Spraying Equipment

[piker53]

I’d like to hear what everyone utilizes for their spray equipment....

-How large of a tank?
-Spray Nozzle? I will need to spray up to 25 feet in some cases.

I had a very subpar year of apple production, and our trees haven’t been given a lot of TLC in the recent years. I’m planning on upping my game with this dormant season’s pruning as well.

I live roughly 4 hours from the hunting property, so a full spray regimen won’t be feasible....I would however like to get Dormant Oil sprayed early in Spring and perhaps an additional fungicide/pesticide spraying or 2. I have a mix of EXTREMELY old trees (150 trees all 100 years plus), some 15-20 year old trees (15 trees or so)and then some trees 3-6 years old (100 or so).

 

[John-W-WI]

I wish I could help, but I'll leave that up to the apple experts.

Seems you have a LOT of apples!

I wish I had a few apples that were 100 years old.

You have a great start if you spray or not!

 

[aerospacefarmer]

How much are you willing to send? Being 4 hours away is the real issue with your ability to spray when there is a threat of disease of of pest presence. Timing is the key to spraying trees

 

[piker53]

Correct. I’m certainly not with an unlimited budget.....But I also need to be efficient when I am up there, as we also have about 12 acres of food plots too. I’d like to paint the trunks (will hire a local guy to do that for the mature trees)....but the rest of the spraying, I’m not sure I could contract out, being that my property is on Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)....no one is really able to do the spraying for me, else I would hire that out as well....

 

[John-W-WI]

being that my property is on Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)

(Sorry to derail the thread)
Interesting... Never heard of Beaver Island. That must pose some challenges being everything you do is on an island??? (I googeled it, looks cool)

-John

 

[aerospacefarmer]

Correct. I’m certainly not with an unlimited budget.....But I also need to be efficient when I am up there, as we also have about 12 acres of food plots too. I’d like to paint the trunks (will hire a local guy to do that for the mature trees)....but the rest of the spraying, I’m not sure I could contract out, being that my property is on Beaver Island (Lake Michigan)....no one is really able to do the spraying for me, else I would hire that out as well....

Disease resistant varieties and spray as often as you can is the best you can do

 

[JFK52]

I have a FIMCO pull behind 55 gallon PTO sprayer. It has a 25 foot hose that can be used by turning a valve. I do not spray my apple trees. I do fertilize them every spring and keep the area up to the drip line clear of any competing shrubs or brush. Where ever possible, I get in under the trees with my brush hog or commercial STIHL weed whacker to cut back the grasses at least once or more a year. That way the apple trees get all the sunlight and rain they need to produce a great apple crop for the deer and other critters. I do not care if my apples do not grade out as first quality fruit. Not one single deer has ever complained about them.

 

[Charman03]

I'm interested in this as well. Seems trees at my one property all got hit with a disease or something this year. They are young and most lost leaves and hardly grew this year. I'm hoping they didn't die. I'm going to have to keep after these better. Right now I just have a small gallon hand sprayer for my smaller trees, but there's gotta be a better way.

 

[piker53]

Disease resistant varieties and spray as often as you can is the best you can do

Yes sir, I have been putting in disease resistant crabs and diversifying with oaks (were not present on property prior to ownership), pear varieties, and a few chestnuts to see if they will grow that far north. This property was once a thriving apple orchard in the 1910-20’s (no idea what varieties, but you can see the grafts on some of the trees still)....but these trees are well beyond their prime, but still could hold their own with some love, in my opinion. I also, happen to think an over abundant population of grouse do some budding damage too.

 

[piker53]

(Sorry to derail the thread)
Interesting... Never heard of Beaver Island. That must pose some challenges being everything you do is on an island??? (I googeled it, looks cool)

-John

Yes it does have its challenges....but it is about as close to wilderness hunting as one can get. Not much, AG so the deer on the property destroy everything nutritious....tough to establish anything but clover. Doemageddon will be happening after the 2nd or 3rd day of rifle season! I’m hoping some of these tree planting’s will take place of all of my food plottting....I won’t be able to do this forever.....hopefully my son will take the reigns at some point when he gets older!

 

[FarmerDan]

One or two dormant oil sprayers are probably the biggest bang for the buck.
That's a lot of apple trees! There are lots of options for sprayers. Apples and food plots. You want a boom sprayer for the food plots and a gun for the trees all on one device? Or, are the trees close enough together to use an air blast sprayer (mist). You'll roll it around how? Tractor? 4-wheeler? Something else? Or, is it all going to be manual spraying? If this is on an island I guess you have access to plenty of water? Does your sprayer need to be able to pump water from a source? Or, will you fill it with a hose? You mention 25-feet. I take it to mean that's the height of some of your trees? Everybody's different, but I'm guess 8 gallons of finished spray per tree? Depends on your layout. Do I have this right? Around 263 trees of various size? 8 gallons a tree? How many times do you want to fill that sprayer? Tanks size depends on how you plan on pulling it and the $$$'s in your wallet. Always the same trade-off -- time versus money. Sorry I've not been much help. I didn't answer the question you asked....

 

[piker53]

One or two dormant oil sprayers are probably the biggest bang for the buck.
That's a lot of apple trees! There are lots of options for sprayers. Apples and food plots. You want a boom sprayer for the food plots and a gun for the trees all on one device? Or, are the trees close enough together to use an air blast sprayer (mist). You'll roll it around how? Tractor? 4-wheeler? Something else? Or, is it all going to be manual spraying? If this is on an island I guess you have access to plenty of water? Does your sprayer need to be able to pump water from a source? Or, will you fill it with a hose? You mention 25-feet. I take it to mean that's the height of some of your trees? Everybody's different, but I'm guess 8 gallons of finished spray per tree? Depends on your layout. Do I have this right? Around 263 trees of various size? 8 gallons a tree? How many times do you want to fill that sprayer? Tanks size depends on how you plan on pulling it and the $$$'s in your wallet. Always the same trade-off -- time versus money. Sorry I've not been much help. I didn't answer the question you asked....

Ahhh...sorry, I should have stated my equipment. I do have a tractor, a UTV with a 40 G sprayer (for food plots, but I am not sure I want to use the same sprayer with all the herbicides used, and without a proper washout each time), and an ATV. I have a 125 G tank that I transport water to the property. IF it takes approximately 8 G per tree....I may be SOL....that would be extremely time prohibitive for me. At the end of the day, I will have to make some business decisions as to which trees will get treatments and which ones will have to fend for themselves.