Knapsack Sprayer FAQ

josh

josh

Moderator/IT Guy
Looking to get a decent knapsack sprayer, what's good and what's to be avoided?

Also what protective gear should I wear, don't want sprays affecting me :scared:
 
Most sensible advice I was ever given (and it was for my PA whatever it is certificate) was to wear appropriate gear.
He went on to say that if it is a hot day and you will be knapsacking for some time it is hardly appropriate to wear a full space suit. You might not get any spray on you, but you will die from heat exhaustion!.
I rarely wear any special clothing, just wellies really. If I get any spray on me (concentrate) I just wash it off straight away.
Pretty much every single knapsack I have ever used has resulted in my back getting wet, but it's never caused me any problems. Just be sensible and change your clothes as soon as practically possible.
I should point out that I have really only used weedkillers in a knapsack on any scale, such as Roundup. That won't hurt you. I've done a lot of paraquat spraying too. Nasty stuff but only if you start drinking it.
I expect it is the organophosphate insecticides that are going to do you harm more than anything. I doubt you will be using them on any scale, but if you do be a bit more careful. Don't get them on your skin, don't fill the sprayer more than 3/4 full, wear gloves and probably best to choose an alternative chemical.
If it is just Roundup, be sensible about it but it ain't going to do you any harm.

As for makes, unless it is a real nasty cheap chinese job then I expect they are much of a muchness. 20 litre is max capacity I would ever want on my back, and I would probably only put 15litres in anyway. The amount of foam still in there when you come to put the second lot in and you will only get 15 litres in anyway.
Get a good flat fan nozzle as well, they very often come with a crappy cone nozzle. Cone nozzles are for insecticides, not Roundup and the like.
Calibrate the sprayer properly, there are plenty of sites to show how if you google it. Don't just bung some in and hope for the best, it isn't good practice and is wasteful if nowt else.
Be realistic about it when you set your walking pace. Don't set off as iff you are in a race, use a pace you can keep up all day and if it is hilly ground you are doing don't come down at twice the speed you go up.
A lot of these things might not be critical, but you should at least know how to do the job properly. Whether you just bung a bit of chem in and waft the lance about afterwards is upto you, but at least learn the right way first. As I say, there are plenty of sites that give you the right way if you look.

edit: crikey! I went off on one a bit there. :blushing:
 
And don't mix diesel with any chemicals no matter what anybody might tell you.
If you are using roundup you can mix it with equal quantities of cooking oil if you want, it will work better and will give less drift. Mix them to a cream and do it before you add it to the tank.
Follow the label rates and you really don't need to anyway, it will still work just fine.
I ballsed up the rate when Roundupping one of my orchard floors this year and did it at 1.5 litres/ha by mistake (my new sprayer has a bigger tank than I thought) It still worked, just took a few days longer.
 
I have a Cooper Pegler CP15. It was expensive to buy, and its third set of rubber seals failed several years ago, at which point I realised that a complete new unit from Machine Mart cost less than a set of seals from CP. I have now been using a 10 litre pack from Machine Mart for about 5 years, and while it is NOT a thing of beaty, and it definitely IS a bit rough round the edges, so far it has performed consistently well. The one thing I would do differently is to lash out on a long lance: I'm fairly tall, and spraying involves walking round and crouching sometimes to get to awkward corners.

On protective clothing, goggles or safety glasses while handling concentrate are a MUST. One speck of concentrate in the eye can cause severe damage, and while getting a droplet into the eye is unlikely, it isn't impossible, and the consequences are dreadful. I would continue to wear some eye protection while spraying, but it's a lot less important with the diluted spray.

Otherwise, rubber gloves of whatever pattern you like, and rubber boots of course.

If you go to a good chandlery, especially one serving commercial fishermen, they sell PVC-on-nylon overtrousers that come up to the armpits, and are kept up by braces, and they aren't necessarily expensive. I find these a very acceptable compromise between a full boiler suit and contracting heat stroke. They give excellent protection to the bits of the body likely to be subjected to spray drift or runoff.

Edit: PS This is the Machine Mart sprayer I'm talking about: not elegant or refined, but does the job.
http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/p...-litre-back-pack-sprayer/path/garden-sprayers
 
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ill agree with rgsp, i had a cp15 here too, pure sh1te they are, it never went well, mind you for all the spraying i do is light but its nice to pick up the sprayer and go instead of taking it apart before you do work it.

i bought one of these,
good sprayer, comfortable on the back, l r handle, extendible lance (it could be a bit stronger but its ok).
i paid a lot more for it than this, seems they came down a lot in the last 5-6 yrs.:001_unsure:

http://www.agratech.co.uk/sprayers-...rmorel-2000-Pro-Comfort-Knapsack-Sprayer.html
 
Thanks lads, a lot of good info there. Never used any type of sprayer before but the oh wants some done at her place. Mostly nettles and a few other weed patches.

Dad has this for years:

http://www.pitchcare.com/shop/knapsack-and-handheld-sprayers/allman-x-15-knapsack-sprayer.html

Does the job well and worked all the time he's had it without bother. Though he did say the nozzle could be better, he couldn't remember the type offhand.

That berthoud looks good, is that the best place to buy?
 
candor said:
Enough :laugh: Maybe an acre in total sprayed area which is dotted around the place.
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supprising how much you can do with 1 of these
windowlene.jpg


usually keep 1 full of weedkiller on the quad so everyday when checking the cattle you can squirt a few weeds aswell
 
tinman said:
dont know hi, i just googled it, its a comfortable sprayer tho, its easy to carry on your back, well padded too.
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Thanks tinny.

It's a toss up really, wouldn't be doing huge amounts I would think so maybe what rgsp has will do the job.
 
candor said:
As I said new to spraying!



It's supposed to be very good stuff, as it doesn't harm the grass and gives a good kill. The grazon is for spot spraying.
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i know that,thats why im askin how much you wanna spend

1 liter of g90 will doo many acres when just applied to a weed target thro a windowlene type bottle



or you could spend 100 notes on a knapsack + some more for chemical:001_rolleyes:
 
headcase said:
i know that,thats why im askin how much you wanna spend

1 liter of g90 will doo many acres when just applied to a weed target thro a windowlene type bottle



or you could spend 100 notes on a knapsack + some more for chemical:001_rolleyes:
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Oh grand, on the sprayer front ideally about €50-€70 but would go more for a decent bit of kit.

Do you wear some form of protection? I would imagine you would need to be a bit more careful. Do you have a knapsack or just the windowlene bottle?
 
candor said:
Oh grand, on the sprayer front ideally about €50-€70 but would go more for a decent bit of kit.

Do you wear some form of protection? I would imagine you would need to be a bit more careful. Do you have a knapsack or just the windowlene bottle?
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got both,depends on the area

bottle on the quad for the odd 1s here and there
knapsack for larger bits n pieces
tractor for the whole fields
 
I have around 5 acres of grass to look after, + several acres more of borrowed grass, with a fairly normal burden of docks, thistles and nettles. I'm sure it's very naughty to use it for so long, but a 1 litre bottle of Grazon 90 lasts me 5 or 6 years of spot and patch spraying, and obviously it still works well at the end of that period or I wouldn't use it. I did have one bottle that got forgotten about in the back of the chemicals cupboard for something approaching 10 years: it sort of partially clotted and went lumpy, but the decanted liquid still worked tolerably well.
 
RGSP said:
I have around 5 acres of grass to look after, + several acres more of borrowed grass, with a fairly normal burden of docks, thistles and nettles. I'm sure it's very naughty to use it for so long, but a 1 litre bottle of Grazon 90 lasts me 5 or 6 years of spot and patch spraying, and obviously it still works well at the end of that period or I wouldn't use it. I did have one bottle that got forgotten about in the back of the chemicals cupboard for something approaching 10 years: it sort of partially clotted and went lumpy, but the decanted liquid still worked tolerably well.
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saves a fortune in chemical:thumbup1:
 
I should think it will be fine. I have no doubt it's illegal, but who cares if it's safe and works well?
 
berthoud make a good knapsack, 2 or 3 pumps sprays quite a bit... goldcrop do them and a lot of hire centers....... also can get them with an electric pump
 
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