Get Winter-Ready with Young's Equipment

With freezing temperatures just around the corner, now is the perfect time to winterize your sprayer. Proper winterization helps protect pumps, valves, plumbing, flow meters, and boom components from costly freeze damage and ensures your machine is ready to go when spring arrives.

For the best protection, we recommend using Young's Equipment Sprayer Antifreeze, which provides freeze protection down to -50°C. As a general guideline, use 1 litre of antifreeze for every foot of sprayer boom to ensure adequate volume reaches all plumbing and boom sections.

Take care of your sprayer now, and it will be ready to go next spring.

Timely application during those tight spray windows every year is a big reason to own your own spray equipment, and once it’s time to go next spring you want your sprayer to be ready to go. Before you tuck your piece of equipment away for the winter, some maintenance will serve you well. We suggest to not delay winterizing your sprayer in order to avoid potentially high costs and frustration about time consuming repairs next spring. The right maintenance now will protect your sprayer from damage caused by the freezing temperatures during late fall and winter to help improve its longevity and resale value.

Winterizing Your Sprayer

1. Empty the tank of any remaining product.
2. Thoroughly rinse the tank, plumbing, boom sections, and induction system.
3. Clean all filters, strainers, and nozzle screens.
4. Drain as much water as possible from the entire sprayer system.
5. Add Young's Equipment Sprayer Antifreeze to the tank at a rate of 1 litre per foot of boom.
6. Run the pump and circulate antifreeze throughout the system.
7. Open each boom section until antifreeze is visible from every nozzle.
8. Cycle all valves, agitation systems, rinse systems, and auxiliary plumbing to ensure complete protection.
9. Inspect hoses, fittings, nozzles, and filters for wear or damage.
10. Complete any recommended maintenance and store the sprayer for the winter.

Here are our tips and recommendations for long-term storage of your sprayer:

• Clean and wash the entire sprayer to remove dirt, debris, oil, grease, chemicals and fertilizer. Once tanks have been cleaned, nozzles, screens and filters should be removed and cleaned separately in a bucket containing water and the recommended cleaning agent.
• Always remember to read the product specimen label for the last product or chemical used and adhere to personal protective equipment requirements when cleaning.
• Touch up any chips, scratches and rusted areas with the appropriate protective paint to reduce corrosion.
• Lubricate exposed areas, such as hydraulic cylinder rods, to minimize corrosion.
• Fill the fuel tank and add a conditioner. The conditioner will stabilize the fuel for extended storage periods, and a full tank minimizes condensation. Also, drain the Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) tank, if applicable.
• Change engine oil and other lubricants. Follow the operator’s manual guidelines for appropriate fluid and filter changes.
• Clean the product system flow meter.
• Remove spray tips and nozzle bodies from the nozzle body assemblies and store separately. Maintaining the sprayer’s nozzle is imperative to achieving the best spray performance, and the cost to do so is nominal compared with the cost of chemical used. Spray nozzle tips can wear over time, with dry chemicals in suspension causing higher rates of wear than liquid chemicals. That’s why it’s important to check the nozzle flow rates, look for potential problems and confirm the accuracy of the sprayer. After you have rinsed and cleaned your sprayer, look for mismatched and worn nozzles and damaged nozzle screens. Replace nozzles if needed and make sure to remove nozzle tips and nozzle bodies from the nozzle body assemblies. Check spray tips for wear and replace as necessary.
• Winterize the product system plumbing. Thoroughly flush the entire system, including fence row nozzles and foam marker systems, if equipped. Run Young’s Equipment Sprayer Antifreeze through the system (1 litre per foot boom length) to eliminate the possibility of freezing. Do not use liquid fertilizer, which can cause corrosion.
• Charge batteries and then remove and store them in a safe area.
• Remove rate controllers and electronic displays. Cold weather storage can cause issues with display screens.
• Properly inflate tires and check on them occasionally through the winter. A tire left flat for an extended period can be ruined.

A small investment in winterization today can prevent expensive repairs and unnecessary downtime next season. Young's Equipment Sprayer Antifreeze is specifically designed to protect critical sprayer components and keep your equipment safe through even the coldest prairie winters.

If you need parts, fluids or filters to get this important task done, give your local Young’s Equipment branch a call. We stock everything to get you going.

If you'd rather leave these essential tasks to the experts, now is the perfect time to schedule service. Sprayer winterization is a key component of the Young's Equipment Winter Inspection Program, helping ensure your equipment is properly protected from freeze damage and ready to perform when spring returns.

Contact your local Young's Equipment branch to book your winter inspection or to pick up your antifreeze before freeze-up. We look forward to helping you protect your investment and prepare for the season ahead.

No matter how you choose to approach sprayer winterization, it’s important that you do it before bone-chilling temperatures settle in. Remember: If you take care of your application equipment, it will help you take care of your crops season after season.