Northern Illinois | plowboy - 11/5/2006 09:41
I'm amused at all the complaints of the Hagie or Nitro getting covered with chemical residue.
All I can say about that is if you are running a rear mounted boom and your machine isn't covered in residue by the end of the season, you sure must not be using it very much.
I've never run a front boom, but I can certainly see advantages from an operator standpoint.
Re: spraying with the windows open: Fix the damn air conditioner, Einstein.
Re: supposed risks of spraying ag chemicals: Most of the products which we use are very benign. Some are not. If you don't know the difference and handle accordingly, you have no business spraying. If you smoke or chew and are worrying about herbicide residue.........
Re: Hiring it done to eliminate risk: Ron is right, to an extent, however consider the guy spraying with his windows open....he could hire someone who maintains his equipment and greatly reduce the potential exposure to anyone.
Re: spraying "too fast": I've hired several different guys who ran about 100 mph all day long, and they did a good job. Didn't leave many tracks, either.
Well said plowboy. Ron has very good points, and a lot of experience too.
I have been hesitant to enter this discussion because I'm quite biased towards the front boom machine.
Having been a commercial operator for over 10 years, applying some of the most potent insecticides (Penncap-M & Furadan 4L) on thousands of acres annually with the boom in front, I never had any health issues from that.
No one even mentioned the fact that the 2 leading front boom machines have 72"+ of crop clearance, and the booms reach up to 108". This is a major factor in my area, as the interest in fungicide application on corn is at a very high level, and large amounts of seed corn in the area that require high-clearance equipment for chemical application. |
Pros and cons of front mounted spray booms
