One of the most important questions to consider when purchasing a spraying system is "What am I going to require this sprayer to do?" With this in mind remember the following guidelines:

Truck Capacity: The bed size and carrying capacity of your vehicle is a limiting factor to the type of sprayer to be purchased. In general a one ton truck can carry approx. 500 gallons, a 3/4 ton truck 300-400 gallons and a 1/2 ton 200-250 gallons of liquid capacity.   Refer to the GVW rating of your vehicle for exact payload capacities.  It is important to coordinate your sprayer to your vehicle and also allow room for growth options.

Tank Options: The size and configuration of tanks you choose will vary with many options such as type and amount of products to be used, pump volume, weight capacity of vehicle, size restrictions, capability to refill tanks in the field, and number of customers. Ideally it is most cost effective to have a multi-tank unit holding several different products to perform a variety treatments at each visit. A small mix tank 30-50 gallons is also helpful in treating special problems.

Pump Options: A variety of different pumps are used on sprayers, the most common are roller pumps, diaphragm pumps, piston/plunger pumps and centrifugal pumps. While all of the mentioned pumps are adequate for lawn and root feeding, plunger pumps and diaphragm pumps are best suited for tree spraying. Both plunger and diaphragm pumps provide the proper flow and pressure for efficient and effective treatments. Diaphragm pumps are the most versatile pumps, they are resistant to wettable powders and can be run dry for extended periods of time.

 Tree Spraying: Tree spraying requires the right ratio of volume and pressure for effective treatments. Tree tops can sprayed with high volume low pressure systems. The large amount of liquid used, requires larger trucks, it also uses large amounts of product. Low volume, high pressure set ups are usually ineffective for tree spraying because there is a greater amount of drift and there is not enough volume of water for proper foliage penetration and coverage.

Lawn Spraying: Lawn spraying is the least specific of the three listed. Lawn spraying generally requires low volume, low pressure for drift management and adequate treatment (2-8 gpm & 30-150 psi). Most larger tree pumps can be regulated down to treat lawns.

Deep Root Feeding: Deep root feeding can be performed with most pumping systems, ideally a medium volume low pressure pump is best. It is important to use lower pressures to avoid root damage (200 psi max.) Pumps as small as 4 gpm can be used, but if large areas are to be fed, pumps 10-20 gpm should be considered.