Weed Sprayers - Know Before You Buy

Weed sprayers must stand up to hard use. It is important that you buy a well designed weed control sprayer, built with quality components. Here are some photos of a weed power sprayer that was not well designed and did not use quality components.

The client came to us and said she began having problems with this sprayer almost immediately. She had purchased a low price sprayer to save some money. She quickly realized her mistake.

1. Homeowner grade, not professional grade. Thin steel frame, cheap plastic fittings, cheap supply hoses.

2. Client complained she couldn't agitate and spray at the same time. The reason is the spray pump is undersized (GPM too low) for what she was trying to do.

3. Filter was installed very close to frame and it was difficult to open. Because it was difficult to open, she didn't check it as frequently as she needed to. The filter was clogged and this affected sprayer performance.

Weed control sprayer is on a steel skid that was installed too close to the trailer side rail. When the engine pull cord breaks (it will), the recoil is too close to the side rail to remove. The entire skid will have to be unbolted from the trailer to allow the recoil to be removed. A 5 minute maintenace project becomes a two person, labor intensive operation.

This photo shows another design problem with this weed sprayer.

1. Hose is rubbing against tank. Hose or tank will eventually leak

2. Really cheap plastic fitting will crack after hot summers, cold winters, bouncing trailer.

And last but not least:

1. ball valve on supply line is needed to allow user to shut off flow and check the filter. Problems:

1. valve hard to reach

2. turning the ball valve handle will put too much torque on the cheap plastic fitting. Fitting will break, tank will empty. Client will have a nice chemical spill to deal with.

Client had us make some significant modifications to this weed sprayer to get it to perform the way she needed it to perform. It would have been cheaper for her and fewer headaches to spend a little more up front to buy what she needed.

Here are some key points to consider when buying a weed control spray rig (or any power spray rig).

1. Know the Company you are buying from.

2. Know what you are getting.

3. Discuss your requirements with the vendor in detail before buying. Consider how you will be using the sprayer, how will maintenance be done, etc.

4. Even little inexpensive things like plumbing fittings matter.

5. If the sprayer won't do what you need it to do, or if it continually has problems, you did not save money by buying low cost.

Comments?