Sprayer Key Terms

Learning sprayers key terms can help you operate your sprayer more efficiently

By Denise Brown

Sprayers have a number of components, and you'll have an easier time operating a sprayer if you know their names. Sprayer key terms involve words such as agitators, booms, drops and nozzles. Sprayers come in a variety of sizes and shapes. Whether you have a small sprayer that fits on the back of your lawn mower or ATV or a large sprayer than covers several feet with one pass, you should know these basic components.

Tank

The sprayer tank is where you mix the chemicals with water to make the herbicide or fertilizer. For corrosion resistance, many new sprayer tanks are plastic.
Try: See the variety of shapes and sizes of sprayer tanks on the Northern Tool + Equipment.

Tank agitators

If you mix a dry herbicide or fertilizer with water, sometimes lumps form and the chemicals and water don't mix properly. With tank agitators, the liquid in the tank mixes constantly to prevent this problem.
Try: M.K. Rittenhouse & Sons sell a number of tank agitators.

Sprayer booms

Sprayer booms are arms, or extensions, from the sprayer and tank that are part of the spraying system, along with the sprayer drops and spray nozzles.
Try: CropCare Equipment offers hydraulic sprayer booms that let you spray large areas with one pass.

Sprayer drops

Sprayer drops can help you deliver a more precise application of fertilizer or pesticide by moving the actual spray closer to the ground. There is also less "chemical drift" with sprayer drop applications.
Try: Read more about sprayer drop hoses from Lemken.

Sprayer nozzles

Sprayer nozzles are the tips of that come from the boom or drop hoses. The liquid fertilizer or herbicide pushes through the sprayer nozzles in a pattern designed to cover the ground or crops in the proper manner. Depending on the size of the sprayer boom, there are usually several sprayer nozzles on each sprayer.
Try: Get more information about sprayer nozzles from the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Sprayer calibration

Sprayer calibration is the process of setting up the sprayer to deliver the exact amount of herbicide or fertilizer to the field. There is a bit of math involved in calibrating a sprayer, but once you understand the process it should be easy to do. As you calibrate a sprayer you must also consider things such as weather conditions.
Try: Read the step-by-step sprayer calibration process described by the Ohio State University Extension.