Train crews to use sprayers and spreaders

Photo credit: TruGreen

Sprayers and spreaders are important pieces of equipment that contractors should want to last a long time. With that, crew members need to be properly trained in how to use this equipment.

Beau Hartman, owner of Hartman Landscaping, in Zanesville, Ohio, shared his input on how he trained his crew members to use sprayers and spreaders.

Provide supervision. No matter how experienced a new employee may be with chemical applications, make them go through the paces with you before clearing them to work independently. “We do all our own training,” Hartman says. “We have 4 acres at our shop we use for instruction. Then crew members start out doing properties under me or my ops manager. We train them how to calibrate and monitor how much coverage they’re getting.”

Practice makes perfect. Set up a spray course so crew members can demonstrate that they are able to replicate the right amount of chemical. Observe them to ensure they are not making the most common mistakes: not overlapping correctly, making uneven passes, changing operating speed or making passes too wide. “If you’re off by even a foot, that’s a lot,” Hartman says.

The author is a freelance writer based in the Northeast.