Beechy, Sask., farmer Dean Stockman said one check for plugged nozzles will dump six gallons of product on the ground.
“That’s six gallons if you don’t have any plugged nozzles. If you need to clean a nozzle and then check again, it’s 12 gallons. If you missed the first time, and that does happen, then you repeat the procedure three times and now you’ve dumped 18 gallons of product in a single 90-foot strip in your field.”
Stockman said checking nozzles is no fun because the operator must run down to the dirt and then back up to the cab again.
Read Also
VIDEO: Green Lightning and Nytro Ag win sustainability innovation award
Nytro Ag Corp and Green Lightning recieved an innovation award at Ag in Motion 2025 for the Green Lightning Nitrogen Machine, which converts atmospheric nitrogen into a plant-usable form.
“It’s dangerous business.”
In most one-person sprayer operations, all this takes place when there’s no one else around if something goes wrong.
Stockman said risk is only one aspect of the problem. The other is the high cost of poor weed control when a nozzle plugs, plus the cost of wasted chemical.
“One litre of Touchdown is $7.50 or $7.75 and I’m spraying four gallons per acre. If you need to do three up and down checks to make sure a plugged nozzle is spraying again, that’s three litres of Touchdown and $21 out of pocket for chemical you just poured out on the ground.
“It’s not only wasted money. Nobody likes to see excess chemical of any kind poured out on the ground, especially if it’s a group 2. If you’re spraying Sencor or Pursuit or Odyssey, that’s a 90 foot chemical strip on your field that can haunt you for years to come.”
Stockman found a way to avoid those unwanted chemical strips. He has just installed his second SprayTest remote valve control unit.
He received the first one as a Fathers Day gift in 2003, using it for all spray applications since then, until he sold that sprayer this spring and the SprayTest went along with the deal. Stockman farms 5,000 acres, with three applications over the entire farm, so his first SprayTest got a lot of use.
Stockman checks for plugged nozzles at every tank fill. That may seem extreme, but he said it’s worth the effort.
“I use Air Bubble Jets and those Venturies are very small. It doesn’t take much contamination to plug them up. So I have just gotten into the habit of always checking all nozzles at every fill.
“That used to take some time, but it’s so fast now with this remote control that we can easily check while filling and never miss a beat. It doesn’t cost you one second of time.”
Stockman said a stop that previously dumped up to 18 gallons to clean and check plugged nozzles, now dumps only two gallons to accomplish the same thing.
His first SprayTest came from the first year of the tool’s production.
Although it worked flawlessly for the entire two years, Stockman said he likes the 2005 version better because it puts the control box back at the boom where it gets better radio signals from the keychain clicker. This also does away with cables running between the cab and the boom.
“The first time I saw a SprayTest, I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, that might be handy to have someday when I get around to it.’ But this spring, I had to spray 500 acres without it, because my first unit went along with the guy who bought my old sprayer. I can tell you, the only thing worse than not having one, is to first have one and use it, then have to go out and spray without it.”
