weed lickers what ye think of them?

johnboy6930

got a weed licker to lick any odd rushe that may pop up. anyone got any experience with them?and are they any good on rushes?

poor farmer

I got a contractor to lick rushes worked very well but its not a machine i would buy, its far too slow 8 ft at a time.A sprayer will do 30-40 ft

johnboy6930

they may be a bit slower but they do give them a fair burning and is far better than the sprayer

reilig

The big thing for me is the cost saving. 20 litres of Glyphosate costs €60 and will do 100 acres of rushes. €60 worth of MCPA won't get you too far. Also, the licker doesn't damage the grass like spraying does. You have a fast regrowth after it!! Useful for hills too that aren't accessible with the tractor and sprayer.

F.D

Do you find that it misses any thistles or docs etc where the quad or tractor would be after flattening them driving over them?

reilig

F.D wrote: »

Do you find that it misses any thistles or docs etc where the quad or tractor would be after flattening them driving over them?

After using it on a tractor for 15 years, I bought a quad this year. Its a huge improvement. It definitely doesn't miss thistles or rushes when the quad goes over them first. But I find that its not suitable for docs - they don't grow tall enough on my land for the licker to be able to hit them.

bbam

We made our own licker this year and although we were late getting it ready we're very happy with it..
Great results on rushes cut earlier in the year and minimal impact on grass other than where we stopped and it dripped or where I ran it too low..

Cost about €100 and some bits and pieces we had around..


Rellig... I'm interested in your comment on the application rate... We're using Gallup which kills good as roundup... may I ask what ratio mix you are using that your €20 goes so far... we're finding it hard to know how wet the roller needs to be and that speed to travel at...

johnboy6930

we also use gallup. but we use the 25ltrs drums and we but about 15ltrs of water to 25ltrs of gallup.and we go about 7 8 mph depends ..and we wet the carpet about every 30 seconds.

reilig

jasus lads, that's overkill.

I did 10 acres of medium strength rushes (They were heavy last year but I topped them in June) a few weeks ago. The licker tank holds 60 litres, but I only put 30 litres into in. Used 2 litres of Gallup with it. I had an excellent kill within 10 days. I'd be pushing the button about every 50 to 60 seconds and travelling fairly slow. Would always use a few squirts of washing up liquid in the tank. Not too much or your tank will fill with foam. Washing up liquid does 2 things - helps the mix to stick to the carpet and not drip on the ground and its very visible on the roller which helps you see when you need to press the pump button again. It will also help the mix to stick to the rushes. In total, the gallup for the mix cost me €6.

johnboy6930, 15ltrs of water to 25ltrs of gallup is almost 1 to 2 in ratio.

The Gallup label says that a kill can be achieved by spraying gallup in a mixture of 1 litre of Gallup with up to 200 litres of water. At 15 litres of water to 1 litre of gallup, I think I'm doing ok - although I suspect that I'm getting a much slower kill than you but at a much cheaper price

Edit: I think Gallup 360 only comes in 20 litre drums???

Tora Bora

reilig wrote: »

jasus lads, that's overkill.

I did 10 acres of medium strength rushes (They were heavy last year but I topped them in June) a few weeks ago. The licker tank holds 60 litres, but I only put 30 litres into in. Used 2 litres of Gallup with it. I had an excellent kill within 10 days. I'd be pushing the button about every 50 to 60 seconds and travelling fairly slow. Would always use a few squirts of washing up liquid in the tank. Not too much or your tank will fill with foam. Washing up liquid does 2 things - helps the mix to stick to the carpet and not drip on the ground and its very visible on the roller which helps you see when you need to press the pump button again. It will also help the mix to stick to the rushes. In total, the gallup for the mix cost me €6.

johnboy6930, 15ltrs of water to 25ltrs of gallup is almost 1 to 2 in ratio.

The Gallup label says that a kill can be achieved by spraying gallup in a mixture of 1 litre of Gallup with up to 200 litres of water. At 15 litres of water to 1 litre of gallup, I think I'm doing ok - although I suspect that I'm getting a much slower kill than you but at a much cheaper price

Edit: I think Gallup 360 only comes in 20 litre drums???

Here's a test for you. Spray a SMALL batch of weeds with a very highly concentrated mix of the appropriate herbicide. Then spray another patch with the recommended mix aor near enough.
Which patch do you expect will see the quickest and best kill off?

Oddly enough, the patch with the very high concentration mix, will suffer only a minor set back and the other patch, will keel over:P

Reason being that the outer surface of the plant, needs to absorb and transfer the herbicide to the inner core and from there to the roots, to effect a good kill.
By putting very highly concentrated stuff on the plant, you almost instantly kill the very outer surface, and kill off its capacity to absorb and transfer the bad stuff to the inside and on to the roots.
With the plant still healty on the inside and in the roots, it soon regenerates and replaces the outer core, and the plant lives on:cool:

The other patch, slowley absorbs the herbicide, transfers it to the inner core an to the roots. The plant is now seriously compromised, and dies quickly.

That explaination was given to me by a guy who works for one of the manufacturers.

Believe it or not:o

poor farmer

Tora Bora wrote: »

Here's a test for you. Spray a SMALL batch of weeds with a very highly concentrated mix of the appropriate herbicide. Then spray another patch with the recommended mix aor near enough.
Which patch do you expect will see the quickest and best kill off?

Oddly enough, the patch with the very high concentration mix, will suffer only a minor set back and the other patch, will keel over:P

Reason being that the outer surface of the plant, needs to absorb and transfer the herbicide to the inner core and from there to the roots, to effect a good kill.
By putting very highly concentrated stuff on the plant, you almost instantly kill the very outer surface, and kill off its capacity to absorb and transfer the bad stuff to the inside and on to the roots.
With the plant still healty on the inside and in the roots, it soon regenerates and replaces the outer core, and the plant lives on:cool:

The other patch, slowley absorbs the herbicide, transfers it to the inner core an to the roots. The plant is now seriously compromised, and dies quickly.

That explaination was given to me by a guy who works for one of the manufacturers.

Believe it or not:o

Very intresting ,when spot spraying i am using 300 ml roundup in 50l water

johnboy6930

the rushes we spray are brown in about 8 days.and about 15 to 20 day later if you grab the rushes you can pull them straight out of the root. we hear that lads around here but it out with no water at all.

johnboy6930

reilig wrote: »

jasus lads, that's overkill.

I did 10 acres of medium strength rushes (They were heavy last year but I topped them in June) a few weeks ago. The licker tank holds 60 litres, but I only put 30 litres into in. Used 2 litres of Gallup with it. I had an excellent kill within 10 days. I'd be pushing the button about every 50 to 60 seconds and travelling fairly slow. Would always use a few squirts of washing up liquid in the tank. Not too much or your tank will fill with foam. Washing up liquid does 2 things - helps the mix to stick to the carpet and not drip on the ground and its very visible on the roller which helps you see when you need to press the pump button again. It will also help the mix to stick to the rushes. In total, the gallup for the mix cost me €6.

johnboy6930, 15ltrs of water to 25ltrs of gallup is almost 1 to 2 in ratio.

The Gallup label says that a kill can be achieved by spraying gallup in a mixture of 1 litre of Gallup with up to 200 litres of water. At 15 litres of water to 1 litre of gallup, I think I'm doing ok - although I suspect that I'm getting a much slower kill than you but at a much cheaper price

Edit: I think Gallup 360 only comes in 20 litre drums???

the rushes we spray are brown in about 8 days.and about 15 to 20 day later if you grab the rushes you can pull them straight out of the root. we hear that lads around here but it out with no water at all.

reilig

johnboy6930 wrote: »

the rushes we spray are brown in about 8 days.and about 15 to 20 day later if you grab the rushes you can pull them straight out of the root. we hear that lads around here but it out with no water at all.

Same as that. My mix at 15 to 1 leaves rushes brown at 8 to 10 days (Longer in wet or cold weather). It just seems like overkill to put it on at such a low mix rate.

I don't think you could use gallup without diluting it. Try leaving a teaspoon full in the open air for 10 minutes. It will turn into a white crystal substance. Imagine trying to clean the nozzles of your licker after that

Tora Bora

I got a few patches of rushes sprayed 3 weeks ago today. Used Agroxone which is supposed to be equivalent of MCPA 50.
Rushes sre definitely brown, and look really brown from a distance. But when you walk through them, There is still too much green in there for my liking:( Suppose, not much point in leaving them standing much longer, hoping for them to give up on life.
Probably as well off to cut, and wait for regrowth, in order to hit them again. Maybe I should do them with the lick next time, using Gallup!

What do ye think? If I cut them now, could I hit them again in October, or would spring be better?

reilig

Tora Bora wrote: »

I got a few patches of rushes sprayed 3 weeks ago today. Used Agroxone which is supposed to be equivalent of MCPA 50.
Rushes sre definitely brown, and look really brown from a distance. But when you walk through them, There is still too much green in there for my liking:( Suppose, not much point in leaving them standing much longer, hoping for them to give up on life.
Probably as well off to cut, and wait for regrowth, in order to hit them again. Maybe I should do them with the lick next time, using Gallup!

What do ye think? If I cut them now, could I hit them again in October, or would spring be better?

My advice is don't cut yet. If they appear to have changed colour, then the spray is probably working, albeit slowly. Give them another 3 weeks at least to allow the roots to die. If you cut them too soon after spraying, only the top parts of the rush will be killed and you will have a definite regrowth.

johnboy6930

i wouldn't cut them yet i would leave for a least a month before topping and on the plus side regrowth of the rushes is fairly rapid so ya know. i think the later in the year you spry the better of a burning they get

djmc

I used gallup 360 at 2 litres to 100 of water this year on rushes and got a good kill
I licked a field of ragworth last week and wondering if I should top it soon as I dont want it to start blowing seeds around and the sooner its gone the sooner
I can graze it again.
Anyone know how long it takes for gallup to get into the roots of a plant

eddiek

hi all. what are the important things to look out for when buying a weed licker for a quad.wide wheels,pump feed? also what size quad? hillyish land. 4wd? thanks for any replies