The Gator Sprayer rides again

The GatorSprayer has been one of those good ideas which don't quite work in practice. Sort of like making feed pellets or publishing a blog.

Old John Deere Gators are the roughest riding and most underpowered RTV you can find. Painting them red does not help at all.

I have been having issues with my foam markers, the auto rate controller, and FarmerGPS communicating with my Novatel Smart6L antenna. 

Yesterday I sprayed black berries and wild carrot in a small hayfield and everything worked. The Foam, GPS, rate controller, all worked, but I hit a bump and broke the cab off its mounts.

I thought I would drive around and just hit the switch when I saw weeds. I basically sprayed it all.  It was only eight acres so I did two fill ups. I have a 55 gallon tank but since I bought it surplus somewhere because it was cheap, I managed to get one that the suction connects from the side and not a sump in the middle. When I am down to ten gallons I have to spray on a hillside to empty the tank.

The problem with the foam marker was solved by wiggling wires and air hoses. I have no idea what was wrong. The problem with FarmerGPS was solved by never closing the program so I didn't have to re-enter my program code. The antenna problem was solved by asking MicroSoft CoPilot what ports Getac tablets assign to internal GPS. (Port 2) or is it Port 1? Now I forgot.  

The FarmerGPS was connecting to the internal tablet GPS which was not as accurate as the Novatel Smart6.  Once I figured out the com port issue I had usable guidance. I was actually able to use contour mode and drive in circles. Usually, it is easier to make straight lines so if the GPS drifts you still have visual references.

And now the rain will start...

THE NEXT DAY...

I had ten gallons left. So I thought I would add another ten gallons and some Vastlan and oil and spray hillsides for black berries. 

As I pulled away from the water hose the gear shift became disconnected from the transaxle which is under the bed and there is a sprayer on the bed.

Fortunately I had Mr. Pettibone who was able to double as a vehicle lift!

The Gator is now elevated to where I can reach the offending gear shift rod!

I am not the best welder but sometimes it holds.