Power Sprayers - Good Design is Worth the Money

One of our long time clients hired a new supervisor who insisted they buy a power sprayer from another company. The supervisor assured the boss it would be cheaper. Several months afte the purchase, they were having issues so they brought the weed sprayer to us for service.

There were numerous problems. The manufacturer had installed a centrifugal pump, which doesn't provide enough pressure to push water through the 300' of spray hose installed on the power sprayer.

Another problem can be seen in this photo:

The boomless spray nozzle assemblies (which spray a wide swath on either side of the gator), were not well designed. The hose supplying the nozzle collapsed on itself, cutting off flow to the nozzle. The nozzle assembly should have been designed so that the hose came in from the bottom. This is power sprayer design 101 and should have been caught earlier.

A couple of summary points:

1. A cheaper purchase price doesn't automatically mean you will save money.

2. When buying a power sprayer, know who you are dealing with and what you are getting.

3. Find vendors you trust and stick with them.

4. Standardize equipment whenever possible.

5. Train spray technicians to understand pest control sprayers & weed sprayers and identify problems and potention problems before they impact your business. (This flawed design should have been identified and repaired before it caused downtime).

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