How to Winterize Your Sprayer

Crop sprayers, or boom sprayers, are pulled behind tractors through growing fields and used to spray pesticides or fertilizer on the crops. Since they are filled with chemicals throughout the growing season, winterizing them is essential in climates where temperatures dip below freezing. Chemicals can freeze inside the hoses and booms and cause damage, and leftover chemical residue can harden on the nozzles and shorten their useful lives.

Things You'll Need

  • Latex gloves
  • Warm soapy water
  • Stiff brush
  • Rags
  • Anti-freeze
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Instructions

    • 1

      Drain the sprayer by opening the nozzles and plugs and allowing it to drip until it is dry.

    • 2

      Remove any gauges that may be damaged by the cold and store in a safe place.

    • 3

      Clean the outside of the tank and all the components like nozzles, strainers, nozzle bodies and pipe end caps with warm soapy water and a good stiff brush. Soak smaller components in your soapy water.

    • 4

      Add a manufacturer-approved cleaner to your sprayer's tank and run the sprayer until the cleaner is completely dispersed throughout the entire system. Allow this to stand for the specified time as indicated by the cleaner's guidelines.

    • 5

      Rinse the sprayer by circulating clean water through it.

    • 6

      Replace the removed components, unless they will be harmed by a freeze. In that case, store them in a safe place where you can easily locate them in the spring.

    • 7

      Mix up an appropriately diluted batch of anti-freeze, according to how cold your area gets. Places with temperatures below zero require a stronger anti-freeze with less dilution. Use at least 4 gallons of anti-freeze in the sprayer's tank.

    • 8

      Run the anti-freeze through the sprayer, loosening the nozzle caps enough to allow the anti-freeze to infiltrate them. Tighten the caps. Store the sprayer with the anti-freeze left inside the hoses, tank and boom to protect it from cold and rust.