Important Pieces Of Equipment You May Be Neglecting

Finally, spring weather has arrived and things are starting to get busy on golf courses in our area. We are all happy to be outside and feeling the sun on our faces and watching things start to green up. All of your winter maintenance is probably complete and your fleet of equipment is ready for another year. As I have been going around visiting golf courses, I have noticed something that I thought would be a great reminder for you this spring.

Two of the most important pieces of equipment that you own often get neglected when it comes to winter maintenance. Too often sprayers and spreaders sit off to the side and are not taken care of the way they should be. I have noticed old, worn out nozzles and dust-covered sprayers at many of my stops. Now is a great time to set aside a little time to detail, calibrate, and prepare your sprayer for the upcoming summer!

Worn out or old nozzles are the most common reason for improper chemical applications. Nozzles should be inspected before the season and before every application. It is recommended to replace them once a year as they will become worn and your application rates will be affected. An increase or decrease in your application rate can greatly impact the efficacy of your pesticide applications. By over-applying chemicals, you can cause harm to the turf as well as waste money. On the other hand, under-applying chemicals can cause them not to work efficiently and cause you to make more applications throughout the year.

There are many resources available to you to help with calibrating your sprayers, as well as selecting the proper nozzles for your sprayer. Here are a few websites that will guide you step-by-step in getting the most out of your chemical applications this year:

www.teejet.com
www.greenleaftech.com

Any employee of ATS would be glad to help you with selecting the proper nozzles for the upcoming year.

Advanced Turf Solutions has also started carrying a new line of calibration tools to assist you with getting things dialed-in for the upcoming season: Spot-On Calibration tools. Get more information through your local ATS representative or visit www.innoquestinc.com.

The same can be said about calibrating your fertilizer spreaders before using them this spring. Too many times we simply look at “what setting we used last year” before making fertilizer applications. They too can become worn out and need adjusted or calibrated. We carry a full line of fertilizer spreaders at Advanced Turf Solutions. Please contact your local ATS rep to get information or pricing on rotary and drop spreaders from Andersons, Earthway, Prizelawn, Turfco, and Spyker.

Here’s to a successful 2016 for all of you, and remember the importance of proper calibration on all of your sprayers and spreaders.

Jason Bennett
ATS Sales Representative