Sprayers101 Archive
Search our archive of expert-written, data-driven analysis of spraying techniques, equipment, strategies, and more.
Reading Airblast Nozzle Tables
Airblast operators should know how to read a nozzle table. They are found on dealer and manufacturer websites as well as in their catalogs.…
The Pressure-Spray-Coverage Relationship
Pressure is integral to nozzle performance. Reducing hydraulic pressure reduces nozzle flow rate, increases median droplet size, and typically reduces spray fan angle. Increasing pressure…
Loading a Sprayer? Add Time and Patience!
What’s the most underused active ingredient when creating a proper tank mixture in a sprayer? Patience. Spray season is never long enough. The days which…
Airblast Maintenance Inspection – the Morning Walkaround
An airblast sprayer inspection is part of preventative maintenance. This daily activity identifies small problems before they become big ones. You can do it…
Cleaning an airblast sprayer
Next to sprayer math, cleaning the sprayer is one of the more distasteful aspects of airblast spraying. It’s time-consuming, you never really know when…
Validate Airblast Output – Nozzle Calibration
Sprayer math is important. It ensures the operator applies the correct product rate and has enough to complete the job. But, it assumes the…
Assessing Airblast Coverage
This article describes a method for assessing airblast sprayer coverage based on a protocol developed by Dr. David Manktelow (Applied Research and Technologies Ltd.,…
What do European Sprayers Bring to the North American Market?
We discuss what sets the European sprayer designs apart, with examples of overall dimensions, engine and wheel sizes, as well as tanks, booms, plumbing…
Remove and scrub your filters – Even when you use Dawn
This article was co-developed by Mike Cowbrough, OMAFRA Weed Management Specialist in Field Crops Why scrub filters? Why do we ask you to manually…
Airblast Agitation and Solubags
Agricultural products are formulated to be as emulsifiable as possible, but many do not mix well in water. They contain elements that do not…
Exploding Sprayer Myths (ep.4): Speed Spraying
With due respect to Mickey and Mr. Lucas, and the massive hype surrounding Star Wars Episode VII, we felt we should jump on the…
Exploding Sprayer Myths (ep.12): The Buffer Zone
In this episode of Exploding Sprayer Myths we reduce a complicated best practice to black and white… literally. Watch as Jason and Tom get…
Re-imagining of the Axial Airblast Fan
On a trip to Mildura, Victoria I met Matthew McWilliams, Director at Interlink Sprayers. His passion for innovation was exciting. He described Interlink’s history…
Productivity Calculator
Want to figure out how your sprayer configuration affects your productivity? Try out that tells you acres per hour, the amount of productivity lost…
If I had a Million Dollars – Parody
If I had a Million Dollars Sung to the Tune of “If I had a Million Dollars” by The Barenaked Ladies If I…
Exploding Sprayer Myths (ep.11): Drift
This video won the Gold 2019 Canadian Farm Writers Federation’s Jack McPherson Award for Electronic Media. This award is for the best video, news…
Rainfastness of Insecticides and Fungicides on Fruit
This article was co-authored by Kristy Grigg-McGuffin, OMAFA Horticulture IPM Specialist In view of the frequent heavy rains in many regions this season, understanding…
Pesticide Drift and Communication
When it comes to information about mitigating pesticide drift, it’s plentiful and easily accessed. I have an archive of >30 articles written by Ontario…
What’s with dew? – Tips with Tom #9
When warm air is cooled, it loses some of its moisture-holding capabilities. This change often occurs at night, when plants (and other objects) cool.…
Airblast Nozzles – Nozzle Bodies
Excepting air shear and centrifugal style nozzles, most airblast sprayers employ nozzle bodies designed to except hydraulic nozzles distributed evenly along the booms. Nozzle…
Continuous rinsing for airblast sprayers
Why Rinse? Airblast sprayers are not rinsed as frequently or as diligently as field sprayers. This is primarily because they are not used to…
Air Orientation for Wrap-Around Sprayers
One of the pleasures of working in agricultural extension is when you’re able to help a grower solve a problem. This was one of…
ExactApply: How to add “Section Flow %” Module to Run Screen
The John Deere ExactApply system has a pulsing feature, more commonly known as “Pulse Width Modulation” (PWM). From the operator’s perspective, it’s important to…
The Capstan EVO: PWM for the masses
Capstan Ag brought Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) to spraying in the mid 1990s. Over the past 20 years, it has become commonplace on Case…
Exploding Sprayer Myths (ep.10): Airblast Coverage
Here in Episode 10 of Exploding Sprayer Myths we’ve coaxed @Nozzle_Guy back into the orchard. This is part two of a two-part mini series…