Abstract:
In small orchards, gardeners face several problems
such as irregular tree planting,
hard trafficability for tractors, economic problems
for buying tractors, high drift in high
height sprayers, low height of spraying, and diffic
ulty of working with conventional
sprayers. In this study, in order to solve some of
these problems, a telescoping boom
sprayer was designed and fabricated. The sprayer eq
uipped with This Boom (TS) was
evaluated in comparison with the conventional spray
ers [W
heel Barrow (WBS),
Electrostatic (ES), Side Pump (SPS) Sprayers] in te
rms of drift, spraying quality, solution
consumption, fuel consumption, spray height, sprayi
ng time, and spray loss. Results
showed that the spraying quality coefficient
of ES was better than that of SPS; WBS and
TS could not be evaluated because the surface of se
nsitive papers was wetted completely,
but distribution of droplets on each card and betwe
en the cards was more uniform in TS.
Due to differences in drift, WBS had the highest mea
n of droplet area and TS had the
lowest. Also, WBS, TS, SPS, and ES had the maximum
amount of solution consumption
while ES, TS, and WBS had the minimum. SPS and ES d
id not spray at high height;
however, TS and WBS could spray at high height. The
maximum and minimum spraying
times were recorded for WBS and SPS, respectively.
Values of 9.93 and 2.80 mm
2
were
obtained for mean spray loss area of SPS and ES, re
spectively. Spray loss area of the TS
and WBS was not calculated.
Keywords:
Electrostatic sprayer, Side pump sprayer, Telescopi
ng boom, Wheel barrow sprayer.