212 spot spraying rig?

1376 Views 19 Replies 8 Participants Last post by woodpecker41, Nov 13, 2014

jdaxle

Discussion Starter · Apr 29, 2012

just bought a 425 serial # 46k w/875hrs and having a problem with the pto. at first pto would shut off after it ran awile, now it will shut off right after engagement. After a few attemts it may run for awhile complicating diagnosis. Cleaned all connections at seat sw,brk sw,relay board, pto, and eng ground. jumpered seat and brk switches for testing w/same result. powered up pto solenoid by jumpering the 2 blue wires at the pto sw to verify solenoid is ok and it did not shut off. When it does shut off, i will lose the red led lamp so im assuming that the pto relay coil is losing supply voltage. The pto relay gets supplied through the pto sw but thats where i get lost. im leaning towards a pto switch, but would like to verify before i replace a good part.I lose supply at both cir755 and one of the other blue wires at pto sw and the other blue wire stays hot which is the one that i used to jump. does anyone have any ideas what else to ck?

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flymo

· #2 · Apr 30, 2012

Alex, from your description, you have it pretty well isolated to the PTO switch. I had one go bad a couple of years ago, although my symptoms were different than yours.

I would recommend replacing the PTO switch and seeing if it fixes your problem - the switch is only about $17.

Tim

jdaxle

Discussion Starter · #3 · May 1, 2012

thanks tim, i will reassemble w a different sw and report back. my dealer service mngr says he has seen brk switches get dirty internally causing it to cut out as well as the relay board. he has supplied me with a "tester" ign kit if the sw doesnt fix it. at least i wont have to buy it if i dont need it.

rocklinc

· #4 · Nov 9, 2014

howdy all,
I am trying to establish a small forest on our family farm. trees doing good but unfortunately we have a ton of thistles growing amongst the trees. I have been looking at sprayer rigs that are powered by 12 volt battery for the back of an ATV and wondering if I could use one with my 212. I am thinking of getting a small garden cart from tractor supply and mounting the sprayer across the top rails. will only use hand wand for spot spraying. would like any feedback about my idea. might want to put bigger front tires on the 212 because there are lots of big holes. would tire rims of a JD 400 fit on the front of a 212?

thanks

woodpecker41

· #5 · Nov 9, 2014

John Deere made sprayers. I have another brand I bought at a swap meet that I paid $20 for it and it holds up to 20 gallons. My wife and I just use it with a wand. It has it own battery and only has to be charged a couple of times a year. The Farm Stores around here sell them. TSC is one store that has them. I wouldn't change tire size or you will have tire rubbing problems when turning. Roger

ryan214

· #6 · Nov 10, 2014

Instead of buying the tank and a yard cart I would look for the tank on its own trailer. For the extra $100 you get the trailer and a boom sprayer with the wand. A couple years ago we got a Fimco 20 or 25 gallon sprayer for our fourwheeler to water plants around our 2+ acres of lawn and it works great and we haven't had any problems with it yet. Fimco products are found at Fleet Farm. If you dont want to spend the $250 for this I would still look for a used one on its own trailer.
Good luck with your forest!

joel_c

· #7 · Nov 10, 2014

Mark,
Do you have a integral hitch on your tractor? I used mine to mount a receiver hitch carrier basket on the back. Then get a 10 gallon 12 volt sprayer from tractor supply or northern tool an strap it in the carrier. I'll see if I have picture of it mounted on my 216.

woodpecker41

· #8 · Nov 10, 2014

Mark actually the sprayer I bought is also a Fimco. I did buy a slightly bigger pump for it a couple of years ago but still have the original. The new pump pushes the spray out further which is what my wife wanted. Roger

dr_evil

· #9 · Nov 10, 2014

MARK - I've used a 12V ATV sprayer with my garden tractors for 20 years, they work great!

I use mine in my small cart like you're planning, I just set it on the floor of the cart. Works fine. For spot spraying I coil an extra 20-25 feet of hose in the cart, lets me cover more area when I stop the tractor and get off.

I also made a 4-nozzle spray boom from full size ag sprayer parts for use with the same tank & pump when I broadcast spray. With hose, nozzles, tips, strainers my cost was around $50, and I attach the 1-1/4" x 1-1/4" wood boom to the back of the cart with C-clamps. I also plumbed a 0-100 PSI pressure gauge into the spray boom.

I also wired in an on/off switch on the power cord from the battery on the garden tractor to the 12V pump, I can turn it on/off from the seat as needed.

My sprayer is only 14 gal, I'd get a 25 gal if I got another one, but they weren't available when I got mine.

The nice thing about the tank in the cart, you can remove the sprayer and store it separately, and use the cart for many other things.

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rocklinc

· #10 · Nov 11, 2014

I was thinking of mounting the tank across the cart rails because a cart usually tips forward so if the outlet is on the side of the tank, then the liquid would drain out completely. I was maybe going to build a wood base that I could mount the tank to permanently then just lift the whole thing off when not in use. probably over thinking this. thank you for your input.

aartwmich

· #11 · Nov 11, 2014

Mark, I think that's a good idea. A wood frame could have blocks to lock it from sliding off the cart rails and just cradle the tank so you could store them separately..... and even have some adjust-ability in regards to orientation for maximum drainage.

dr_evil

· #12 · Nov 11, 2014

MARK - The new FIMCO 15 & 25 gal tanks all have a syphon hose running down from the top surface of the tank right next to the filler cap. Tank really needs to sit level to get the most possible amount of spray out. It can set cross-ways or parallel with the center axis of the cart, makes no difference.

My sprayer sits on the floor of my cart, just barely touches both sides of the cart so it can't move.

Now my BIG spray tank, a 60 gallon tank, has a bottom supply fitting to feed the pump. It will drain completely, but the spot spray tanks, not so much.

rocklinc

· #13 · Nov 11, 2014

ok I guess I will probably see how it works just sitting in the cart and can always build the wood platform across the rails later if it looks like it would improve anything. thanks

woodpecker41

· #14 · Nov 11, 2014

Mark you could buy this one for under $300 and it would probably do almost anything a home owner would want to do. Roger

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rocklinc

· #15 · Nov 11, 2014

That thing looks awsum! will the DC power cords reach all the way up to the battery on my 212?

woodpecker41

· #16 · Nov 12, 2014

The leads should reach or there is enough room on the tongue to mount a garden tractor battery. That one is 15 gallons and they do make bigger ones. Mine is the same spray unit only older and mounted on a different cart. Roger

dr_evil

· #17 · Nov 12, 2014

ROGER - How do you turn your sprayer on & off? Even when I broadcast spray, I turn the sprayer on/off dozens of times per tank of spray. I wired an on/off switch in the power cord from the tractor battery within easy reach.

MARK - Make sure you put a fuse close to the battery when you tap power off the tractor battery. I always used to put an in-line fuse holder for a glass tube style fuse, the they're all imported now, even the 30A capacity ones melt at 10A, so I'm using a fuse holder for type ATO fuses now. http://www.grainger.com/product/LITTELFUSE-Fuse-Holder-2FCN3?s_pp=false&picUrl=//static.grainger.com/rp/s/is/image/Grainger/2FCN3_AS01?$smthumb$

We'll see how they last.

woodpecker41

· #18 · Nov 12, 2014

I don't broad cast with mine and the pump has a built shut off when it reaches pressure. There is also a on-off switch on the pump. It wouldn't be hard to add switch leads going to the tractor though. Pretty simple wiring. Roger

dr_evil

· #19 · Nov 13, 2014

ROGER - My old (20+/- years) FIMCO also has a switch on the pump, and shuts off when it reaches full PSI. And you must not have caught my comment that I wired in the on/off switch in the power lead of my sprayer before I even used it. Yes, it was easy, also installed an in-line fuse too.

The pressure shut-off works sorta O-K when spot spraying. But when you go back to spraying it takes several seconds for the pump to start making pressure, my sprayer with an added 20 feet of hose may have something to do with that, but
I'm keeping the hose, I'll just keep shutting the pump off either on the pump or at the in-line switch, which gets me instant spraying pressure when I flip the switch on.

The pump mounted switch is worthless when broadcast spraying.

I put around $150 into my sprayer, bought it on sale at Blain's F&F at the end of the year, that includes all the stuff to make the 4-nozzle spray boom too. Setting the sprayer in a cart I already had saves having to store another large bulky seasonal yard implement. That alone was reason enough to build my own sprayer.

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woodpecker41

· #20 · Nov 13, 2014

Dennis that is basically what I did except I have no use for the broad cast part and I bought my tank with sprayer at the "PECK THING" flea market. I added the bigger pump about 5 years later. It lives in one of the green 4 wheel pull behind carts. Roger

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