Spray Equipment Safety - Secure Your Load

Spray equipment is expensive.  You rely on it to service your customers and make money to support your family.  Take care of it.  In addition to using your spray equipment properly and doing required preventative maintenace, it is critical to make sure it is secured in your vehicle.  Look at this photo:
 
The backpack is in the bed of the truck, unsecured.  There is a bungee cord, not attached to anything (nice landing - wrong airport!).  If there is an accident or the driver is forced to make a sharp stop or turn, this backpack will cause problems.  There are a number of risks apparent in this photo:
1.  The backpack sustains damage, causing chemical spill (perhaps on spray tech), downtime, repair expense, etc.
2. The backpack flies through the rear windshield, hitting the driver.  Ouch!
3.  The backpack slams into the pump, causing pump damage.  Pump damage equals: chemical spill, downtime, repair expense, etc.
4.  The backpack flies out of the truck in the event of an accident, perhaps hitting another vehicle.  Can you say "lawsuit"?  It is not worth losing your company over this.

Take a minute at the start of your day to ensure all your weed spray equipment and pest control spray equipment is properly secured to prevent damage, spills and injuries.  Don't just check your backpack sprayers and B&Gs.  Periodically check toolboxes, tank straps, skid sprayers, etc. 

Here is the key point:  Just because its in the truck, don't assume it is attached.

#pestcontrol Pest Control Sprayer Problem #1 – Thinking You Know Everything.  This fault is dangerous and expensive.  http://bit.ly/10SKGbH

Weed Sprayers - Know Before You Buy

Weed sprayers must stand up to hard use.  It is important that you buy a well designed weed control sprayer, built with quality components.  Here are some photos of a weed power sprayer that was not well designed and did not use quality components.

The client came to us and said she began having problems with this sprayer almost immediately.  She had purchased a low price sprayer to save some money.  She quickly realized her mistake.

We took one look at the sprayer and saw lots of issues.
1.  Homeowner grade, not professional grade.  Thin steel frame, cheap plastic fittings, cheap supply hoses.
2.  Client complained she couldn't agitate and spray at the same time.  The reason is the spray pump is undersized (GPM too low) for what she was trying to do.
3.  Filter was installed very close to frame and it was difficult to open.  Because it was difficult to open, she didn't check it as frequently as she needed to.  The filter was clogged and this affected sprayer performance.
 This is a homeowner grade engine, not a commercial grade engine.  At least its a Honda.
Weed control sprayer is on a steel skid that was installed too close to the trailer side rail.  When the engine pull cord breaks (it will), the recoil is too close to the side rail to remove.  The entire skid will have to be unbolted from the trailer to allow the recoil to be removed.  A 5 minute maintenace project becomes a two person, labor intensive operation.




This photo shows another design problem with this weed sprayer.

1.  Hose is rubbing against tank.  Hose or tank will eventually leak
2.  Really cheap plastic fitting will crack after hot summers, cold winters, bouncing trailer.




And last but not least:

1.  ball valve on supply line is needed to allow user to shut off flow and check the filter.   Problems:
1.  valve hard to reach
2.  turning the ball valve handle will put too much torque on the cheap plastic fitting.  Fitting will break, tank will empty.  Client will have a nice chemical spill to deal with.

Client had us make some significant modifications to this weed sprayer to get it to perform the way she needed it to perform.  It would have been cheaper for her and fewer headaches to spend a little more up front to buy what she needed.

Here are some key points to consider when buying a weed control spray rig (or any power spray rig).
1.  Know the Company you are buying from.
2.  Know what you are getting.
3.  Discuss your requirements with the vendor in detail before buying.  Consider how you will be using the sprayer, how will maintenance be done, etc.
4.  Even little inexpensive things like plumbing fittings matter.
5.  If the sprayer won't do what you need it to do, or if it continually has problems, you did not save money by buying low cost.
Comments?

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#weedcontrol #pestcontrol Power Sprayers-imporant to know what you are getting before you buy. Huge problems w/ sprayer http://bit.ly/V53Q7U

#pestcontrol Now is good time for B&G Sprayer preventative maintence. Dont wait for sprayer to fail during busy season http://bit.ly/UHmZeq

Power Sprayers with Multiple Tanks - Possibilities

There are a million ways to configure Power Sprayers with multiple tanks.  I will share some combinations of power sprayer in this blog post and will expand on pros & cons in future posts.
Multiple tanks on your power spray equipment can help boost productivity and improve results by ensuring you have the product you need at a given job.  There are other considerations of course: cost, space and cross contamination to name a few.  Because multi-tank sprayers are more complicated, employee skill level & training can be an important factor.

Dual tank power sprayer trailer with single pump.  This gives you two products (e.g., pre & post emergent or pest & termite) on your job site.  The downside is product cross contamination.  The line is contaminated from where the lines from the tank come together all the way through the entire system to the spray gun.





Power spray rig with single tank, but 2 hose reels.  Allows 2 technicians to apply product at the same time to get the job done faster.   It is important to select a pump that can drive both reels at the same time.






Dual tank power sprayer with dual hose reels.  This boosts productivity and can reduce the volume of cross contamination if one tank is always used with one hose reel.  If using both reels for one tank, the amount of contamination is increased.






Power sprayer with complete redundancy.  2 separate power sprayer systems, each with tank, pump, motor & reel.  Zero contamination. 
Downside - costs more, takes more space.

When buying a complex power spray rig with dual components, it is critical to spend time up front thinking about EXACTLY how spray techs will be using the system. Get input from colleagues and technicians.  Select a power sprayer vendor you trust who can help you understand all the decisions that must be made and the impact of each on your business.

Deep freeze warning in AZ.  #pestcontrol #weedcontrol spray equipment is at risk.  Great tips to avoid damage & downtimehttp://bit.ly/TMZ3Ji

Your Weed Sprayer - Even the Little Stuff Matters

Your weed sprayer makes you money.  If it is running.  If your weed control sprayer is down for repairs, it is costing you money.  It is important that you are aware of where your downtime risks are on  your weed spray rig.
This photo of a weed spray trailer is a good example:

The mechanic for a local government agency called us to look at a weed spray trailer he was having problems with.  His purchasing department went low bid and bought the sprayer you see here.
There were many problems with this weed sprayer.  The one that scared me most was the cheap plastic fittings under the trailer. In order to get the cost down, the manufacturer used cheap plastic fittings below the spray trailer.
If or when one of these fittings crack (think summer heat, bad roads, debris on roads, etc.), the entire contents of the tank will spill. There is no way to shut it off.  You've just dumped 200 gallons of herbicide on a public street.   Can you say evening news?


When purchasing a weed control sprayer, it it important to know everything you are getting.  If you already have the sprayer, do a thorough inspection so you know what you have.  If you see weak points or risk factors, fix them.   The cost and time involved in a chemical spill cleanup are much greater than the cost of buying right the first time or fixing it before you have a problem.

Read more: http://www.qspray.com/blog/#ixzz2HUpXtkga

Wow!  Quality Equipment & Spray’s internet sales were up 50% last year.  Thanks to all our customers and colleagues for supporting this fabulous growth. Here's hoping 2013 is even better for all of us.  Please check us out at:

www.Qspray.com                          Pest/Weed/Termite Equipment
www.BeeSuitsCheap.com              Professional Grade Bee Suits
www.BlackLightsCheap.com          Top Quality UV Blacklights
www.BirchmeierBackpacks.com     The Best Backpack.  Period.
www.TelestepLadders.com             World’s Finest Telescoping Ladder

Wow!  Quality Equipment & Spray’s internet sales were up 50% last year.  Thanks to all our customers and colleagues for supporting this fabulous growth. Here's hoping 2013 is even better for all of us.  Please check us out at:

www.Qspray.com                          Pest/Weed/Termite Equipment
www.BeeSuitsCheap.com              Professional Grade Bee Suits
www.BlackLightsCheap.com          Top Quality UV Blacklights
www.BirchmeierBackpacks.com     The Best Backpack.  Period.
www.TelestepLadders.com             World’s Finest Telescoping Ladder

Cox Hose Reels - How to Ensure A Chemical Leak

Cox hose reels can be an important component of your pest control / weed control power sprayers.  This photo shows a problem we frequently see on the Cox Reels.




There is too much weight hanging off this Cox Hose Reel Swivel.  There are a couple of steel fittings and a ball valve.   This weight puts too much weight and stress on the orings in the Cox Hose Reel Swivel.
 There are 2 rubber orings and two teflon orings in the hose reel swivel.  Chemicals, pressure, hard use and extreme temperatures are hard on these orings.  You need to plan on rebuilding the swivel periodically.  Hanging all this additional weight on the swivel, along with the additional torque from opening & closing the ball valve, signficantly reduce o-ring life.  When an o-ring wears out, your hose reel leaks chemicals.
Inspect your reel and move any heavy plumbing to another location.
Keep an extra o-ring kit on hand to do maintenance and prevent leaks.

Read more: http://www.qspray.com/blog/#ixzz2H9ADwlKn