Equipment Resources
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Applicators used in granular applications should be calibrated to ensure uniformity and accuracy. An accurate and uniform application can reduce the quantity of an active ingredient required for a given degree of control.
Simerjeet Virk
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Properly maintaining, calibrating, and adjusting a seed drill before planting is an important part of ensuring the successful establishment of forage or cover crops. Seed may be placed at a depth that is too deep or too shallow if the equipment is not properly prepared and set. Too much or too little seed may be planted if the equipment is not properly calibrated. These planting mistakes may result in a poor stand, greater weed competition, lower yields, and/or reductions in forage quality. Conversely, planting more seed than required can unnecessarily increase establishment costs and can sometimes result in reduced yields. After investing in the seed and committing the time to plant a field, taking a few extra steps to ensure that investment bears fruit is well worth maintaining, calibrating, and adjusting the drill.
Lisa Baxter and Brian Maddy
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Boom sprayer calibration using conventional methods (catching flow for certain time or distance) for large (60-90 ft; 54-72 nozzles) boom sprayers can be a time-consuming process. This short publication outlines steps to take to verify nozzle output and calibrate a boom sprayer, including tables with useful information on flow rates at multiple speeds for two common nozzle spacings and an equation for calculating rates if needed.
Simerjeet Virk and Eric P. Prostko
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Use estos cinco pasos para el corte de un árbol de forma segura de principio a fin. Este plan funciona para arboristas profesionales y los que no lo son. Cortar árboles con una motosierra es peligroso. La combinación de herramientas eléctricas y la caída de madera crea peligros. La aplicación del Plan de Corte de Cinco Pasos ayuda a identificar y mitigar el peligro en el corte de árboles de principio a fin.
Alfredo Martinez, Ellen M. Bauske, Heather Kolich, and Rolando Orellana
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Operating a chainsaw is inherently dangerous. Chainsaw cuts are always serious, but this is not the only hazard a saw operator faces. Saw operators are often struck by falling limbs and trunks as the tree moves during felling. Saw operators may fall off ladders or out of trees, or they may trip while moving through brush and uneven ground. Even when the tree is on the ground, danger lurks in wood under tension. Spring poles snap and logs roll unexpectedly. Personal protective equipment (PPE) saves lives every day. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) requires that saw operators wear the PPE described in this publication, including head protection, eye protection, ear protection, chainsaw chaps or pants, and suitable footwear.
Ellen M. Bauske, Wade Hutcheson, and Rolando Orellana
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It is widely accepted that storing farm equipment under a shelter is better than storing it outside and that hay stored in a barn is better than hay stored in the field. But how can we determine just how much a farm storage building is worth? The answer is different for every individual operation, but there are some guidelines that will help you make an intelligent decision about whether or not you can afford a building (or afford not to have one).The following is a discussion of the costs and benefits of owning a building, along with some example calculations. In each example, you are given the opportunity to substitute your figures, which might more accurately reflect your local markets and conditions.
John W. Worley and Levi A Russell
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