Dirty Sprayers

There are a lot of down falls to keeping a dirty sprayer at the end of the season . First and for most if your equipment shed loses heat for a few days in our climate you can pretty much count on a new head valving chamber on the Toro 1250 sprayers . They will crack when the temps are below zero if not properly put to bed with plumbers anti freeze through the system ,possibly the gauges will break also , I've seen the flow manager sensor wheel pulled off the shaft , split hoses etc. Foaming systems should be run dry also . Not left full . The next big issue is that your leaving chemicals in the system to corrode stainless steel parts and rot seals and hoses. . Thirdly the chemicals will settle out and scale up and when the system is started up again plugging up screens . 

Lets face the facts Spraying systems are VERY expensive to repair .Not only that but if your sprayer fails loaded with expensive  mixed products it can get to be a big headache for the superintendent and mechanic  .Not much fun having to store a load for repair ( short term ) or having to repair it not cleaned  . Were  fortunate to have 2 sprayers so we can at least save the mix and pump it into the other rig . 

The mechanics headache;..... most of us are not licensed to deal with chemicals and have no idea what or how the tank was mixed putting ourselves at risk . Sure some mixes are less toxic than a cup of coffee but the fact is the parts that we repair are more concentrated from build up .  ,I have held a  spray license in the past ( recently expired ) so I do have some knowledge of the processes and responsibility of the spray tech .

Most of the time during the season you can get away with a few 50 gallon flushes with clean water to clean the system out ( soluble products , liquid fertilizers etc .) after your done . If your using pesticides your tank should defiantly be clean out with a good tank cleaner/ neutralizer . 

IT IS THE SPRAY TECH'S RESPONSIBILITY TO CLEAN SPRAY EQUIPMENT AND HANDLE CHEMICALS USED IN THE GOLF INDUSTRY . HE IS THE ONE TRAINED AND LICENSED TO DO SO .

 These are Facts . Hopefully it will be taken as an educational reminder and not as a negative blog post .

       

This is what we see sometimes when it's time to service spray equipment for next season . I know at the end of the season it's go..go ..go to get things done and the irrigation is shut down making things difficult for cleaning especially in the freezing temperatures . But there are a few calm spring like days in our winters to take advantage of to finish this important job .   

Not to bad this year only a little left in the tank but the system is still full of the last chemical mix . 

Our old sprayer was fairly clean ( double rinsed 50 gallon flush with clean water) but foamer was left full . Maybe an over site but foaming agent is not an anti freeze and this tank would have surely split if it was left outside . 

Friday was a perfect day to clean the sprayers . The proper way is to remove all the screens and nozzles and clean them in a separate container and clean the tank with them left off . It is also recommended to to boost your tank pressure .Trying to clean a sprayer with screens and nozzles in place is less effective . The 1250 Toro where able to get up to 100 PSI .Let the cleaning solution agitate in the tank for 15 minutes . Perfect for forcing and flushing debris out of the system . When everything is flushed out the open nozzle holders the pressure should be zero because there is no back pressure from screens .If you have a reading then there maybe a blockage in the system . Systems are to be TRIPLE rinsed according to your operator manual .

Screens yes they are to be used they are there to protect the spray system from things like caps , plastic from containers , oversize particles that may affect your flow meter etc. Some products may plug the main screen more  than others and may need to be cleaned after each load . There are a couple of options for tank screens . If yours is plugging up bad all the time you should check to see if the right micron main tank screen is being used or you may need to change how your premixing wettable powders etc . When ever something is changed in the spray system calibrate the tank and boom pressure they will fluctuate up and down .  

I talked to the staff at Halifax seed and they gave me this product . It's more for pesticide clean up but does descale the system very well . One cup for 50 gallons . $30 dollars a gallon . Doesn't take long to fill the tank to 50 gallons with a garden hose from the main building .Took me a few hours to double flush both sprayers getting them in and out of cold storage and travel time from main building and wash rack I even used the wand off the old sprayers to clean the outside off both machine . Worked pretty good to get some of it off .  At least it will be neutralized to finish the cleaning later .   

All those paint chip looking things in the pick is the scaling removed in the process . This would have surely plugged nozzles throwing the PSI. off and not getting proper coverage of your products . 

When your all done run plumbers anti freeze through the system till it comes out the nozzle openings . Let run for a bit then shut down . 

Disconnect the main line to the pump when your finished . That will help drain the system out . The pump will still have liquid in it but the plumbers ant-freeze will protect the pump.. 

This is what a technician / mechanic  at your course should be looking at . Clean... NO breathtaking odor from old products left in the tank . It actually has no smell at all . With minimal protection we can service the spray side of the system safely .  I did clean the system myself this time just to see what it was all about . I cannot believe how EASY it is to do and leaves me wondering WHY it is sometimes not done . 

Stay tuned more sprayer lack of maintenance and cleaning pictures from an out source .

  Courtesy of Smithco Hypro

Abrasives

Chemical Wear

Pump not flushed

SS 1




Impeller ran dry .

Pictures below courtesy of


Mark Luffy

     

  Service Manager

  Krigger & Company, Inc.

Clicking on logo will take you to their web page . 

Improper mixing or mixing of incompatible products .

Keep them coming Mark and thanks for your help .

Not long now . Days are getting longer and you can feel the heat from the Sun when it's out  . Even some reports of robins in the news .... a good sign. 

Jacobsen Greens Care Video

Thanks Amy for coming way up here to do this video on the GreensCare Bio oil product at the shop. Turned out pretty good . I don't think I'll be giving up my day job anytime soon . Lol 

Not a big speaker but was a great experience . 

Thanks 

http://golfcoursemechanics.blogspot.ca/2013/09/hydraulic-leak-and-bio-oil.html

http://golfcoursemechanics.blogspot.ca/2013/09/bio-hydraulic-oil-leak-update.html 

Home made snipper holder upgrade

I made these 5- 6 + - years ago . Originally we removed the holders but found that the crew had a hard time getting them on/off the machine . The following year I remade them to stay on the machine . They have been holding down the snippers with bungy cords the past few seasons . Some of the crew are still having a problem. Today I started figuring out an easier way . Because as you know if it isn't easy they will not use them . This is what I came up with for the JD  Gators .  The Toro MD(x) with the plastic boxes I'll post later .

This is how they use to attach . Usually resulted in over stretched and lost bungy cords .

I took about a 2" piece of thin wall 1.5" square tube stock and cut one side off . 

Welded it to a 2" flat stock . The lower pieces sticking out was the piece I had cut off . Trial and error for the first one . I put a snipper on to help out with the design .

Only need 1 bracket and place it in the middle of rail .

View from inside the box . I used a bolt and drill a 1/8 hole at one end close to were the rail is . This way it can be left on the machine and the piece laying on the rail will keep it from falling down into the box .

Doesn't get any easier than this . The returning crew will be impressed and pleased .

If you don't tether the bolt and lock ring they will go missing or be lost in the grass .

Only have a stick welder and couldn't tac the thin chain on . So I drill the bolt out 13/64 th . and tapped for a 1/4 -20 thread bolt hole .

I'll try this with red loc tight .

Painted it up like the rest of the mounts . holds the snipper down really well .

Only have seven more pairs to make . My club Cars will get the same ones too .

The Toro MD and MDX I went this route for a holder and mounts .

With the molded plastic dump beds I had made wooden box extenders So snippers can be attached to the sides .

The holder is pretty simple .Same as above 1.5" square tube stock and cut one side out .

Welded a bolt and washer on this side . Line everything up first and drill a hole through the wooden box extender .

On the inside holes where drill into a large washer and then screwed to the box .

Pretty easy to use .

 I had also drill a bolt size matching hole on the top rail of wooden box so when they remove it the staff can put the latch in the hole .

Cushman tailgate mod

I have in the past spent a fair amount of time repairing tailgates . Seems there are not many out there designed for the daily rigors of golf course use . Our carts are used to haul anything from boulders to sand ,wet sloppy material from drainage repairs are the worst  . The newer Cushman  only has 288.7 hours so far . The tailgate has been an issue from new , even at the other course with the fancy dump out the bottom tail gate swing  set up .  

This is what it looked like after I came back from vacation .

I have seen this a few times at both courses . 

I started of by removing the old tailgate mounts . 

After removing the bolt on the bottom they pretty much pulled through the sheet metal .

Clean slate.

Made up some new hinges and welded to the box frame .

1.5 " angle iron works great for the side of the tailgate . Running a shouldered bolt through the bottom for it to swing on . 

Pressure treated 2x6  were cut to fit and bolted to the angle iron . The best part is that if the excavator takes a bite out of one of the boards it can be easily replaced . 

Swings very well . 

Now I cut the old tail gate hinge mounts and welded them in the same location . 

Another shouldered bolt added to the top of angle iron that will catch were it use to swing from before . The catch side was drilled out so we could use a pin to lock it in place. After it's all done the sharp edges should be smoothed out and tac all the nuts (except nylocs) so they don't back off on you . 

 The tailgate is held up with chains keeping it level with the dump bed .

Purchased some stair tread runners from a hardware store. I laid it on a bed of silicon and put a few self tappers in on the dump bed side.

When the tail gate goes up it slides up.

After tipping it up to get the rest of the debris out from the fall projects it worked pretty good . The guys also mentioned the material won't get trapped in between anymore .

All done .

This blog post made a huge difference and eliminated bent cushman tow hitches.
http://golfcoursemechanics.blogspot.ca/2011/11/cushman-tow-hitch-fabrication.html

I really liked this one because for the simple fact that no one (except the mechanics ) could figure out how the get the wire latch back in when they fell out and my mowers don't pick them up anymore in the reels .
http://golfcoursemechanics.blogspot.ca/2011/08/my-gator-wire-latch-upgrade.html

My newest concern are the tailgates on last years MD Toro workman . Latches don't want to work and jamb . The crew pull on them so hard they are bending parts .  They also crack easily. Our older MDX with the old style box and tail gate is a much better design . As annoying as it is to get latched and unlatched it is holding up well .

To bad the manufacturers couldn't figure out a way to have a sensor set up to tell the operator that the dump bed is over loaded. A bar of lights with different colors eg: 50-100-150-200 lbs . over loaded then followed by an annoying buzzer system if they exceeded the braking or tip over capacity.
Most staff have no idea what the materials weigh . Wet sand is much heavier than gravel .In the past we have seen bent axles , axle seals , busted side walls in tires, broken springs  ,rear end failure , premature wear on wheel bearings . Never mind the risk to other staff and members when they are driving on the course . I do tell the guys how much they should be hauling but I can't be there to watch them all the time . We have done better with training and now only get some sidewall tire damage on the old style balloon type tires on the JD  Gators . I've seen them driving  by the shop with a low tire and catch them on the way back for repair or top up the air in them .