Combine owners say Versatile runs well under damp conditions
Saskatchewan farmer Kevin Horner said simplicity was a big factor in his decision to buy two Russian-built combines. And he’s not alone. Thirty other farmers have also plunked down their money for the big red machines in the past three years. Simplicity and low technology ranked high on the list for all RT490 buyers, said […] Read more
Ron Lyseng
Stories by Ron Lyseng
Atomizer removes big globs, fine mist for better coverage
Tests show more uniform-sized drops are achieved using rotary atomizers than with standard nozzles
If more spray droplets hit the sweet range of about 300 microns, the extra spray must come from the fine mist at the top end and big globlets at the bottom end. That’s the conclusion drawn by spray plane operators equipped with rotary atomizers when doing a wet paper droplet scan test. Michael Yaholnitsky, owner […] Read moreBetter efficacy with less water
A spray plane equipped with rotary fan atomizer nozzles can reduce drift and put more product on a crop while dramatically reducing water volume. Until recently, aerial applicators with standard nozzles typically put down three to five gallons of water per acre. However, applicators who equip their planes with Davidon Hi-Tek rotary fan atomizer nozzles […] Read more
Lower the boom on weight by two-thirds
Lighter booms can offer several advantages. Among them are less boom bounce, more water capacity, wider booms, lower boom height and the potential to slow down for a better spray job. A conventional 120 foot steel boom, weighing about 2,500 pounds, can withstand a fair bit of abuse, but all that weight hung out 55 […] Read more
Oh, Deere
Most farmers probably think the question of whether they own their tractor or not is a fairly straightforward one. But technology agreements are casting doubt on machinery ownership following a recent story in a popular technical magazine. On April 21, WIRED magazine published a column by Kyle Wiens with the headline “We can’t let John […] Read more
Raising the speed limit on sprayers
This story is part two of a pair of stories looking at sprayer speed. Part one appeared in the April 30 edition and is available on our website. Speed spraying at 20 miles per hour is no longer the exception. It’s the new norm made possible by new suspensions. Previous generations of sprayers were buckboard […] Read more
The downside of upsized sprayers
High sprayer speeds and the resulting hit and miss coverage don’t happen by accident. It’s a deliberate trade-off. Bigger farms require heavier sprayers capable of travelling faster. Farmers know higher speeds reduce coverage, but they willingly make that sacrifice to spray all their acres on time within that all-important window. It’s expensive when the window […] Read more
Bigger boom solution: go wide, go slow
Improving suspension to reduce boom bounce encourages operators to drive faster
Implements are on the brink of an obesity crisis if prairie producers continue looking the other way. However, there are a few things manufacturers and farmers can do to address the escalating problem, says spray specialist Tom Wolf of Agrimetrix Research and Training in Saskatoon. “The answer is wider booms. We put a lot of […] Read more
Why calm air causes spray drift
The farmer is behind on spraying. It’s dead calm. Leaves are still. The sprayer is filled, ready to go. He climbs down from the cab and heads to the house for a nap. Something’s wrong with this scene. There’s spraying to be done and conditions couldn’t be better, so what is going on? Government extension […] Read more
Avoid the inversion: what producers can do
Knowing inversion conditions is the first step to avoiding pesticide misapplication. “The bad news: we have a thermal inversion to some degree just about every day during spray season,” said Jason Deveau of Ontario’s agriculture department. “When we have that very still air, or stagnation as they call it in the States, that’s a thermal […] Read more
