DIY lawn and garden tools and gadgets have become very popular over the past few years. One reason for the DIY surge is that home owners are starting to see the monetary advantages of caring and maintaining their own lawns, gardens, and plants. An incredibly useful tool for the DIY lawn, landscaping, and gardening crowd is a sprayer. Sprayers allow you to apply any liquid solution such as fertilizers, pesticides, and weed killers around your property. Generally, sprayers will be manual pumps or battery powered. Battery powered sprayers are more expensive, but they offer more features than the manual variety and have become a go-to gadget in the lawn and garden industry.

Considering a sprayer but wondering which one is right for you? There is no right or wrong choice. The choice of sprayers depends on your needs and wants when it comes to lawn care, gardening, and growing. Those with smaller properties, a few hanging plants, or a couple of flower beds may be satisfied with a hand held pump sprayer. Those with larger properties, gardens, or more elaborate landscaping should consider a battery powered sprayer. A lawn and garden sprayer that is battery operated will allow you spray continuously without any manual pumping, making it efficient and convenient for more extensive spray projects. Battery powered sprayers come in a variety of sizes and styles. The battery powered backpack sprayer allows you to wear the tank on your back like a hiking backpack. A battery powered cart sprayer sits on a base, has wheels, and can be pushed and pulled like a grocery-style cart.

For the comparisons in this article, we will discuss three different types of sprayers:

• Hand Held Pump Sprayer
• Battery Operated Backpack Sprayer
• Battery Operated Cart Sprayer

 

What is a Hand Held Pump Sprayer?

Hand pump sprayers are great for watering or applying fertilizers to hanging flower baskets or spot treating your lawn. They are generally a bit smaller than a battery powered sprayer, but not necessarily. They need to be pumped to pressurize the tank which will then allow the liquid to emit from the nozzle in the form of spray.

Important features and benefits of a hand pump sprayer:

• Available in small tank sizes of .25 gallons to 3 or 4 gallons, and sometimes larger
• A side strap, so you can sling them over your shoulder
• Compact and lightweight
• Used to spray a variety of liquids
• Liquids are poured into a metal or plastic basin with a pump/handle
• When the lid is on tightly and the handle is pumped, the tank will pressurize to allow spray

How to use a hand pump sprayer:

• To operate, you manually push and pull a handle up and down to pressurize the tank
• Once the pushing and pulling becomes difficult, the tank is fully pressurized
• After pressurizing the tank, you are ready to spray
• Hold the handle and squeeze the trigger to emit the solution spray
• Spray by squeezing the handle on the nozzle and expect a spray strength of about 40 PSI
• When the spray slows down, you will need to pump again to add more pressure to the tank  

 

What is a Battery Powered Backpack Sprayer?

If taking care of an average to larger lawn and garden describes your situation, you may want to consider a battery powered backpack sprayer. These sprayers are generally larger than a hand pump sprayer and backpack sprayers are worn on your back as the name implies. Additionally, battery powered indicates that instead of manual pumping, the sprayer has a chargeable battery. After the battery is charged, the spray is automatic for up to a few hours on a single charge. This makes spraying larger lawns, gardens, and plants easier and quicker. The lawn enthusiast or garden guru who wants to treat their grass, veggies, and crops with fertilizer, pesticide, insecticide, and so on, will appreciate the diversity of a backpack sprayer.


Important features and benefits of a backpack sprayer:

• Charge the battery and no manual pumping
• Continuous spray for up to several hours
• Backpack/shoulder straps allow you to wear it on your back leaving your hands free
• No cords or wires
• Provides even spraying
• Often comes with several different nozzles for varying spray patterns
• Delivers anywhere from 20 to 100 PSI

How to use a backpack sprayer:

• Charge the battery
• Prime the pump by filling with water, adding a little dish soap, and spraying it through the tank
• Add water to the tank, choose the liquid solution you need and mix
• Dial the knob to your chosen amount of pressure
• Squeeze the valve handle and lock the trigger, if possible, for continuous spray

 

What is a Battery Operated Cart Sprayer?

A cart sprayer is essentially a yard sprayer on wheels. Cart sprayers have larger tanks and are perfect for large lawns and extensive gardens. They are also great for anyone who would rather push or pull the tank as opposed to wearing it like a backpack sprayer. These larger capacity sprayers make an excellent lawn and garden sprayer with wheels that can easily be maneuvered around your property like a shopping cart style vehicle. Some cart sprayers have long hoses so that you can ‘park’ the sprayer, reel out the hose with the wand and valve handle attached and spray wherever you need. It’s possible to push a yard sprayer with wheels to any location, then using the hose, walk where you need and spray while the cart sits stable.


Important features and benefits of a cart sprayer:

• Serves as a yard sprayer with wheels
• Serves as a garden sprayer with wheels
• Effortlessly wheeled/maneuvered over any terrai
• Has a large tank capacity and powerful battery allowing hours of continuous spray
• Can be used to apply any type of liquid (fertilizers, pesticides, insecticides, etc.)
• Ideal for home use as well as commercial and green house use
• Large tank capacity

How to use a cart sprayer (they are very similar in use to the backpack sprayer):

• Charge the battery
• Prime the pump by filling with water, adding a little dish soap, and spraying it through the tank
• Add water to the tank, choose the liquid solution you need and mix
• Dial the knob to your chosen amount of pressure
• Push/pull the cart where you need to spray
• Squeeze the valve handle and lock the trigger, if possible, for continuous spray

 

Recommendations:

All three sprayers are solid choices depending on your needs and your personal style and preferences. If you are looking for something a little larger than a hand pump sprayer, but you can’t decide between a backpack and a cart sprayer, consider the HD5000 Battery Powered Cart Sprayer with Reel from PetraTools. This unique battery powered sprayer doubles as both a cart sprayer and a backpack sprayer. It will satisfy all your spraying needs. You’ll love the fact that PetraTools is an American, family-owned company with unprecedented customer service and a 100% satisfaction guarantee on all their products.

The HD5000 Battery Powered Cart Sprayer with Reel is a superior sprayer for many reasons:

• Long-lasting, rechargeable, 12AH lead-acid battery
• Includes a fully automatic AC charger
• 6-8 hours of continuous spray time on a single battery charge
• Dispenses up to 200 gallons of solutio
• Adjustable pressure knob
• Custom fitted cart offers superior mobility
• 6.5-gallon translucent tank with measurement markings
• Steel frame
• Large, all-terrain wheels
• 100-foot hose
• Sturdy reel for quickly dispensing or reeling in the hose
• Includes 5 different nozzles
• Wide mouth opening
• Comfortable, padded backpack straps
• HD Wand
• Easy drain tank design
• Valve handle with locking trigger mechanism
• Wand clip on side of tank
• Sprays any liquid solution easily, quickly, and evenly

The PetraTools HD5000 is the ultimate combination of a Battery Powered Cart Sprayer and a Battery Powered Backpack Sprayer. There really isn’t much you can’t do with this amazing spraying machine.

Conclusion:
If you are ready to start your very own DIY lawn, garden, and growing journey, one of the first tools you are going to need is a quality sprayer. Decide what size you need and whether you want a battery powered or manual pump design. Regardless of your choice, easy and continuous spraying is going to revolutionize the way you spray!