Cleaning sprayer after using roundup

Crimson850

Member
I have let 15 gallons of roundup or so sit in my 3pt sprayer for a couple of months, I hope this stuff isn't too corrosive? Obviously the sprayer is plastic though. Anyway, I need to spray my pond bank, and a few various places with 2-4D. What is the best way to confirm I get all the roundup out? Run plenty of water through it and maybe some dawn dish soap?
 
You can put the contents in buckets and label it for use next spring and then wash it out with soap and water. Make sure to do this in the driveway and not the yard unless you want dead grass.
 
i always run household ammonia through mine after use. i never let it sit in the sprayer though roundup seems to gum up and will plug up nozzles and strainers. i put remains in buckets like doc said and strain before putting in sprayer.
 
Best practice would be to mix what you need and spray it all out on your target. NEVER leave spray solution in a sprayer. Different solutions react in different ways. Roundup / Glyphosate will get gummy as it react with the minerals in the water. This happens in a short period of time. Your pump will mostly likely need cleaned. Your spray nozzles as well.
Cleaning a tank requires the use of different detergents. The selection is based on what herbicides have been used. There are commercial tank cleaners, ammonia, or bleach. Make the proper selection. Your herbicide label will probably tell what cleaners to use. Add water and spray out the rinsate on non-cropland.

Here's a nice article on the very important subject....
http://www.agphd.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/SPRAYER-TANK-CLEANOUT.pdf
 
I always add dye to my spray solutions. It does help me see where I've sprayed but I think a big benefit of using dye is for clean-up. I have a Fimco and there's always some solution left in the tank. I drain it into a large jug and label it RTU (ready to use) and use it for hand sprayers and spot spraying. I then start flushing the sprayer. The 1st rinsing will also get drained into a large jug and labeled weak gly h20, which I will use the next time I mix gly. Then I do the final flushing. This is where I believe using the dye really shines. As long as I see a blue tint to the flush water, then I know there is still gly present. I just flush until the water runs clear. Don't forget to run flush water through the spray cycle...don't just flush the tank. Everything gets flushed, even the wand, just in case some herbicide got into the wand hose.
I have used ammonia as a final rinse but not always.
 
Glyphosate, a phosphonate, was discovered by Monsanto chemist John Franz as the company was looking at several phosphates to use as water softening\ chelating soap agents for spray additives and to clean sprayer tanks with, as phosphonates and phosphates are soap ingredients. Therefore, it's an easy chemical to clean out, because it has some of the the same properties as soap, which if you let soapy water sit around it gets gummy too. I usually tilt tank to drain, then rinse tank with several shots of water, letting it totally drain out in between rinses, after tank is clean, run clean water through all of the nozzles for several minutes. I've never used any cleaning agent and never had any carry over symptoms. A trace of roundup in water will make foamy soap bubbles, a sure sign that your equipment's not clean yet. The Monsanto company itself recommends only water to clean Powermax out of sprayers.
 
Buckmaster has got it right ....Ammonia will neutralize 99% of most Ag type chemicals and is the sure way to insure not destroying something you have worked very hard on ....like spraying Chestnut trees after a field burn down of GLY and 2-4-D .....after running the ammonia thru ...then your clear water ...

Not discounting what you others are saying ...and most likely just soap n water or just water would get the parts per million of chemical so small that healthy plants/trees/shrubs etc would go right on growing ...but young/stressed/drought etc etc could be a whole new can of worms

Bear
 
The op asked about roundup, Just saying, The Monsanto company itself recommends only water to clean Powermax out of sprayers.
 
I simply don't let chemicals sit in the tank and rinse as well as I can with water - I run the pump and wand and spray booms to flush out everything.......and yes - I have a dead spot in the yard!
 
I always add dye to my spray solutions. It does help me see where I've sprayed but I think a big benefit of using dye is for clean-up. I have a Fimco and there's always some solution left in the tank. I drain it into a large jug and label it RTU (ready to use) and use it for hand sprayers and spot spraying. I then start flushing the sprayer. The 1st rinsing will also get drained into a large jug and labeled weak gly h20, which I will use the next time I mix gly. Then I do the final flushing. This is where I believe using the dye really shines. As long as I see a blue tint to the flush water, then I know there is still gly present. I just flush until the water runs clear. Don't forget to run flush water through the spray cycle...don't just flush the tank. Everything gets flushed, even the wand, just in case some herbicide got into the wand hose.
I have used ammonia as a final rinse but not always.
What type of dye do you use? pros and cons?
 
What type of dye do you use? pros and cons?
I use Terramark.
Pros: a gallon lasts a long time. It's practically essential for spot spraying so you can see what you've hit or missed. It's not permanent, so it doesn't stain driveways or clothes (for very long). Helps me realize if I haven't fully flushed my tanks, hoses and nozzles after spraying.
The cons are very few. Blue is a little tough to see on green plants unless you look close, but you CAN see it...not so with NO DYE.
You will get it on your hands but it will be gone in a day or so.
WARNING... Don't do what my buddy did. He took the cap off the jug, then it slipped out of his hand. Blue dye shot all over him! LOL!


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Glyphosate, a phosphonate, was discovered by Monsanto chemist John Franz as the company was looking at several phosphates to use as water softening\ chelating soap agents for spray additives and to clean sprayer tanks with, as phosphonates and phosphates are soap ingredients. Therefore, it's an easy chemical to clean out, because it has some of the the same properties as soap, which if you let soapy water sit around it gets gummy too. I usually tilt tank to drain, then rinse tank with several shots of water, letting it totally drain out in between rinses, after tank is clean, run clean water through all of the nozzles for several minutes. I've never used any cleaning agent and never had any carry over symptoms. A trace of roundup in water will make foamy soap bubbles, a sure sign that your equipment's not clean yet. The Monsanto company itself recommends only water to clean Powermax out of sprayers.

This is how I have cleaned my sprayers after using Roundup for years. Never had an issue.
 
This is how I have cleaned my sprayers after using Roundup for years. Never had an issue.

Same here. First, I always spray gly until the tank is empty. I then remove the filter housing off the bottom of my tank, stick the water hose in the tank, and wash it out with clean water. I put the filter housing back on, put a few gallons of water in the tank, spray through the boomless nozzle as well as the wand, then drain again and wash the tank again. I then unscrew the suction hose and drain all of the water out of it, add a little motor oil to the pump, and put the hose back on. My pump is pto driven, and the first year I had it, it locked up over winter. The process I use was recommended by the manufacturer, a local business. Since then, zero issues.
 
We wash our pto sprayers out with water and a little bit of soap, including the wand. Then rinse with clean water, then run antifreeze washer fluid through it until everything runs pink. It then gets stored.
 
I use Terramark.
Pros: a gallon lasts a long time. It's practically essential for spot spraying so you can see what you've hit or missed. It's not permanent, so it doesn't stain driveways or clothes (for very long). Helps me realize if I haven't fully flushed my tanks, hoses and nozzles after spraying.
The cons are very few. Blue is a little tough to see on green plants unless you look close, but you CAN see it...not so with NO DYE.
You will get it on your hands but it will be gone in a day or so.
WARNING... Don't do what my buddy did. He took the cap off the jug, then it slipped out of his hand. Blue dye shot all over him! LOL!


Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
Thanks, ive been debating getting a jug as we use a wand sprayer and normally end up with alot of spots missed. Hoping it can increase our efficiency with the dye.
 
Thanks, ive been debating getting a jug as we use a wand sprayer and normally end up with alot of spots missed. Hoping it can increase our efficiency with the dye.
I do a lot of spot spraying of Canada Thistle, Dock and Jerusalem Artichoke. It would be impossible to see what I've sprayed or missed without the dye.
 
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