Been battling weeds for decades here. Dad used Roundup in a watering can. I used a salt brine with Dawn in a HF pump sprayer. later with a pneumatic siphon sprayer. Switched to RM18 with better results. Garden hose with chemical applicator. All were time and labor intensive.
I don't have the time now even being retired. Half my time is spent working on Dad's house prepping for sale. I come last. Time for the Easy Button.
I've considered tow behind sprayers before but they seemed too pricey. Found this in ratings search, with high marks.
North Star model 282785, 31 gallon capacity on sale from Northern Tool bought through Amazon. $300 sale price with $58 shipping. The 20 gallon model was $350.
Assembly was easy. All stamped steel parts, hardware and chemical resistant plastic parts appear quality though the hose clamps could have been better. Was missing a rubber grommet for the regulator relief to tank but it came in six days later.
Test with water only.
That is 12' wide according to the car port. Spray pattern pooters out at the far ends though. Best coverage is about 8' wide, the sprays nozzles overlap. It can also spray left or right boom by valving off the other side.
RM18 recommends 3-6 ounces per gallon of water. I used one gallon of RM18 in 20 gallons of water, so just over 6 oz./ gal. RM18 is always sold out at TSC and RK so I order on Amazon. $48/ gal. and $27/ half gallon. It works well.
I used 22-23 gallons to spray about 200' feet of gravel driveway, two wide parking places and spot spray with the wand for hard to reach areas. Sprayed around poles and along the curb without getting off the tractor. That's a win right there.
I should have had this years ago but prices then seemed too high. But, I'm a berkeleying moron.
It's a real labor and time saver. I'm just residential with a long driveway, don't know how it will hold up for commercial use. Got started late in the weed season but if starting early in the season I could anticipate 2-3 applications/ year. Or maybe just a lot of spot spraying. We'll see.
Will see how this unit holds up down the road. I'll give it a B rating for now. Only issue I see is storing in my garage over winter, running out of room in there.
