Agricultural sprayers are essential tools to the farming and horticulture field. They allow for even, widespread spraying of nutrients and chemicals, which protect our crops and fields from pests, insects and plant diseases. However, when selecting the right agricultural sprayer, consider which one will work best for your farm or job task. Tractor Supply is here to help, giving you the basics about agricultural sprayers and information you need about the different types.
About Agricultural Sprayers
Agricultural sprayers are machines designed to hold and distribute liquids that protect plants and help them grow, anything from herbicides to pesticides to insecticides and fertilizers. They can also be used to spray disinfectants and cleaners inside buildings, making them a versatile and convenient tool for widespread spraying.
Their plastic or poly construction allows tanks to be compatible with a variety of spraying chemicals, and keeps hazardous cleaning products from contacting your skin, meaning you can spray areas around your home or property with ease. The nice thing about these sprayers is that the added nozzle allows you better control over spraying, meaning you can monitor spray patterns to ensure you’re not applying too little or too much.
Depending on the type of sprayer you choose, some may be better suited to tackle larger areas over others. Sprayers can also come with different spray patterns and settings, as well as one of many power types. For example, most agricultural sprayers are manually operated, meaning you pump the handle with your hands to increase pressure inside the tank, which forces liquid inside the tube. When you squeeze the nozzle handle, liquids will come out.
Power Types to Consider
Depending on your preferences, you can opt for two main agricultural sprayer power types, including:
Battery: For more spraying power and more efficient operations, battery-operated sprayers usually feature hefty 12V batteries that help you handle any task with ease.
Manual: These sprayers do not have a power source – instead, the user simply squeezes the sprayer gun to disperse the liquid being used, similarly to a cleaning spray bottle you’d use inside your home.
Sprayer Sub-Types for Agricultural Applications
Aside from power type, there are also a handful of other agricultural sprayer designs to choose from, such as:
Tow-Behind Sprayers
A tow-behind sprayer is designed to fit on the back of your vehicle. As you drive, the sprayer distributes your liquid products to broader areas. Tow-behind sprayers are ideal for when you need heavier-duty spraying power than lawn sprayers can provide.
Find this type of sprayer in a variety of sizes to accommodate any spraying task that comes your way, as well as different mounting types for securing units to your vehicle, including pin or bolt-on options. Their construction and size choices make them suitable for land maintenance tasks and spraying crops in challenging areas, such as between trees and rivers.
Mounted Sprayers
When you need something that can easily be installed onto tractors and other farm vehicles, rely on a mounted sprayer, which attaches to machinery via straps or a bracket. These are built smaller than other tractor-mounted options, but they are also the most affordable in terms of farming equipment. Mounted sprayers get their power through a diaphragm pump to deliver even, consistent spraying power. Because of their smaller size and capacity, these can be easily maneuvered around tight spaces, and they offer less maintenance.
3-Point Sprayers
Three-point sprayers are a type of agricultural sprayer with a larger capacity, making them suitable for covering wide, large areas, such as athletic fields, pastures, golf courses or lawns. Their name comes from how they connect to your tractor, such as a 3-point hitch, pin or bracket.
Before purchasing a 3-point sprayer, it can help to know what kind of hitch your tractor has, allowing you to find compatible parts. Tractor hitches are categorized on a scale from zero to four, based on their size, with zero featuring the smallest pin length and diameter. Tractor hitches with a Category 4 rating are your most durable three-point tractor hitch, coming with the largest pin length and diameter size. These have the power to handle heavy-duty tractor applications, featuring strengths from 180 to 400 horsepower.
Many 3-point sprayers attach to tractors through their PTO (power take-off), which takes power from the engine and applies it to the sprayer pump to get it started. These types of sprayers are also equipped with a roller pump, which adds durability so you can use it to spray a variety of materials. After mounting to your tractor, they give you the power needed to cover a wide area with ease.
Spot Sprayers
Sometimes, specific areas of our land need treatment, requiring you to have precise, easy-to-use tools so you can keep these areas healthy and thriving. This is where having a spot sprayer can help, offering better spraying control so you can target problem areas.
Use spot sprayers to apply a variety of liquids, including pesticides, weed killer and insecticides, to specific spots where you notice diseases, pests or weeds. When applying, take care to avoid contact with healthy surrounding plants and grasses. These sprayers are so precise that you can even use them to kill just one or a couple of weeds growing in your crops or garden.
Complete Your Setup with Sprayer Parts and Accessories
You can get even more usage out of your agricultural sprayer with the right parts and accessories, whether you need to replace a broken component or want an upgrade. These include:
Pumps: These are to create pressure inside tanks, which is necessary for allowing liquids to come out of the spray nozzle.
Fittings: Connect tubes, hoses, pipes and other parts to your agricultural sprayer with fittings, keeping components secure.
Tips and boom supplies: These are intended for use with booms, which attach directly to your sprayer to give you added reach. Boom tips let you customize your setup with different spray patterns.
Valves and strainers: Valves work to control and regulate fluid flow by altering pathways, and strainers are built to strain out debris to keep flows from becoming backed up.
Hoses: Hoses allow fluids to flow through agricultural sprayers, with different hose types working better for certain sprayer types over others.
Spray guns: These are where fluids spray out of sprayers, attaching to setups and featuring a comfortable handle for easy use.
Shop Agricultural Sprayers at Tractor Supply
Life Out Here requires the right tools and accessories to help our farmlands thrive, and that starts with having a durable, suitable agricultural sprayer. To learn more about our selection of agricultural products, visit your local Tractor Supply store today or browse online.