Finest practices to maintain spray rigs and tanks clear

Of all of the issues garden care operators (LCOs) should handle, preserving their spray rigs and tanks clear may be among the many most tedious.

Ben Molitor, proprietor of Best Lawn Care in O’Fallon, Mo., Tyler Hollenbeck, proprietor of a Weed Man franchise in Billings, Mont., and Dave Arnett, gross sales supervisor for Graham Spray Equipment, share their finest practices for preserving spray rigs in top-notch situation.

Tank warfare

When coping with humic fertilizer merchandise that may stain surfaces, Hollenbeck — whose enterprise serves an 80 p.c residential, 20 p.c business clientele — makes certain his group is vigilant in eradicating stains as quickly as doable.

“Normally, on the finish of rounds, if there’s any staining on tanks, we’ll rub that off to maintain it trying good,” says Hollenbeck. “We like to make use of Magic Erasers to assist with that to ensure there isn’t any oil leaking.”

Molitor recommends Schaeffer’s 332 Turbo Purple Cleaner Focus, a cleansing product that removes grease deposits, dust and oils.

Arnett says one of the best ways to maintain your tank clear and ensure the visibility stays excessive is to scrub it usually. The identical goes for aluminum truck beds, which Arnett says can corrode and trigger points.

“Aluminum doesn’t rust, but it surely does corrode,” he says. “When you’ve fertilizer that stays in a single place for an extended time period, it can corrode and eat proper via your mattress. The longevity is a large motive to maintain it clear.”

Making an inventory

Molitor is a self-described clear freak, and that carries over to his spray vehicles. Finest Garden Care serves a primarily residential shopper base within the Better St. Louis space.

“We do have a morning guidelines to ensure they get all of their tools and what they’ll want,” he says. “After which we have now an end-of-the-day guidelines that they’ve obtained to finish.”

A number of the gadgets on that end-of-the-day guidelines embrace:

• Cleansing out the vehicles;
• Hosing down the skin of the vehicles to take away stains;
• Cleansing the home windows; and
• Cleansing the mattress of the truck to take away free fertilizer.

Molitor’s group additionally checks the oil of their vehicles no less than as soon as every week, along with different housekeeping duties, like checking the car’s fluids, blinkers and headlights.

Hollenbeck has an identical routine. His crews additionally examine hoses for potential leaks by unwinding them fully and checking for kinks and spots that would probably break.

Eye-catching

Arnett has greater than 28 years of expertise constructing spray rigs for Graham Spray Gear, the place he now serves as a gross sales supervisor.

“Lots of people use these rigs as shifting billboards,” he says. “With these fiberglass tanks, you may put signage on it, your cellphone quantity, your emblem. So it’s essential when individuals see it that it seems good and it seems clear.”

Arnett says he’s had Graham Spray Gear clients inform him that the spray rig has offered accounts for him previously.

Hollenbeck corroborates that, saying he’s had clients inform him straight that his firm’s rigs have caught their eye and drew them to Weed Man.

“We get quite a lot of compliments on how our fleet seems,” he says. “We had a man stroll into the workplace who wished a quote. We requested him how he heard about us, and he stated, ‘I work at this warehouse behind you guys and see that every single day you guys are cleansing one thing.’”