Trying to improve my sprayer..... electric PTO? Crazy right?

Shadow_storm56

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A thing probably alot of small farmers are familiar with or maybe I'm not privy to something but whenever I use sprays that are granular it's the same process every time..... fill tank, add chemicals.... go walk around for 20 mins while it mixes then come back and go spray. Repeat for all 10 tanks or more. Can't run the engine up to 2100 RPM to mix faster at 540 because that would just annoy all my customers in my nearby shop for like.... maybe 10 mins? Plus more fuel that gets more expensive every day.

Thought about buying a large circulating pump normally on hot water furnaces and put that in line so it mixes but the engine isn't running.... just plug it in. Would work but isn't any faster...

Thought about trying to put in a motor and pully on the sprayer frame with a pully and belt. When spraying the motor would freewheel which dosen't matter and when the tractor was off and it's mixing the driven side of the pto mechanism would free spin as well as the pump.

3rd was take an old sprayer, run it's pump with a motor and while I'm spraying it can sit there mixing and then when I get back I can just pump from one to the other. This idea is the fasest to keep spraying but it's not very neat....


So the first idea of just an electric circulator is the easiest but it wouldn't mix any faster..... just saves the idling fuel
Second idea isn't terrible as theres lots of room on the frame for a motor but although the motor freewheeling is nothing I'm not sure a PTO driven side spinning at 540 when the engines off is a bad idea or not. I think it's just an open clutch but still... it locks when off and the engines running so theres somthing more in there

Third has a sprayer pump mixing at 540 for plenty of time and the only delay is the transfer which may be nothing time wise but it's another thing in the way which is not great.

I guess option 4 is what I always have done.... get it mixing and go do something else for a bit and come back.

This runs on an old JD 2355, works great but strawberries are alot of spraying and theres alot of granular stuff that dissolves slow.
 

North Idaho Wolfman

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First would be expensive as it would need to be a stainless circulator, as the cast iron models would fail in nothing flat.

You should not or can not drive a pto in reverse as it can do damage and some models have PTO brakes that would get damaged.

Option 3 with a twist. Get a spa/pool motor and pump use it on a tank to circulate and then transfer.
You could use a simple rotary valve to change it from circulate to transfer.

And yea option 4 works.
 

jaxs

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Option 5 ,rent/borrow nurse tank from chemical distributor like high volume applicators do.
 

Shadow_storm56

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First would be expensive as it would need to be a stainless circulator, as the cast iron models would fail in nothing flat.

You should not or can not drive a pto in reverse as it can do damage and some models have PTO brakes that would get damaged.

Option 3 with a twist. Get a spa/pool motor and pump use it on a tank to circulate and then transfer.
You could use a simple rotary valve to change it from circulate to transfer.

And yea option 4 works.
Wouldn't be running in reverse it would just be running free wheel
 

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We never added granular chemicals to the spray tank directly. Always dissolved in a 5 gallon bucket first until completely dissolved, then dumped into the tank. Our sprayers had pumps that would mix the solution at a fast idle, 1200-1400 rpm’s. What kind of pump are you currently using? Centrifugal, roller or piston?
 

GreensvilleJay

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Option 7 (?)
use an IBC tote, mix 225 gallons of 'chemical'. Use any # of methods to 'circulate' the mix, drain off a tankful......spray, come back , repeat for the other 9 trips.
did this for the giant pumpkins (tote #1), regular veggies (totes 2 and 3 )
 

Shadow_storm56

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We never added granular chemicals to the spray tank directly. Always dissolved in a 5 gallon bucket first until completely dissolved, then dumped into the tank. Our sprayers had pumps that would mix the solution at a fast idle, 1200-1400 rpm’s. What kind of pump are you currently using? Centrifugal, roller or piston?
Our sprayers use a diaphragm pump.
 

Shadow_storm56

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Option 7 (?)
use an IBC tote, mix 225 gallons of 'chemical'. Use any # of methods to 'circulate' the mix, drain off a tankful......spray, come back , repeat for the other 9 trips.
did this for the giant pumpkins (tote #1), regular veggies (totes 2 and 3 )
Tank is 200 gallons, I thought about using an old sprayer tank to do it that way.
 

Shadow_storm56

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I have an old sprayer. Worn out mostly, need to make a pump from the like.... 4 blown up pumps I have for it. It could be a standby tank.... easy to bolt a motor to a frame with no PTO involved. I believe they push 30 GPM so would transfer fill my sprayer in... 6 mins or so.