels to mount it on my truck and have it hooked up to a manual hose reel with almost 300 ft of hose.

I don't like carrying more than about 2 gallons on my back.

Just found the user's manual for the 200 PSI NORTHSTAR HIGH PRESSURE SPRAYER and for those interested below is what the manual says about the different chem formulations that can be sprayed with this machine...

"Some formulations of liquid pesticides do not remain in solution and should be agitated to maintain a uniform mix. This sprayer is equipped with an agitator that should be used when spraying pesticides classified as âÂÂflowableâ (âÂÂFâ or âÂÂLâÂÂ), âÂÂwettable powderâ (âÂÂWPâ or âÂÂWâÂÂ), âÂÂemulsionâ (âÂÂECâ or âÂÂEâÂÂ), âÂÂmicroencapsulatedâ (âÂÂMâÂÂ), or water dispersible granules (âÂÂWDGâ or âÂÂDFâÂÂ). (See pesticide label to determine its classification.)"

LOOKS GOOD TO ME.
Mike