Drive-by shooting: Increasing weed treatment speeds using a skattergun

Abstract

The Epple ‘skattergun’, a relatively new weed control device, is a compressed air driven applicator for soil applied herbicides. The device is mounted on a suitable vehicle and allows the operator to ‘shoot’ measured doses of tebuthiuron pellets up to 20 metres away from the distribution point. The device was developed to increase the herbicide application speed for control of prickly acacia (Vachellia nilotica ssp. indica L. Willd. ex Del. (Mimosoideae)) and other weeds. A field trial to quantify the increased tebuthiuron pellet application speeds by tractor and buggymounted ‘skatterguns’ versus hand application of pellets from quad bikes was conducted in the Julia Creek area of north-west Queensland in 2016–2017. The trial involved the treatment of 60 × one hectare plots of varying densities of prickly acacia on Mitchell grasslands. The trial found that hand application from quad bikes was comparable to slightly faster than the ‘skattergun’ at densities less than 20 plants per hectare. However, at higher densities, a ‘scattergun’ provided significantly faster application regardless of whether it was used from a tractor or buggy. At 50, 150 and 300 plants per hectare, a buggy-based ‘skattergun’ operator could treat 81%, 111% and 133% more plants per hour than a quad bike-based operator for the same densities, respectively. The trial confirmed that the ‘skattergun’ is an efficient tebuthiuron application device that reduces labour whilst enabling significantly more prickly acacia and other weeds to be treated within rangeland and savanna environments.