VONDA, Sask. – When Bernie Denis and his brother split their farm into separate operations, Bernie needed a sprayer.
The Denises, who farm near Vonda, had built and used several sprayers in the past.
“We had used a pull sprayer, then we built one out of an old combine and used it for a couple of years,” he said.
“Then we built another one out of a highway semi trailer truck. When we split the farm, he ended up with that and I built this one.”
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He built the sprayer in the winter of 1999 and has used it for five years. It has a 600 imperial gallon tank, compared to the 1,200 gallon tank on the previous sprayer.
He said he built it a bit smaller because most of the components were already on his farm. He had looked at different units already used in the field and thought this style would be easier and cheaper to build.
“The frame we built from scratch, from all new steel: four-inch by six-inch tubing, quarter-inch wall,” Denis said.
“There’s an outfit that builds these things already. We sort of expanded on their idea. They have a big chain that drives the wheels on the back. What we did, we used the final drive off a combine there. We’ve got smaller chains driving that final drive. I don’t know if it’s a better system, but the components are a lot smaller than what this other manufacturer is building.”
Denis said he had to flip the rear end of the truck upside down to make it work properly.
“The final drive on the back wheels turns backward with gear on gear. So if you’re driving it forwards it turns the wheel backwards. So we flipped the rear end upside down so the rear end turns backwards. We remounted the brackets to hold it on, then changed the level plug on it and it works like a damn.”
Denis used a 1981 Chevrolet half ton with a 350 automatic to power the sprayer.
“That truck we bought new in ’81. It was getting tired as far as being a farm truck, but the mechanical parts were good still. That’s why we used it,” he said.
“Everything is stock on the truck. It’s got plenty of power because it’s reduced to the ground.”
The truck is mounted on the sprayer frame while the sprayer’s front and hydraulic controls came from a wrecked Gleaner combine. The tank and cradle came off an old pull-type sprayer from the farm.
“We used the cradle and everything. Because it’s a half-ton chassis, it was too heavy for the truck. So we put it on air bags. That way, the truck doesn’t actually carry the heavy weight of the tank,” he said. “The boom we built ourselves. We had some experience from before, so we knew what we wanted. The main frame is four by four light-wall tubing, likely 0.188 inch, with two by two tubing on top.”
A parallel link system lifts and lowers the boom.
“We can go from 18 inches up to six feet.”
Hydraulic cylinders on the booms allow Denis to lift each side separately to clear obstacles. Springs provide cushioning to relieve stress. The end of each boom has a 10-foot breakaway.
For a marking system, Denis uses a Peacock foamer. With a 40-foot drill, the 80-foot boom on the sprayer gives Denis another guidance option when spraying.
“A lot of times, if conditions aren’t right, that foam marker doesn’t show very well, so we’re able to follow the tracks in between the rows of the drill.”
Power for the spray pump and hydraulics comes straight from the front of the truck motor.
“The crank has a gear belt pulley on it, then it drops to drive a jackshaft, just under the bumper. It’s belt driven right from the crank. From there, we have another jackshaft for the sprayer pump. Mounted right in front of that shaft would be the hydraulic pump.”
He provided 48 inches of clearance under the sprayer frame using 18.4 x 26 tires.
“We’re farming about 2,400 acres and we go through it twice for sure, maybe some of it three times. I’d say we spray close to 6,000 acres a year with it. It’s the busiest piece of equipment we have here.”
Denis sprays at 15 to 25 km-h. He uses a Tee Jet rate controller to maintain proper rates at all speeds. He desiccates peas with it as well as in-crop sprays and burnoffs. He’s also sprayed grasshoppers in barley.
While he hasn’t done a lot of late-season in-crop spraying with the unit, such as for wheat midge or pre-harvest applications, he could.
“The only thing is, we might switch to smaller tires if we did that.”
Denis said he spent the winter in the shop building the sprayer and had it ready in time for seeding.
“It’s been quite a few years and we’ve never had any trouble. We put it in the field expecting it would be back in the shop a few times, but we’ve never brought it back in. It worked right off the bat.”
