sprayer recommendation

Man, this is an excellent post and I’m super grateful. At full risk of completely sharing my uter ignorance…. What sort of battery is recommended to run this operation? I don’t want to drop $200 on one if a $50 one would suffice….

Nice. Thanks for putting all that together man. Do you just mount the nozzle to your tailgate? Or do you have two? I’ve read really good things about those Black Rain nozzles. Seems I could just get one of those and mount it to the tailgate.

Do you have a wand on yours? I suppose I’d need some manifold or something to add that.

Sweet. Thanks. This all seems pretty doable. Do those fimco pumps come with a harness for the 12v plug? I have a 12v plug on my dash and it would be easier than alligator clipping to my battery. Would like to put a switch on the wire.

Thanks a ton for all of your info and help. I’ve pretty much dismissed building my own sprayer for years but with your posts, it seems like something I could put together in an hour and save $400+. Love the OB.

In short, yeah, I just drilled a hole. I didn’t put a grommet, haven’t found that it splashes too bad. Don’t get me wrong plumbing everything up is still something of a project and may send you back to the store a time or two, but yes I’m still in it for several hundred less than a prebuilt rig and the whole thing took me about two hours. I’ll take pics of it this weekend and try to put together all the parts I needed, but in general as long as you get barbed fittings that fit the hose you got and some hose clamps, it’ll be easy to figure out.

10-4, I think you’ll be happy with it, only other thing I’ll point out is you’ll need a suction strainer to go in the tank, a barbed 90 to go down from the pump inlet, and a bag of not PoS hose clamps. The pumps come with a random assortment of quick connect fittings, but they’re off the shelf too and seem to be universal.

I’d recommend going at least 4gpm for the pump if you’re using a boomless nozzle. If you look at the chart for the nozzle I’m pretty sure it’s going to suggest higher pressures than even the 4gpm can give you. Low pressures means bigger droplets and less effectiveness. Not the end of the world but something to be aware of.

Got everything in yesterday and assembled. Here are some assembly photos:

Materials. Pictured: 25 gallon tank, wiring harness with switch, Valley Industries handgun, 50' of 3/8" tubing for the handgun, 10' of 3/8" tubing for pump intake and return, Fimco 4.5gpm pump, suction strainer, Fimco manifold kit with a gauge, Black Rain nozzle, and Fimco clamps for the handgun.




Pump, sprayer clips, and manifold mounted. I wanted to mount the pump longways, but it wouldn't fit in the gap on top of the tank. The pump didn't come with any screws. Luckily I had some that worked.



Drilled a hole and placed the grommet here for the pickup:



I didn't have another grommet, so I just drilled a hole here for the return and siliconed around it:



Black Rain nozzle mounted. I reversed the claim so the screw was on the inside of my tailgate. Seems to hold it better for CanAm's design. Super impressed with the distance this nozzle covers. Not sure why anyone would need a boom for the same application.



Fully assembled:



Only thing I need to figure out is an effective method of hose management for the handgun. I bought 50' of hose because I will use it around my house for spraying Jomax etc. instead of having to lug around my backpack sprayer. Hopefully these photos help anybody looking to do the same thing. Doing it on my own (thanks to DrunkenTigah) saved me $500.

Northern Tool has a 25 gallon tank for $67.99.

Northern Tool