Page 44 - Grapevine July-August 2015
P. 44
Around The Vineyard
Wallingford said he began to look into On Hofer also found that it takes more work to main-
Target Spray Systems in the mid-2000s after being tain the On Target sprayer than an air-blast sprayer.
unable to achieve coverage he needed with his air- But, he said: “We found that as long as you follow
blast sprayer to control a Pacific mite outbreak. the directions in the handbook, it is easy and simple
“Basically, you have to be able to cover the whole and gives you a lot of reliability. We have never had
canopy,” Wallingford said, “and with the sprayer a maintenance issue with that sprayer.”
that I was using, I wasn’t able to do that.”
Asked to name the number one benefit On Target
After purchasing an On Target sprayer, he noted: Spray Systems provide his operation, Hofer said it
“I was able to successfully reduce the population comes down to coverage. “The On Target spray-
while going from five sprays down to three sprays, er saves on tractor time,” Hofer said, “diesel fuel,
and then down to one. Now, because of the cover- wear-and-tear on the tractor, personnel time and,
age that I am getting throughout the year, I don’t most importantly for us, we get the great coverage
have to worry about spraying for them at all.” that allows me to go to sleep the night before I start
spraying fully realizing that I will get excellent cov-
The only downside growers mentioned when inter- erage.”
viewed about On Target Spray Systems was the
extra maintenance involved in keeping the machines “With the labor saving, fuel savings, and, in
in peak operating condition. “With the electrostatic some cases, the chemical savings, I’m sold on it,”
sprayer, you have the electronics, the nozzles, the Wallingford said. “I’m sold on electrostatic in gen-
valves that you have to take care of,” Klopp said. “It eral. And On Target is the best that I’ve seen.”
is a finer piece of equipment.” “There is a lot more
technology involved in these sprayers (than air-blast
sprayers),” Lingenfelder said.
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