Description - Spray Applicator

  Yearly spraying of weeds along curbs and gutters was a two person job and could take 80 to 100 man hours.  The object was to make it a single person job and speed up the process as well.

  A 12 volt powered sprayer that was mounted on a 3 point hitch was utilized.  The spray bar was removed and a single bar with one narrow width spray nozzle was adapted. A metal loop was welded inside the bucket to accept the top pin on the 3 point hitch and a retainer hold down bolt attached to the bottom of the bucket.  A switch inside the cab turns the pump on or off, which also feeds through a second switch on the pump for remote operation.  A long hose with a hand wand is plumbed from the pump to provide manual spot spraying capabilities.  The whole system can be quickly changed back to the 3 point hitch position and the full spray bar to spray fields and large areas.

  Spraying time was reduced to approximately 25 man hours using this setup.  Mechanics Sam Salomi, Richard Roberts, Rick Bombardir and I had a hand in the design and installation.  Parks department applicators Paul Nassichuk, Mark DePape and Brenda Powell provided input into the design, testing and application. This equipment has reduced the cost of spraying roadside grass by 82%.

  Dave Knorr,  Public Works Mechanic,  Corp. of the District of Powell River