Clethodim in new sprayer

Derek Reese 29

5 year old buck +
I recently got a Chapin mix on exit 25 gallon sprayer for my 4 wheeler and was wondering about some math issues I am having...
I want to spray clethodim, which for the clover I am trying to spray says 6-16 oz per acre. As I have yet to really use this sprayer, I am unsure how many gallons per acre it will take to cover.
(In using it to spray just water last week it appeared to take 3-4 gallons per 0.4 acre, or ~10 gallons per acre.
On the sprayer, the rate setting is in ounces per gallon. So if I am shooting for 10-12 ounces per acre, would setting the ounces per gallon to the 1oz/gallon setting?
Also, due to there being a stand alone tank for the herbicide concentrate, do you think it would be possible to "cut" the amount of herbicide in 1/2, add that much water (so for 16 oz of herbicide, add 16 oz of water) and then just double the rate (turn it up to 2oz/gal)?
The 1 oz/gallon amount seems low to me but I am new to all of this and am not generally good at math to begin with. I really don't want to hurt the existing clover, but definitely need to get rid of some of the grass.

Thanks for your help.
 
I have the same sprayer, all I've sprayed out of it is Gly. For that purpose I had such a small area to spray I turned it to the max oz/gal to ensure a good kill. Ill be following this thread.
 
I have the same sprayer. Mostly just for Gly but I use a second mix tank filled with Bifen for killing bugs in the yard. My memory is now failing me but I'm pretty sure I asked Chapin support if I could cut the concentrate because I was using Bifen XT before and it did not line up with the 1 oz per gallon marks the sprayer uses. They said not to do that.......but I can't remember why. So, I switched to regular Bifen so I don't have the problem any more.
 
1 oz of clethodim mixed in 1 gallon of water will kill any growing grass it is sprayed on in my experience. Generally speaking I get good coverage with about 12 gallons of water/chemical mix per acre. So if you have an acre to spray, I would use around 12 gallons of water plus 12 ounces of clethodim and keep spraying the field until the mixture runs out. Don't forget crop oil, I believe clethodim works best with crop oil to make the poison stick to the grass.

Could you just mix the clethodim and water in the main tank? I think that would be more reliable than a secondary pump metering tank that may or may not be calibrated or properly working.
 
Gosh. Where to start. These limited use sprayers are hard to operate at a consistent output - in my opinion. The objective is to get the right amount of herbicide applied in a given area. Speed, pressure, and nozzle construction will determine the total applied gallonage. Let's assume the pressure is constant and your driving speed is consistent.

If the herbicide / insecticide / pesticide label says you should apply a quart to the acre (32 oz) AND you know your total output will be 10 gallons the conversion math is simple. Divide 32 by 10. So, the setting on the Chapin would be around 3. Or, if you want to apply half of that, then 1.5.

I don't get the part about cutting the concentrate by adding water and then upping the setting. Just focus on getting the right amount of concentrate on the given area.

How much concentrate are you going to put in the concentrate tank if you are going to fill the sprayer? Your total sprayer output is 25 gallons which will cover 2.5 acres. You application goal is a quart to the acre (I'm pushing this rate). You need at least 2 1/2 quarts of concentrate in that tank. Can you put in a gallon? Yes, but you'll have to empty it at the end of your run if you have the ounces to gallons ratio set correctly.
 
1 oz of clethodim mixed in 1 gallon of water will kill any growing grass it is sprayed on in my experience. Generally speaking I get good coverage with about 12 gallons of water/chemical mix per acre. So if you have an acre to spray, I would use around 12 gallons of water plus 12 ounces of clethodim and keep spraying the field until the mixture runs out. Don't forget crop oil, I believe clethodim works best with crop oil to make the poison stick to the grass.

Could you just mix the clethodim and water in the main tank? I think that would be more reliable than a secondary pump metering tank that may or may not be calibrated or properly working.
Thanks for the 1oz/1gal advice...I could just mix it in the main tank, but we are doing multiple sprayings of different things in 1 day..its one of the reasons I went with this tank as it is only quick-connected to main tank. I guess time will tell if the metering tank is working properly. I guess I could go heavy on that (2 oz/gal) but don't want the spray to start killing things I want kept alive. I will risk it for now at the 1oz/gal setting and see how it works.
 
Gosh. Where to start. These limited use sprayers are hard to operate at a consistent output - in my opinion. The objective is to get the right amount of herbicide applied in a given area. Speed, pressure, and nozzle construction will determine the total applied gallonage. Let's assume the pressure is constant and your driving speed is consistent.

If the herbicide / insecticide / pesticide label says you should apply a quart to the acre (32 oz) AND you know your total output will be 10 gallons the conversion math is simple. Divide 32 by 10. So, the setting on the Chapin would be around 3. Or, if you want to apply half of that, then 1.5.

I don't get the part about cutting the concentrate by adding water and then upping the setting. Just focus on getting the right amount of concentrate on the given area.

How much concentrate are you going to put in the concentrate tank if you are going to fill the sprayer? Your total sprayer output is 25 gallons which will cover 2.5 acres. You application goal is a quart to the acre (I'm pushing this rate). You need at least 2 1/2 quarts of concentrate in that tank. Can you put in a gallon? Yes, but you'll have to empty it at the end of your run if you have the ounces to gallons ratio set correctly.
I was just going to fill the sprayer to 25 gallons, then spray till I had the field covered (its is almost exactly 1 acre) with the setting at 1oz/gal. I didn't want to cut the concentrate, I was just thinking of ways to make it go farther. To me it would make sense that a fertilizer cut to 1/2 water and 1/2 herbicide then upping the rate of that to 2oz/gal from 1oz/gal should work but if it means losing the power of the cleth then I will just go with the concentrate at full power. I plant to fill the concentrate tank, then just dump it back into the bulk can when done.
 
I was just going to fill the sprayer to 25 gallons, then spray till I had the field covered (its is almost exactly 1 acre) with the setting at 1oz/gal. I didn't want to cut the concentrate, I was just thinking of ways to make it go farther. To me it would make sense that a fertilizer cut to 1/2 water and 1/2 herbicide then upping the rate of that to 2oz/gal from 1oz/gal should work but if it means losing the power of the cleth then I will just go with the concentrate at full power. I plant to fill the concentrate tank, then just dump it back into the bulk can when done.
I see. I missed the part about running over the field of 1 acre until you had applied 25 gallons of finished spray and the correct amount of concentrate. That being the case, I think you are correct - to a point.

We're getting down into the weeds now, but more gallons of finished contact spray is probably NOT better than the 'right' amount of gallonage. I won't but I think I could point you to some research where ultra-low volume rates killed better than what we might think of as a lot of gallonage that in our minds creates more complete application to the mass of leaf surface in the biomass - and it has everything to do with with spray droplet size and the concentration of herbicide in the droplet.
 
I see. I missed the part about running over the field of 1 acre until you had applied 25 gallons of finished spray and the correct amount of concentrate. That being the case, I think you are correct - to a point.

We're getting down into the weeds now, but more gallons of finished contact spray is probably NOT better than the 'right' amount of gallonage. I won't but I think I could point you to some research where ultra-low volume rates killed better than what we might think of as a lot of gallonage that in our minds creates more complete application to the mass of leaf surface in the biomass - and it has everything to do with with spray droplet size and the concentration of herbicide in the droplet.
I guess I should have clarified...i am not going to spray the whole 25 gallons on the 1 acre field...i think it will only take ~10-12 gallons to cover that acre field...I will go in rows until the field has been sufficiently covered..i was only filling the sprayer fully so I don't run out..i definitely dont want to drown the field in spray and dont want to waste concentrate by going over it time and time again unnecessarily...plus we have some other fields to hit with gly the same day and the nice part about the mix on exit is that i have another separate concentrate tank for the gly
 
What about putting 16ou clethodim (with surfactant) in 20 gallons and start spraying?

bill
 
This sprayer has a water tank and then a separate concentrate tank that you can easily swap out. It is a pretty neat system because you never have to clean the main tank. It is limited though to a dial setting where the lowest setting is 1 oz per gallon. If you need lower or more precise, it doesn’t really work.
 
I recently got a Chapin mix on exit 25 gallon sprayer for my 4 wheeler and was wondering about some math issues I am having...
I want to spray clethodim, which for the clover I am trying to spray says 6-16 oz per acre. As I have yet to really use this sprayer, I am unsure how many gallons per acre it will take to cover.
(In using it to spray just water last week it appeared to take 3-4 gallons per 0.4 acre, or ~10 gallons per acre.
On the sprayer, the rate setting is in ounces per gallon. So if I am shooting for 10-12 ounces per acre, would setting the ounces per gallon to the 1oz/gallon setting?
Also, due to there being a stand alone tank for the herbicide concentrate, do you think it would be possible to "cut" the amount of herbicide in 1/2, add that much water (so for 16 oz of herbicide, add 16 oz of water) and then just double the rate (turn it up to 2oz/gal)?
The 1 oz/gallon amount seems low to me but I am new to all of this and am not generally good at math to begin with. I really don't want to hurt the existing clover, but definitely need to get rid of some of the grass.

Thanks for your help.

I'd forget the oz/gal stuff. The first step is to calibrate the sprayer. If it is a boom sprayer, there are methods of calibration like the 1/128 acre method. You can also just fill up the sprayer with water and go spray an acre. Then simply measure the water you have left.

Keep in mind that travel speed is a factor. It is easy to keep this constant with a tractor and more difficult with an ATV. So, you may want to make a couple test runs and average. Your pressure setting also affects output, so if you change it, you need to recalibrate. Once you know how much fluid your sprayer will put out per acre, the rest is easy.

If, as in your example, 3.5 gal per .4 acre, you get 8.75 gal/per acre. Most things like gly and cleth just require enough water for even distribution and 8 gal/acre is plenty for that.

Also keep in mind that fields are not straight lines, so if using a method like 1/128, I add 10% to the amount of fluid per acre to handle places where I get overlap and such.

Let's say you want to spray a .75 acre field. Just multiply .75 X 8.75 (presuming that is your per acre coverage amount) and you get. That is about 6.5 gal. So, add 6.5 gal of water to your sprayer. Lets say your target is 8 oz /acre of chemical. Multiply that 8 oz by .75 and you get 6 oz. So, add 6 oz of chemical to the sprayer and go spray your 3/4 acre field.

Now, lets say you have a lot of fields of varying sizes to spray and you know you will need at lease a full tank. If 8.75 gal covers an acre, 25 gal will cover about 2.85 acres. So, if you want 8 oz per acre, fill your sprayer with water and add 2.85 X 8 oz or 22oz of chemical to the tank. Then go spray until your tank is empty. Mark your stopping point and go back and refill as necessary.

Keep in mind that it never works out exactly. I usually have a couple gal left in the tank when I'm done. I just hit some road buffers and such on the way back to camp with the leftover.

Having said that, I no longer spray cleth for grass in clover. I start with a best practice fall plant with a nurse crop after a burndown. I mow the first spring to release the clover from the WR. After that, I just become weed tolerant. I typically get 5 to 7 years out of Durana before the grasses begin to dominate. At that point, I use gly to top-kill the clover with rain in the forecast and drill WR and GHR into the field. The gly kills the grasses and the WR and GHR germinate before the clover bounces back. After about 10 years I need to rotate. Less cost, less effort, more deer use, more sustainable.

(One note, I'm not in a big ag area where weeds have become resistant to gly, so the 1 qt/ac to top-kill clover has not been a big issue for me. That may not be the case in some areas. If you are in a area with weeds that have developed gly resistance, you can bushhog clover flat so you are almost scalping the ground and get a good top-kill. This method does not kill invading grasses, but the drilled crop does use some of the banked N that the grasses seek).

Thanks,

Jack
 
Top