KM
Solo Sprayer / Sprayer recommendations
Hey guys, what are your recommendations for an entry level sprayer? I like the idea of switching nozzle depending on application (from memory it was the Red and White ones that are mostly used)
I scoured my local M10 and these are the options so far:
– Solo 414LI Battery Backpack 10L
– Solo 475 Classic 15L
– Solo 425 Classic 15L
Unfortunately, Solo used to be a really good brand, probably four or five years ago. From my experience, the quality seems to have gone downhill significantly since changes were made to their manufacturing.
To put it into perspective, I used to sell Solo sprayers when I first started NZLA and virtually never had one returned. By the time I stopped selling them around two years ago, I was getting roughly one return for every five sold, usually for broken parts or other issues. It became incredibly admin-heavy, and eventually I decided they simply weren’t worth stocking anymore.
It wasn’t just my experience either. I regularly talk to another major seller of these products in New Zealand, and they were experiencing very similar issues with returns and broken components.
Croplands sprayers are a good alternative. They’re reasonably well made and offer a good option for the money.
My first choice, though, would be Stihl. Their sprayers are more expensive, but in my experience the quality is excellent and I've never had problems with them.
The Stihl SGA 85 is an absolute beast. It’s certainly not cheap, but it’s a seriously good bit of kit. They do a few cheaper ones but I’ve never used them so can’t comment.
@Jonny Hicks Well that's a bugger. I only have a 150m² lawn (120 out front, 30 back lawn). Not after a show lawn (if I'm honest I'd be too inconsistent in my lawn care) but would like a nice lawn.
I've been using 5L Nylex battery shoulder sprayers but just had the lid/pump separate from the bottle. Spilled about 2L of made up Grub+ & indicate where it fell - no chance of grubs in that small spot!
I find there's very little control over the spray pattern with the Nylex sprayers, it's either a wide mist or a stream. Frustrating given it's already close to a $100 sprayer, and I have two (weeds & fert in separate sprayers).
Maybe I should suck it up & get the Stihl SGA30 and get better at rinsing after use?
I'm struggling to find an inexpensive one that also isn't as useful as the cheap tat.
@Jonny Hicks thanks Jonny, I think the Stihl is probably out of my price range. I might give the Solo one ago and see how it turns out.
@Jonny Hicks for the pressure setting for foliar application, would 2.5bar be a good starting point
I just bought a Solo 414li from Mitre10. It's ok for the price, but certainly has a few small issues.
The battery does not lock in to place, so sometimes the terminals loose their connection mid spray and the pump stops working, so you have to take the sprayer off your back, open the battery hatch and push it back in.
I wrote to solo about this and their solution was to tell me to get a screwdriver and bend the terminals out on the sprayer but to be careful not to break them!
@David van Schreven hmm doesn’t sound like great advice. Could you tape the battery in place.
@KM I haven't actually tried that yet, but probably not, the issue is the hole that the battery goes in to is a bit bigger than the battery, the battery goes in horizontal and gravity pulls it down on an angle which breaks the connection.
I think the best solution would be a bit of foam cut on an angle and stuck to the battery cover door, so when you close the cover on the battery the foam pushes the battery up and in if that makes sense.
@David van Schreven you shouldn't have to put up with that issue. I'd go back to Mitre 10 and throw it at them, get another one. You might just have a dud. Disappointing suggestion from Solo 🤦🏻♂️