Atomizer

Work in the garden

Equipment needed

It is certain that, like all hobbies and activities, even working in the garden requires its essential tools, those tools without which we cannot even begin work. Fortunately, in the case of the «green thumb» hobby (or gardening), the basic tools are simple, cheap and widespread, also because they have been the same for more than a century: spade, hoe, rake, wheelbarrow, shovel and little other are the same tools that our great-grandparents used on their land, the shape and material remaining unchanged until today. So many people have a lot of chances to find themselves at home, in the garage or in the attic, some of these tools, maybe just to be dusted and ready for use. All this means that these tools, wanting to buy them new or having the need to do so, have an almost negligible purchase price in comparison to their importance and to what they allow us to do in our garden. Saying all this to some attentive reader, the doubt could arise as to why these tools have not been caught by the vortex of technological evolution; in fact the doubt is legitimate and in any case it is not true that they have not been taken, but there was so little need that their «mechanized» evolutions have been created and are used exclusively in industrial crops, on a very large scale.

Atomizer

One of the mechanized tools for working the land that has practically the sole purpose of industrial agriculture is the atomizer. Usually the threshing machines are built on a large scale for the fields and in the small one for gardens and small estates, and the same happens for all other tools of the kind, such as the motor hoe, the lawn mower, etc. The atomizer no, it has an uncommon size (about a truck) and is used in large and economically strong crops. Its task is to pulverize and spray huge quantities of water mixed with fertilizers and medicines useful for protecting, treating and growing many types of crops. Its shape is about that of a concrete mixer truck, with the huge tank containing the product to be distributed and a system of fans and nozzles to be able to shoot it with force both to the right and to the left of the truck itself. In fact, the truck usually parades between the rows of cultivation, spreading what it contains both to the right and to the left, saving energy, time and manpower exponentially.

Uses and costs

From the description of the sprayer made previously, we understand how it is a machine for a large industrialized company, therefore it is used for profitable crops and with large sales numbers; as first examples we can report the vine, the olive tree and other fruit plants. The important thing is the layout of the crop, which must have corridors large enough for the sprayer to pass and above all to make it reach every corner of the crop. Obviously, for something that is specific to large and powerful companies, the cost can only be challenging and almost prohibitive in the case of mere mortals like us; we speak, meaning a new product, at figures close to one hundred thousand euros, including tank trucks and distribution systems; Luckily, given that few companies could afford such an expense, especially in this period, the second-hand market is particularly fervent and absolutely capable of offering good opportunities. Speaking instead of the costs necessary to keep the tool in good condition, one should not worry too much: modern design has as its fundamental point the use that is made of a product, therefore knowing that it will never have to tread highways or reach one hundred kilometers. time, the design concept sacrifices performance to ensure reliability and speed of repair, especially for the distribution system.