Spray Equipment - Don't Wait for that Problem

When it comes to your spray equipment, if you know you are about to have a problem, fix it now, don't wait.
A good friend of mine once told me, "if  I have to eat sh-t, I want to eat it all now. I don't want to come back for seconds. I don't want to nibble a little bit for a few days.  I want to be done with it".

The same applies to your pest control equipment and your weed sprayers.
Look at this photo of a mosquito fogger. 
The plastic hoses and PVC fittings are severely sun damaged.  The pest control technician came in one day and said, one fitting on my fogger broke, can you fix it?

We said yes we can, BUT!  Here is the but:  All the fittings and hoses are made from the same material, they all had the same amount of hours of operation on them and they all had the same chemical through them and the same exposure to  the Arizona sun. 

We told the technician that since one fitting failed, it was a certainty that all the fittings would eventually fail.  We suggested he let us replace them all.

He said he could not spare the time and would take his chances.  3 days later he was back with another broken fitting.  We repeated our concern.  Again he was too busy.   The next day, when the 3rd fitting failed, he called us to schedule an appointment to replace them all.

Think of all the downtime his company incurred.  Not to mention gas and payroll to and from our shop three times and having to explain to the client three times why the job wasn't finished.  Also, by definition, every hose or fitting break on this machine is a chemical spill.

I run a business; I understand schedules.  But this was crazy.  We (and the tech) knew there was going to be a problem.  Technician was so worried about spending an hour that he wasted many times that.

If you see something on your spray equipment is going to be a problem, get it fixed.  It will be faster and cheaper than putting it off.  Comments?

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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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