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Marking dye in a sprayer tank

hillrunner

PMA Member
Has anyone tried using a dye in the tank to keep track of where you have sprayed?
I'm in the process of killing off a very odd-shaped field consisting of about 15 acres of brome. I have already mowed it and sprayed it once, so it has tire tracks all over the place. For the first spraying I just came back a week later and hit my misses. For the 2nd round I don't think the misses will be as obvious and timing is also possibly an issue with trying to establish alfalfa.
I don't have GPS so I wondered how well a dye might work? I'll be putting down about 300 gallons of water. Doing a quick search, it seems like most the dye is geared towards lawns. Is it feasible to dye 300 gallons? If so, any recommendation on brand or color?
 
I've encountered the same issue, and I thought about dye too. Lately, I have been waiting for the weeds to get taller to see the tractor tire marks.
 
I tried it once, still couldn't see where I sprayed. Still have some left in the bottle it "worked so well". I'd try to do a foaming agent setup if possible...I will say my eyes aren't the best but even so.........
 
Is it a job that would turn out better with a helper flagging your next pass? Sorta like the ag pilots used many years ago.
 
Couple things. I haven’t had luck with it showing me where I’ve sprayed. It does help see how much mix I have left in the tank. Additionally, it will get EVERYWHERE! If you look at it long enough it will get a few blue drops on your hands, pants, shirt, etc…


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Is it a job that would turn out better with a helper flagging your next pass? Sorta like the ag pilots used many years ago.
Not really, it has almost no straight lines or line of sight. In the past I've measured and put out flags but that won't work for this piece.
 
One thing that works for me is to turn on your track feature that ONX has. It will at least show big misses. I have GPS in one tractor and one side by side but this map was spraying sunflowers yesterday with a boomless rig..
 

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Works great in a spot sprayer- I think a big sprayer would be difficult. You’d be better off with foaming markers (remember when that’s what everyone did before gps) might be able to find a way to do that?
 
Works great in a spot sprayer- I think a big sprayer would be difficult. You’d be better off with foaming markers (remember when that’s what everyone did before gps) might be able to find a way to do that?
That's the plan B I'm currently looking into and leaning towards. I remember when the spray rigs from the elevator had foam markers. I also remember spray planes dropping what looked like toilet paper to keep track of their passes. I can envision a set up like that with a toilet paper roll on the end of the boom but I think the foam markers are a simpler route.
 
Correct. I cut two pieces of iron and clamped them to the boom. My buddy welded two redneck tree stand stakes together. That worked well. They put a line in the dirt. Simplistic as heck but it works. Using a utv places the boom fairly close to the ground.
 
Can you just go out earlier in the morning when there’s a slight dew on the ground.
Would be easier to see the tracks.
Could add a little extra surfactant to it if you’re worried about it not sticking to the plant.
 
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