I'm in the market for one, having outgrown my one-gallon
pump-spray-pumpsomemore applicators. Problem is, there are too many
choices, so I would like to hear your opinions about 3-4 gallon backpak
sprayers. The sprayer will be used to apply fungicide, pesticide, and
foliar feedings to a 500 ft² veg garden, foundation landscape plantings, and
a few dwarf fruit trees.

Piston or diaphram pump?
Best PSI?
Brass for wand and/or nozzle or will poly suffice?
Lumbar support and strap comfort?
Durability?
Leaks?
Solo, Field King, Gilmore, SP Systems, or Hudson?

TIA

--
God loves you, and I love you.
And you can count
On both of us

As a powerful message
That people who
Wonder about
Their future can hear."

President Bush Jr. - 3/4/04

We abandoned our backpack sprayer and reverted back to a two-gallon hand held tank. The backpack
was just too awkward to climb a ladder with, for our dwarf fruit trees. The pump handle on the side
of the unit was also not convenient.

Sherwin D.

TQ wrote:

I'm in the market for one, having outgrown my one-gallon
pump-spray-pumpsomemore applicators. Problem is, there are too many
choices, so I would like to hear your opinions about 3-4 gallon backpak
sprayers. The sprayer will be used to apply fungicide, pesticide, and
foliar feedings to a 500 ft² veg garden, foundation landscape plantings, and
a few dwarf fruit trees.

Piston or diaphram pump?
Best PSI?
Brass for wand and/or nozzle or will poly suffice?
Lumbar support and strap comfort?
Durability?
Leaks?
Solo, Field King, Gilmore, SP Systems, or Hudson?

TIA

--
God loves you, and I love you.
And you can count
On both of us

As a powerful message
That people who
Wonder about
Their future can hear."

President Bush Jr. - 3/4/04

sherwindu wrote:

We abandoned our backpack sprayer and reverted back to a two-gallon hand held tank. The backpack
was just too awkward to climb a ladder with, for our dwarf fruit trees. The pump handle on the side
of the unit was also not convenient.

Sherwin D.

I find it interesting that you use a ladder to spray dwarf trees. I do
all my spraying with my feet firmly on the ground and I don't even have
dwarf trees. I have to admit that none of my trees are very large since
I keep them pruned to stay on the small side.

Steve

"TQ" ToweringQs AT adelphia.net wrote in message
...
I'm in the market for one, having outgrown my one-gallon
pump-spray-pumpsomemore applicators. Problem is, there are too many
choices, so I would like to hear your opinions about 3-4 gallon backpak
sprayers. The sprayer will be used to apply fungicide, pesticide, and
foliar feedings to a 500 ft² veg garden, foundation landscape plantings,
and
a few dwarf fruit trees.

Piston or diaphram pump?
Best PSI?
Brass for wand and/or nozzle or will poly suffice?
Lumbar support and strap comfort?
Durability?
Leaks?
Solo, Field King, Gilmore, SP Systems, or Hudson?



I have two Solo 4 gal backpack sprayers that are 5+ years old. They work
fine with no problems. One has a brass nozzle, the other plastic and both
work equally well. I use them on semi-dwarf trees from the ground and for
general weed spraying. They are as comfortable as anything with 4 gal. of
liquid on your back could be.

Bill
Pau Hana Farm
Milton-Freewater, Oregon

This spraying from the ground only, brings up a question of how thorough a job is being done. The
bottoms of the leaves and insects there, may be getting covered with fungicides and pesticides, but
what about the tops of the leaves and branches. I think the ladder is necessary to do a more
complete job. Some of my semi-dwarfs are about
12 feet high, so you need a ladder to spray down on them, as well as standing on the ground to get
the undersides. This may sound like overkill, but if you are taking the time and trouble to spray,
why leave a window open for problems.

Sherwin D.

Bill Moats wrote:

"TQ" ToweringQs AT adelphia.net wrote in message
...
I'm in the market for one, having outgrown my one-gallon
pump-spray-pumpsomemore applicators. Problem is, there are too many
choices, so I would like to hear your opinions about 3-4 gallon backpak
sprayers. The sprayer will be used to apply fungicide, pesticide, and
foliar feedings to a 500 ft² veg garden, foundation landscape plantings,
and
a few dwarf fruit trees.

Piston or diaphram pump?
Best PSI?
Brass for wand and/or nozzle or will poly suffice?
Lumbar support and strap comfort?
Durability?
Leaks?
Solo, Field King, Gilmore, SP Systems, or Hudson?


I have two Solo 4 gal backpack sprayers that are 5+ years old. They work
fine with no problems. One has a brass nozzle, the other plastic and both
work equally well. I use them on semi-dwarf trees from the ground and for
general weed spraying. They are as comfortable as anything with 4 gal. of
liquid on your back could be.

Bill
Pau Hana Farm
Milton-Freewater, Oregon

Okay, this thread seems to be getting off the subject of Back Pack,
Sooooo, I'll add my 2 cents worth.

First there is no need for a person to be on a ladder, with a 40 lb
back pack, uneven ground, spraying a fruit tree. I have 21 dwarf
trees (8 peach, 8 apple and 6 pear). I spray them easily in 30
minutes (without leaving the ground). I have a 15gal electric, tank
sprayer on a 4 wheeler. The 4 wheeler is not the key, the key is the
"Wand".

I have a 6ft wand(you can buy them in verious lengths) the spray tip
is 90 degrees to the wand. If you are 6', and another 2 ft reach and
the wand length, that is 14'(plenty for most jobs). With the 90
degree tip simply spray the tops of the leaves, turn the wand over in
your hand and spray the bottom .

As for foliar feeding, a gardenhose feeder would be much better, I
think.

have a good one, I will Rogerx


On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 22:06:05 -0400, "TQ" ToweringQs AT adelphia.net
wrote:

I'm in the market for one, having outgrown my one-gallon
pump-spray-pumpsomemore applicators. Problem is, there are too many
choices, so I would like to hear your opinions about 3-4 gallon backpak
sprayers. The sprayer will be used to apply fungicide, pesticide, and
foliar feedings to a 500 ft² veg garden, foundation landscape plantings, and
a few dwarf fruit trees.

Piston or diaphram pump?
Best PSI?
Brass for wand and/or nozzle or will poly suffice?
Lumbar support and strap comfort?
Durability?
Leaks?
Solo, Field King, Gilmore, SP Systems, or Hudson?

TIA

Rogerx wrote:

Okay, this thread seems to be getting off the subject of Back Pack,
Sooooo, I'll add my 2 cents worth.

First there is no need for a person to be on a ladder, with a 40 lb
back pack, uneven ground, spraying a fruit tree. I have 21 dwarf
trees (8 peach, 8 apple and 6 pear). I spray them easily in 30
minutes (without leaving the ground). I have a 15gal electric, tank
sprayer on a 4 wheeler. The 4 wheeler is not the key, the key is the
"Wand".

Yes, but unless you have that super powerful electric sprayer, I doubt
you can get up enough pressure to travel up 6 or more feet to get a
decent spraying pressure.



I have a 6ft wand(you can buy them in verious lengths) the spray tip
is 90 degrees to the wand. If you are 6', and another 2 ft reach and
the wand length, that is 14'(plenty for most jobs). With the 90
degree tip simply spray the tops of the leaves, turn the wand over in
your hand and spray the bottom .

As for foliar feeding, a gardenhose feeder would be much better, I
think.

have a good one, I will Rogerx

Sounds like it may work, but first of all it is probably an expensive
piece of gear. Secondly, where do you store it? My shed is full of
mowers, edgers, garden carts, etc. In any case, I'm curious enough
to look into this. Do you have a web address of name of the
manufacturer?

Sherwin D.



On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 22:06:05 -0400, "TQ" ToweringQs AT adelphia.net
wrote:

I'm in the market for one, having outgrown my one-gallon
pump-spray-pumpsomemore applicators. Problem is, there are too many
choices, so I would like to hear your opinions about 3-4 gallon backpak
sprayers. The sprayer will be used to apply fungicide, pesticide, and
foliar feedings to a 500 ft² veg garden, foundation landscape plantings, and
a few dwarf fruit trees.

Piston or diaphram pump?
Best PSI?
Brass for wand and/or nozzle or will poly suffice?
Lumbar support and strap comfort?
Durability?
Leaks?
Solo, Field King, Gilmore, SP Systems, or Hudson?

TIA

On Tue, 30 Aug 2005 00:51:47 -0500, sherwindu
wrote:



Rogerx wrote:

Okay, this thread seems to be getting off the subject of Back Pack,
Sooooo, I'll add my 2 cents worth.

First there is no need for a person to be on a ladder, with a 40 lb
back pack, uneven ground, spraying a fruit tree. I have 21 dwarf
trees (8 peach, 8 apple and 6 pear). I spray them easily in 30
minutes (without leaving the ground). I have a 15gal electric, tank
sprayer on a 4 wheeler. The 4 wheeler is not the key, the key is the
"Wand".

Yes, but unless you have that super powerful electric sprayer, I doubt
you can get up enough pressure to travel up 6 or more feet to get a
decent spraying pressure.

Okay, first off a $10 hand sprayer has a wond of 2 to 3 feet--just not
much difference. Secondly, it depends on how you want to spray. I
spray with minimum effective preasure to keep from knocking the small
fruit off. All I know is, I have a PTO pump on my tractor that
genertes up to 300 psi, and I never use it on my trees, I use it for
weed control in my pastures.


I have a 6ft wand(you can buy them in verious lengths) the spray tip
is 90 degrees to the wand. If you are 6', and another 2 ft reach and
the wand length, that is 14'(plenty for most jobs). With the 90
degree tip simply spray the tops of the leaves, turn the wand over in
your hand and spray the bottom .

As for foliar feeding, a gardenhose feeder would be much better, I
think.

have a good one, I will Rogerx

Sounds like it may work, but first of all it is probably an expensive
piece of gear. Secondly, where do you store it? My shed is full of
mowers, edgers, garden carts, etc. In any case, I'm curious enough
to look into this. Do you have a web address of name of the
manufacturer?

I have two of the 15gal sprayers. One I gave $115. for.(not including
the wand extension. Both are powered by any 12 volt battery. I
mounted it first on the back of an old riding lawn mower, before I got
my 4 wheeler.(ran it off the lawnmower battery). This one has a 1.8gpm
pump @ 80psi. The second one I gave $79. for it has a 1.0gpm pump and
the psi is not given.(this one is a little "weak kneed"). I use it
mostly for speical purposes, like spraying my roses, strawberries &
etc.

The pump mfg on the first is Shurllo, and on the other Delivan. I
bought both the sprayers at a regional farm supply store
called"Atwoods" and both sprayers carried their logo. The wand was
$21. I think, and I put he 90 degree offset on then, don't remember
the price maybe 5 bucks or so.

I hope this helps you, it works great for me.
Have a good day: Roger
Sherwin D.



On Sat, 27 Aug 2005 22:06:05 -0400, "TQ" ToweringQs AT adelphia.net
wrote:

I'm in the market for one, having outgrown my one-gallon
pump-spray-pumpsomemore applicators. Problem is, there are too many
choices, so I would like to hear your opinions about 3-4 gallon backpak
sprayers. The sprayer will be used to apply fungicide, pesticide, and
foliar feedings to a 500 ft² veg garden, foundation landscape plantings, and
a few dwarf fruit trees.

Piston or diaphram pump?
Best PSI?
Brass for wand and/or nozzle or will poly suffice?
Lumbar support and strap comfort?
Durability?
Leaks?
Solo, Field King, Gilmore, SP Systems, or Hudson?

TIA

Thanks Rogerx for the information

I might try getting one of these 6 foot extension pieces. Who makes them, and do you know where
they are sold? Was that 90 degree fitting a purchasable item, or
did you jury rig something? I still have concerns if a small 2 gallon tank can pump
up enough pressure to force the solution up about 11 feet.

Sherwin D.

On Thu, 01 Sep 2005 00:26:29 -0500, sherwindu
wrote:

Thanks Rogerx for the information

I might try getting one of these 6 foot extension pieces. Who makes them, and do you know where
they are sold? Was that 90 degree fitting a purchasable item, or
did you jury rig something? I still have concerns if a small 2 gallon tank can pump
up enough pressure to force the solution up about 11 feet.

Sherwin, I can't find any markings on my wand. It looks like it is
fiberglass. The store where I baugh it is 40+ miles away, but when I
go back there I will see if I can find out more(I bought it about 2
year ago).

In the mean time go to:
http://catalogs.google.com/catalogs?...72&catpage=198

They show a 60" wand for a hand pump sprayer(1' shorter than I have)
but it indicates it will probably work. Jury rig on the 90 degree. Oh,
the 60" wand was brass and it cost $17.50.

Have a good day. Roger
Sherwin D.

Thanks to all who responded to my questions. I've decied to go with
http://www.frostproof.com/catalog/c14.html


"TQ" ToweringQs AT adelphia.net wrote in message
...
I'm in the market for one, having outgrown my one-gallon
pump-spray-pumpsomemore applicators. Problem is, there are too many
choices, so I would like to hear your opinions about 3-4 gallon backpak
sprayers. The sprayer will be used to apply fungicide, pesticide, and
foliar feedings to a 500 ft² veg garden, foundation landscape plantings,
and
a few dwarf fruit trees.

Piston or diaphram pump?
Best PSI?
Brass for wand and/or nozzle or will poly suffice?
Lumbar support and strap comfort?
Durability?
Leaks?
Solo, Field King, Gilmore, SP Systems, or Hudson?

TIA

--
God loves you, and I love you.
And you can count
On both of us

As a powerful message
That people who
Wonder about
Their future can hear."

President Bush Jr. - 3/4/04