With temperatures set to plummet over the coming days, now is the time for tillage farmers to get on with the winter maintenance of sprayers.
The reality is, that heavy frost can cause significant damage to unprotected machinery.
Once temperatures drop below freezing point, the potential for damage to be caused across many machinery items will kick-in.
The issue centres on the rate of heat loss within a machine. However, in the case of a sprayer left outside with water in the booms and pump, two nights of temperatures getting down to the likes of -6 °C “will cause damage”.
According to Teagasc, ice in the control units of a sprayer, or the pump itself will cause a lot of damage.
Draining the water from the sprayer is one way around this problem. However, many modern sprayers have a very complicated specification, which makes the complete draining of the entire machine very difficult.
As a result of this, most manufacturers recommend that an anti-freeze solution is put into a sprayer to provide frost protection during the winter period.
Specifically, where sprayers are concerned, farmers can choose from all of the options available on the market at the present time.
In the first instance, it’s a case of consulting a specific manufacturer’s recommendations.
However, the various additives that can be added to an anti-freeze specification focus, for the most part, on preventing the development of corrosion problems within car and tractor engines.
There are two main chemical agents within anti-freeze formulations. One is ethylene glycol: the other is propylene glycol.
“The older option is ethylene glycol. Normally it is coloured blue or green. It is totally fine, where its use in sprayers is concerned. The main priority is to ensure that the anti-freeze agent will not damage seals,” a Teagasc representative said.
Maintenance of sprayers
As a rule of thumb, mounted sprayers will require up to 25L of anti-freeze solution. Where larger, trailed sprayers are concerned, this figure increases to 40L of solution.
Anti-freeze should be bought as a concentrate, not as a ready-made coolant. The target is to achieve an end solution for sprayers containing approximately 30% of anti-freeze agent.
In addition, all farm sprayers must be officially tested under the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD) once they reach three-years-of-age.
The test is quite comprehensive in nature. It works to ensure that sprayers with the required certification are performing to a high standard.
In preparation for the examination, farmers should check there are no leaks or drips from the sprayer.
This includes the pipe work and the nozzles. It is important to check that all the anti-drip unites on the nozzles are working.
In addition, the booms of sprayers should be examined to ensure they are level. Excessive displacement, forward and backwards, should also be checked for.
 Nozzle output is key. With this in mind, all filters should be examines prior to an SUD test.  Using a graduated cylinder, it is possible to assess whether all nozzles are in spec.
The final component to be assessed is the pressure gauge. Most farmers will not have the wherewithal to directly assess the accuracy of the gauge.
However, simply monitoring the output of the sprayer with a new set of nozzles fitted will flag-up a fault in the pressure gauge, should one exist.