I'm looking for a backpack sprayer. The main job will be to spray my ~2.5 miles of foot trails with permethrin to help control ticks. A 5 foot wide swath makes it about 66,000 sqft. The trails are not accessible by machine. Most sprayers are 4G, which will get me about 800 feet of trail per tank spraying a 1% solution. Looking for some advice on backpack sprayers, or a better more efficient way to do the job, I've never had or used one. I have Milwaukee 18v tools so I'm looking at their sprayer.
Even with a 4 gallon one, like this, you want the higher quality shoulder straps if you are making a day of it. I’ve put 60 gal per year through this one for 3 or 4 years, and it has served well.
I have a 30 gal leg tank hitched to a pallet that I bring out to where I am working and refill from it.
That's a hand pump type? I wasn't even considering them cuz I thought they wouldn't be up to the task, but 60G would likely do all the trails...hmmm
Yes, a hand pump (diaphragm type pump, if I recall correctly). It would take several days, and you would know you had done something, but it is quite do-able. You likely don’t want much more than a 4gal backpack.
Looks like that Milwaulkee 18v backpack rig will be perfect for you DaveGunter... will give you an excuse to keep hikin' your trails too...
I have the previous model to this, but same brand. I got it for $250 shipped a handful of years ago. It works great. Probably not as well built as the Solo or Stihl, but also nowhere near the price. Mine has bit larger tank. I thought it was around the 5 gallon area compared to the 3.7gal this one has. Invatech Italia 868 Mistblower Duster FREE SHIPPING NO TAX
I bought one like this off craigslist ( back when people were a little different on there ; but that's a different story ) I paid $20 for it new and it was never used . That was in-deed a bargain. Works perfect for what I need it for. So much better that the old 2 gallon sprayer with the pump on top.
So it isn't accessible by machine... how are you moving all of your equipment and fluid? I imagine you would have some sort of cart, how big is your cart? I don't know how plausible this would be but my mind goes to compressor paint sprayers. I think you would need more liquid volume but the same concept might apply. If there was a small compressor sprayer that could be portable on a very small cart. I guess you would need a gene to keep the compressor running. Another idea... I have seen small gas powered pumps. They are pretry compact and could probably fit inside one of those little red wagons. Could you hook something like that into a hose distribution? A sump pump might also work but that like the compressor would require power.
... I was looking and I think the above ideas are probably too complex. I did see a cart with a 25 gallon tank. This is probably bigger than you are looking for. If it would fit, rental might be an option too. Sprayer 25 gal. gas lawn rentals Stevens PA | Rent sprayer 25 gal. gas lawn in Lancaster County PA, Lebanon PA, Reading PA, Berks County Pennsylvania, Ephrata, Denver PA
I've run umpteen gazzillion gallons of spray through various Chapin backpack sprayers over the years. I've always wished they were lighter and never minded pumping them by hand. I would skip the extra battery and motor weight and go with a traditional hand crank unit. Chapin 61900
The nice thing about the gas powered misters though is one can spray solution 20'+ up at the underside of the leaves on trees. Doing so can really help put product in places a pump sprayer can't and where mosquitos and ticks like to hang. One can simply create a much higher/larger barrier area with a powered mister vs a pump sprayer. Which reminds me, I need to pickup more Talstar P so I can spray once all the leaves come out.
I have a low cost Harbor Freight unit unit I picked up years ago and run well over 100 gallons a year through it. Yes, the straps are not great, but it works fine. Hand pumping with the lever is no big deal at all. The nozzle adjusts from mist to spray/stream 15' or more. I fill it on the tailgate of the truck so it's easy to put on once it's full.
I have 2 like that Dave. One for herbicides and 1 for insecticides. 4 gallons goes a long ways. Make sure you have the proper tip in the nozzle for the application you are doing. So me tips will use more spray material than others. The tips will also determine what kind of coverage you get.
