Spraying scotch broom

I have A 9 acre field that I cleared of scotch broom 8 years ago. Had to cut it down with a chain saw and push together into three large piles and burned it. So happy to have that done. Now all the dormant seeds are sprouting.
I cut hay off the field last year and it seemed that half of each bale was scotch broom. The cows wasted a lot of hay because of the scotch broom.
I was going to try pulling it by hand with a tool, but that was very time consuming. Worked okay on larger plants but not small ones.
So I purchased a gallon of Crossbow to spray it. Had my handy dandy 2 gallon sprayer with hand pump and sprayed about 12 gallons on the field so far. Quickly realized that a boom sprayer was what was. Needed.
I looked at tractor supply and other places. Then looked at you tube to see how to build one then back online at price of nozzles and pumps.
The last thing I thought about was buying nozzles for irrigating plants for a flower bed. They are only about $2.50 for brass nozzles with a 90 or180 degree dispersion.
As anyone built a boom sprayer using these nozzles?
At this point you do not know how much use it will get. Not sure if I will need to spray every year for the scotch broom or not.
No place around to rent one that I am aware of.

Hi mtjohnso

Building a boom is no easy task. The components you talk about with the brass nozzles need to give the right spray pattern and I would be concerned about the longevity of the them. They need to be accurate and give correct coverage. Do you have any contract chemical applicators in your area? Or look at something like a small linkage boom to do that area. Also depends on what you have in terms of a tractor or side by side or quad bike to mount the boom on. I would do some more investigating you will come up with the right answer.

As mentioned, probably best solution would be to buy boom. Northern tool has quite a few, depending upon the sprayer you are using it on. For a 4 wheeler with mounted sprayer they are not that expensive.

Look into boomless nozzles. They give a nice pattern and aren't too costly, just two in the middle does the job.

I built one for my 4 wheeler and my buddies. Built it so good he want let me have it back. its 15 foot wide when unfolded. Bought all the stuff from tractor supply. He had the tank with the electric pump. He just sets it in the bed of the mule and off he goes. I think the tank is a 25 gallon. I built it for our dove fields.

I used one of these set ups in an area that was too rough for a boom It worked great.

I agree with Andy - boomless would be pretty cheap. I made one for my sprayer, mainly to spray my roadways with Roundup. I adjust the width by raising or lowering the nozzle. It easily sprays a 12' lane. I think I have about $15 invested in the nozzle. The mount was made from the scrap pile.

I've never heard of "scotch broom". What is it?

We have used brass nozzles in the past. Taped holes on a water pipe then threaded the nozzle bodies in and put the tips on. Worked ok. I would go with Stainless steel nozzles. As they will last longer, and if you cleared this acreage you will be spraying it for years to come for different things. As for the booms the more stainless steel you can use the better. Steel will be a perennial rust problem and rubber and other such type of hose will deteriorate rapidly if not kept inside out of the sun light in off seasons. Flood jet nozzles will be much more practical then flat fans. They will plug less and allow more pressure with less drift. Nozzles will be the most important part of the sprayer for accuracy of product and pattern uniformity. The other reason for stainless nozzles.

Small field sprayers of the boom type are being given away now acording to the Amish machinery dealer I work with. Can get more give to him than he can find place to get rid of them. And I ran the brass nozeles for years and never seen any sign of wear on any of them.