[quote=Bill D.]Another question along the same line....
If you think that was hard, you should try figuring out how fast the tractor should be going if you are applying 32 fl. oz. of product per acre and your spray boom covers a swath that is 30' wide and you have 5 spray nozzles and are spraying at 40 psi.
Maybe snrub can explain how to figure that out.
Great explanation Esshup.
Actually that is easy in actual practice. We have spreadsheets to calculate the needs of each product for a given area (I created years ago) and on board computers with GPS and radar in conjunction with rate controller computers that take care of the application. Plus in the end we can reconcile everything against acres and gallons of material applied to make sure we got it right.
Years ago we figured it by hand but in reality mostly used pre-made charts.
But land application is only two dimensional. When you add in the third dimension of depth, plus the fact that most times you are dealing with a non-flat bottom and quite probably slopes that change around the perimeter and even the bottom of the pond. Then add in spot treatment............... and it all gets real fuzzy.
Not to mention the fact that once the spray hits land it stays in place. Once the Cutrine blue colored liquid hits the water, you can actually see it drift out into the BOW. How far? Anybody's guess.
Kind of like mixing up some glyphosate in a two gallon hand sprayer to spot spray some patches of weeds or grass. The rate of application comes down to a certain amount of calculation and a lot of WAG.
That is not trying to diminish the importance of TRYING to apply the proper rate. We certainly should try our best. But I see problems with applying a liquid into water with any great degree of accuracy in applying a certain rate to a certain spot area. Land application is lots easier for me.
