My first introduction to Kaletsch Rotor was at the Regina Farm Show in Regina 5K in June of 1993. I happened to notice someone I knew speaking to Reinhold Kaletsch and went over to see. Listening in to the conversation there weren't too many things I could disagree with, some claims I remember were:

a) reduced water volume

b) reduced chemical rates

c) better coverage

d) reduced wind drift.

These claims sounded interesting to me. I felt that we needed to look into this method even if only half of the claims actually worked. We had been applying chemicals to the tune of $20.00 per acre. Something better than that looked attractive to me.

Following the Farm Show weekend we returned home and began to check this option out. I called several people and began to ask serious questions about the system. In my conversation with a gentleman from Alberta he drew it to my attention that 80~ of the plant stomata are on the underside of the plant leaf. His comment was that most of our conventional spray goes on the top of the leaves This too made sense as in all the years of spraying, we had been 'raining' the chemical on to the tops of the plants. The Kaletsch Rotor method used the fans to push to spray to the underside of the leaves.

One concern that we did have was the much more chemical would be available to the 'weeds' as well as the plant we were trying to protect. weighing all of the pros and cons we decided to purchase one of these units and install it onto a 144' sprayer. At the same time we were using an 82' sprayer with windscreens. The comparison caused us to sell the 82' sprayer. We did not like the spray hitting the screens and constantly dripping off. In 1995 we also purchased a 96' free floating boom to mount onto the back of a second sprayer.

Back in the summer of 1994 a chemical dealer and I were looking at a field of lentils sprayed with Bravo. Bravo leaves a white residue on the plants. The dealer was pleased that there did not appear to be any residue and that we had excellent coverage. Using the 'usual' method we would have used 15 gal of water which would have given the 'visual' effect that we saw. Unknown to him we had only used 3 1/2 -4 gallons of water using the Rotor fans. After telling him that he was certainly pleased that the fans produced such a good effect.

Some of the problems we have encountered include the limited amount of hydraulics available on any given machine. We had to put a boost pump onto the Case 2290 to get enough power to drive the pump and the fans. This added extra cost and down time with the machine.

We also found the fans to be rather fragile. Since they are made from aluminum they bend easily and break. On my 96' free floating sprayer we have had some problems with breakage.

In high grain or an overgrown slough, the fan belts have a tendency to get knocked of f. The belts are made of a clear material and can be easily lost in the crop when they come off.

We have had some problems with plugged nozzles at 3 1/2 - 4 gallons per acre particularly when we use wettable powders. With wettable powders a certain amount of the residue gets into the nozzle body and builds up causing the nozzle to plug. We now also haul all of our spray water from town and that cuts out the slough algae that contributed to the plugging problem.

On one field we had an experience with a plugged nozzle. We had gone part way into the field spraying Reglone without the fans on and then turned them on. A few days later we noticed a strip in the field where the fans had not been used but when they were activated the strip did not show up. We concluded from that, that the fans cover for the odd plugged nozzle which would be obvious using a conventional sprayer.

On yet another field we had another experience with the working of fans. We had some fan problems so we shut them off and continued spraying. Immediately we noticed increased 'drift' in the cab of the tractor and so concluded that the fans really push the fumes into the crop not as a conventional unit.

We have come through several changes with the fans and likely will see some more. I understand that as of this winter a firm out of Saskatoon, Rake-up, will be manufacturing and marketing the fans. I hope that the service and support out of this firm will be of the same caliber as we have received in the past.