Spraying Tips
by Justin Bickel Virden, IL
Now that corn planting is pretty much over in Sangamon County, the sprayers are out in full force. Some things to remember; since we usually spray at lower rates with herbicide than we have been with fertilizer, our sprayers have an orifice valve in the center of the boom to help smooth our application rate. The valve should be closed at any rates below 26 gallon per minute, not gallon per acre! A good rule of thumb is 10gpa and 10 mph, below that shut the valve. Also on our high flow machines when shutting the high flow valve, we also need to shut high flow off in the sprayer set-up page. In the past on our older models or other brands the strainers were normally out on the boom or after the flow meter, on Deere 4030 series sprayers they have gone to a 50 and 80 mesh strainer before the flowmeter and pressure sensor. When they start to get plugged your pressure will start to drop and then rate.