That $200 spray rig I bought off Facebook Marketplace nearly killed my trees

The pump was mixing the herbicide way too strong and I didn't notice until I saw leaf curl on three maples I treated last week. Just a heads up to double check sprayer calibration before you trust a used unit, anyone else run into this with a cheap rig?

3 comments

3 Comments

jamesf4110d ago

Double check the calibration on those cheap sprayers every time you fill up. That little dial on the side is never accurate straight from the factory, especially if it's been sitting in some dude's garage for years.

the_linda10d ago

Oh man, you're not wrong. My first time using one of those cheap sprayers I ended up hitting my lawn with about triple the herbicide I meant to because that dial was way off. The little arrow on the dial points at "2" but it's really just spitting out a trickle. I felt like such a goof standing there wondering why my grass was turning brown in spots, guess that's what I get for trusting a piece of plastic from a discount store. Now I just fill up an old milk jug and time it with my phone, which is probably more effort than the job itself needs but hey, at least I'm not killing my azaleas anymore.

the_anthony10d agoMost Upvoted

My buddy who does landscaping on the side told me the factory calibration is basically just a rough guess on those units. He said you can actually check it pretty easy by filling up a known gallon jug and comparing the dial reading to what you actually used. Makes you wonder why they don't just set them right from the start, doesn't it? The cheap ones skip that step to keep the price down, I guess. A five minute check can save you from messing up a whole batch of spray though.