Air-blast Sprayer Calibration: Process

hello as a member of the agricultural community you know the important part that your equipment plays in your success you also know the value of proper maintenance and care for all of that equipment especially your air blast sprayer part of those maintenance procedures is making sure your sprayer is calibrated correctly so that it operates in a safe and cost effective manner improper calibration or even no calibration at all can lead to applying too much or not enough material this can be costly in terms of crop damage or expensive overruns and that's what proper air blast sprayer calibration is all about proper sprayer calibration allows you to know that you're getting the best use of fungicide insecticide fertilizer stop drop thinners and other expensive materials that are going through your sprayer protecting the investment you've made in your equipment the inputs you purchase and the crops you grow however before calibration can take place there are a few steps you need to take in order to make the calibration process run smoothly if you haven't already done so please review the video describing instructions for preparing your air blast sprayer before the calibration process can begin the calibration process itself is very basic so let's take a look at those steps step one is determining the ground speed of your equipment this is done by timing how long it takes for your tractor to travel at a predetermined distance and engine rpm level this distance is then easily multiplied to account for total acreage the rpm level should be the same as you would run during an application make sure to travel more than 200 feet in order to get an accurate speed of the tractor and sprayer during this timing you should be pulling your sprayer with approximately a half tank load of water during a field application when a sprayer tank is full your average speed will be slower as it approaches empty the speed increases a half a tank represents the average overall load during the course of an application while in the field be sure to measure the distance between the rows later we'll need that measurement to calculate the application rate per acre return to a level area for testing measure and record the nozzle tip size and the disc whirl plate size step 2 attach the calibration device to the sprayer secure these quick connect hoses onto all the nozzles of one side of the sprayer being used in the application make sure the connections are secure as leaks that occur during the measuring process can provide false results and compromise the accuracy of the calibration step 3 start the tractor and bring the engine up to the previously determined rpm level with the sprayer output pressure set to the normal level for field application make sure that the collection tubes are not engaged while the rpm and pressure levels are being set step 4 collect sprayer output for a period of time say 15 20 or 30 seconds that can later be multiplied to an equivalent of one minute this figure will be used later when determining the amount of product sprayed per acre step five record the sprayer output for each nozzle in the appropriate section of the calculation form step six calculate the total output in gallons per minute for the sprayer's first side this is done by combining the totals recorded from each nozzle and multiplying that total by the appropriate figure to determine the per minute output next repeat steps two through six for the other side of the sprayer to then determine the per minute output of the nozzles on that second side once all the information is gathered and recorded for both sides it's necessary to determine a total gallon per minute output taking into account the totals from each side then using the timing and measurements from step one determine the gallons per acre applied total output after the total gpa figure is calculated you can make the necessary adjustments in order to accomplish your application goals this may require adjustments in your application speed or sprayer pressure output or it could be that changes are necessary to your nozzles and or disc whirl plates you may need to check filters screens or other parts of sprayer equipment often these equipment changes can be determined during the collection process as visible differences in expected output and actual collection may be evident remember if you change the pressure or the nozzle type nozzle size or whirl plate you'll need to repeat the calibration process to ensure your rate per acre is accurate it's important to re-check sprayer calibration through the growing season the ultimate goal for air blast sprayer calibration is to provide you with safe and cost-effective equipment