Single-pass blanket, spot-spray system launched

TREMONT, Ill. — A duo nozzle and injection system that simultaneously provides blanket and spot applications in a single pass was revealed by Precision Planting.

The SymphonyVision | Duo uses two SymphonyNozzle systems. The primary nozzle system broadcast applies the primary tank mix while the second nozzle system pulls chemical from the main solution tank, infuses contact herbicide from a smaller tank and then spot sprays this mix where the real-time cameras detect weeds.

SymphonyVision | Duo maximizes the acres covered by allowing farmers to utilize the full capacity of their main solution tank with each product applied at the correct ratio and does not have per-acre fees associated with it.

The new weed control program was demonstrated at the recent PTx Winter Conference.

“Duo gives you the ability to broadcast apply and spot apply at the same time on the sprayer that you already own today. You can upgrade the Duo from a SymphonyVision system that you have today, as well,” said Tristan Herrmann, product manager, Ptx.

“This really lets us achieve the true pinnacle of spraying — broadcasting our residuals while saving money on our contact killer. And, because Duo doesn’t require a subscription to run it, the savings just compound on top of each other.”

Tank System

The system features the main tank for broadcast herbicides and a smaller injection tank.

“From our injection tank, where we have our contact killers, we have a pump that delivers that contact killer over to the mixer. When those two products meet, we now have our residual and contact mixed together, and that goes out to the secondary nozzle,” Herrmann said.

“The contact herbicide only gets applied around the weed and the residual gets applied everywhere.”

Blake Zehr has been beta testing the SymphonyVision platform for several years and tested the new Duo system this past year on his 2018 HAGIE applicator.

“SymphonyVision | Duo takes it to the next level because in this world of weeds we’ve got to be able to keep the residuals going. We can’t only rely on contacts forever. We know weeds are going to build more resistance down the road. So, we’ve got to put residuals down to keep the weeds at bay before they ever emerge,” Zehr said in a video.

Efficiency

Herrmann gave a play-by-play of how the innovative system works in the field.

“If I pull up to the edge of the field with a Duo system, I’m going to load my main tank with anything that needs broadcast applied. And to fill the main tank, depending on the size of the plumbing on your operation, that’s going to take 10 to 20 minutes,” he said.

“While that’s happening, I’m going to take my contact killers straight from the tote and pump them up through the injection pump into the separate tanks that are on the sprayer, and this usually takes about five minutes, so we haven’t lost any efficiency. We’re just taking better advantage of the time we’re already spending at the tender.

“Then we pull out to the field, and we have a residual plus contact mix and a residual only mix in our spray booms. The camera is going to determine whether the nozzle is switching between the boom with contact killer or the residual only.”

Each ejection pump also features a flow meter to monitor the performance of each pump at all times.

“When we’re done going through the field, we’ve used up all the products in the primary tank, but there’s probably still some product left in the injection tank. We can just use a pump that’s on the sprayer, the injection pump that we’ve added, and use that to deliver that product right it back to the tote that it came in, reclaiming all of the product that had been loaded. So, we don’t have to predict how much to load; we just can pump back whatever we need,” Hermann said.

“Duo really does give us the opportunity to broadcast apply and spot apply all at the same time without sacrificing efficiency.

“And true to our core identity as being a retrofit first company, we build this technology so it can work on a sprayer that sits in our farmers’ sheds today. And the vendor that services your sprayer today can work with this system, as well.”