First off you need a hydroseeding unit. For residential work 300 gallon or bigger would be my recommendation. No matter what size you get you will wish you had bought the next size up.

You need hydroseeding mulch which comes in three types. One is made of recycled newprint. One is made of wood byproducts, another type is flakes which makes it easy to use. There are also blends of the wood and paper. There are a few mulches made from other products. One from corn, one from cotton, and one from grass. I would not recommend them for starters. The mulch has dye in it. It is what makes the mix green and it will keep the seed moist to speed up germination. In your area any of the mulches will work.

Then you need a tackifer. It is like a glue and keeps the mulch and seed from washing away. It is most commonly called a PAM tackifer, made from Polyacrilimide.

You need seed. Nothing special here, about 7-8 pounds per 1000 feet that you want to cover.

You need fertilzer. Get something in a starter fertizler with a high phosphorus content.

That is basically your mix. There are other things you can add such as a material that holds water in case the lawn is not watered as often as it should be, fibers to help hold on a hillside, growth stimulants. One of the trends that is getting a lot of interst right now is organic hydroseeding. It is a premium service that can be very profitable

Most mixes are mulch, seed, fertilizer and tackifer.

 

You might also find some helpful information at the hydroseeding association website. (International Associaition of Hydroseeding Professionals) www.hydroseeding.org

 

Thanks for your help. What brands besides Finn are good? What about the pump for getting water into the tank? Do you use regular seed or is it a special seed for the units?

 

The seeds don't have to be anything special. Just regular grass seed. Of course buy it from a good supplier of turf supplies.

As far as machines, all the machines made these days are pretty good. Finn makes an excellent unit. The other manufacturers listed alphabetically are

Aqua Mulcher (TGMI)
Bowie,
Easy Lawn,
Kincaide,
Turbo Turf
Turfmaker

There are a few more that are not widely sold. They include
Eden
Reinco
HydroTerra

You can do an internet search for info on any of those. AquaMulcher, Bowie, Eden and Turfmaker make paddle agitated machines. Easy Lawn, Turbo Turf and Reinco make both paddle and jet agitated units and Hydro Terra is jet.

 

Ok so is a paddle machine better or worse then a jet? Do the machines come with a refill pump?

 

Both types are good. Both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Jet machines are lower in cost, easier to use, one man operations, faster clean up, lighter and easier to transport, lower maintenance. They do not do as well with 100% wood mulches and BFM's (for serious erosion control projects) as paddle machines.

Paddle machines are able to handle a little thicker slurry, are able to use any products including BFM's. It is often possible to load a full bale rather than breaking it up some.

Not all jet machines or all paddle machines will work the same. All jet machines use a centrifugal pump. The larger the machine the larger the engine and pump that is necessary. Generally in each size you will see a selection of engines and pumps. The lower HP ones work fine but the ones with larger engines will mix faster and spray further. You are probably looking at an investment of $ 4000.00 and up for a jet agitated machine.

Paddle machines come with two kinds of pumps. Centrifugal and Gear (positive displacement) Finn is primarily centrifugal. Bowie, Kincaid and Turfmaker are primarily a gear pump. Easy Lawn and Turbo Turf offer both. A centrifugal pump is a little better for tower work. They are also lower maintenance. A gear pump is better for long hose lengths and they do require more maintenance. Finn and Turbo Turf & Easy Lawn have reversible hydraulic drive available which lets you reverse the paddles if they get wedged. Turbo Turf has a paddle unit with a plastic tank for easier clean up. Probably for a paddle machine you will start about $ 9,000.00

As far as the water filling some like Turfmaker and Kincade have the pond fill standard (you may need to buy the hose) Others have it as an option. Sometimes it is easier and better to just have a little pump that you carry with you. I prefer to do it that way. Part of the reason is you can carry the pump close to the water source which makes priming much easier. Sometimes it is hard to get your unit close to the water and you can burn the seal out of your pump trying to get it primed.

 

Ok thanks for the info. Looks like to start I will get a jet machine. Also how many sq ft can a gallon cover? Is it still 300 lbs of seed per acre on flat ground?

 

A 300 gallon unit will cover about 4000 sq ft +/- A 500 will cover about 6600 sq feet per load.

Yes, 300 pounds of seed to the acre should be about perfect. I usually go 25 pounds in a 300 or about 275 pounds per acre.

 

A 300 gallon unit will cover about 4000 sq ft +/- A 500 will cover about 6600 sq feet per load.

Yes, 300 pounds of seed to the acre should be about perfect. I usually go 25 pounds in a 300 or about 275 pounds per acre.

Are you a salesman for turbo-turf? your information was very good and partial if so. I have a turf-maker 550 with 500 gal. aux. tank mounted on a trailer.
Mike

 

Next question is can an exsiting lawn be hydroseeded as if you were overseeding?

 

Are you a salesman for turbo-turf? your information was very good and partial if so. I have a turf-maker 550 with 500 gal. aux. tank mounted on a trailer.
Mike

Close Mike, actually I am the owner of Turbo Turf. Thanks for saying my information was good and impartial. If I post somewhere like here or over at the hydro seeding association I try to do it to share any tiny bits of knowledge that might be floating around in my empty head and not to sell any units. I see a forum like this as a place to help people and if what I sell is not the right unit for someone I would prefer to steer them to the unit that is.

I am happy to hear you have a TurfMaker. It is an excellent unit and an auxiliary tank is a great way to make any smaller machine seed like a bigger machine. I use one myself frequently. If you have no objection I am going to talk about nurse tanks a little because it may help some others.

One of the slowest parts of hydro seeding is filling your tank and it probably sometimes seems slower than it actually is. Whenever I can I like to fill from a lake or stream or use a hydrant. Often that is not possible and I must use the customers water to refill. All my customers seem OK with this.

One way to really speed up your job is to use an auxiliary tank. Basically you can keep the water running all the time. In other words you fill your unit and while you are mixing and spraying you run the hose into the auxiliary tank. When it is time for a new load you pump the water from the auxiliary tank, add your materials top off your unit and then just stick the garden hose back into the auxiliary tank. Since you are never shutting the water off you are maximizing your seeding time. You can actually seed as fast with a 300 gallon machine (or a 550) as you could with a 1000 gallon unit since water is the limiting factor. Of course you can also haul more water with you on the way to the job but I don't find that aspect of it speeds me up that much.

OK, on to New Horizons other question. Yes, you can overseed a lawn and do spot repairs. I have done a ton if it and it works great. You don't usually need to do any prep work. Just thin down your mulch a little so it does not hang up on the existing grass. Usually what you see is some areas that are thin and some areas that are patches of dead grass. You can overspray the areas that are thin and follow the contours of the dead patches perfectly. It is really easy. I do prefer to do this kind of job in the spring and fall when the ground is softer and has more moisture and try to stay away from the hottest part of summer when the ground is rock hard.

New Horizons or anyone else in hydro seeding. I am going to make one other suggestion and it does not relate to machines. If you do get into hydro seeding take a hard look at joining the hydro seeding association. They give you a free listing on what is probably the most popular spot on the Internet to find hydro seeders and most of the members get tons of jobs from that listing, often more than they get from a yellow page ad that costs them 10 times more. I have seen people get 85% of their jobs from their $ 100.00 cost of membership. If you want to check it out the associations web site is www.hydroseeding.org.

 

I have been hearing some good information on your machines. its sounds like your co. has been stepping forward on technology. Yes i could afford a 70k truck just to haul a 1500 ga. machine so i went the route i did. I have both mounted on a 12kgvw trailer that starts every time. I do residental most yards average 4-6 tanks. I have been using a product from profile called jump start on some of my top end yards, what is your opinion of this product. I enjoyed your posts that you tried to educate instead of selling your product. This will gain you business. Good luck with your business.
Mike

 

Thanks Turboguy you information is very helpful.

 

Thanks Mike, I appreciate the compliments. We do try to keep improving them and try to listen to the ideas and comments of our customers. It is part of the reason I like to do a lot of hydroseeding myself. Many years I seed as much as 2 million sq feet myself and using something sometimes gives you good ideas about improving your product.

Jump start. I think it is a very good product. The only complaint I have with it is that it is pretty expensive. We sell some of profiles products but dropped the jump start just because I didn't thnk people would pay the price but I have to say what we had sold our pretty quickly. I do have one bag left that we have on our clearance sale at about half the regular price just in case you are interested. I also have abaout a half dozen bags of their previous growth stimulant on the sale at a great price.

At the end of this year we will be evaluating our supplies line and may bring it back into our line.

New Horizons, You are welcome. If you get more questions I will be happy to give you any help I can.

 

Thanks Mike, I appreciate the compliments. We do try to keep improving them and try to listen to the ideas and comments of our customers. It is part of the reason I like to do a lot of hydroseeding myself. Many years I seed as much as 2 million sq feet myself and using something sometimes gives you good ideas about improving your product.

Jump start. I think it is a very good product. The only complaint I have with it is that it is pretty expensive. We sell some of profiles products but dropped the jump start just because I didn't thnk people would pay the price but I have to say what we had sold our pretty quickly. I do have one bag left that we have on our clearance sale at about half the regular price just in case you are interested. I also have abaout a half dozen bags of their previous growth stimulant on the sale at a great price.

At the end of this year we will be evaluating our supplies line and may bring it back into our line.

New Horizons, You are welcome. If you get more questions I will be happy to give you any help I can.

pm me i am interested in buying your jump start.
Mike

 

Ok Mike, I will send you a PM

 

I am also considering purchasing a unit. Thanks for the info. What are some other things a guy should be considering when purchasing a unit.
- primarily for residential use.
- 5,000 sq. ft.
- parked in street
- 200' reach
- 1 man?? & my 9 yr. old son operation.

I guess I see hose reels, hose wrapped around units, and what is, in your experience, "worth the money". Also, trailer size considering adding a "nurse tank" . What additional nozzles, etc. are necessary?
In your experience Turboguy, what is the "best" setup (out of your lineup) that would meet these goals.
By the way, it's exceedingly refreshing to see the "top dog" out doing "real" work!! Keep it up!

 

Hi Dirt Boy,

Thanks for your good questions. I am going to try to answer them in a general information way because I really just want to try and share any help and information about hydro seeding in general and not to promote my particular products. I have a feeling the site would prefer it that way too. The hydro seeding business has always treated me well and I have tried to do what I can in any way to help people.

The situations you describe are pretty common for people doing residential installs. Most of the residential jobs I have done may be 5000 sq feet or as much as 12,000. When I get into the upscale neighborhoods they may run a half acre or sometimes up to 2 acres. I have a feeling yours in Nebraska will be much the same.

For anyone looking to get into the business for the first time I would usually suggest something in the 300 gallon to 500 gallon range. I think a lot of people getting into hydro seeding have a pretty good idea that they will like it and have enough business to justify and usually they will find that is true. With a unit that size your investment is not enormous and you have a unit that is very capable of doing most any size job. I have done as much as 14 acre jobs with a 300 gallon unit but if all my jobs were that size I would want a bigger machine. Once they are in it a few years they may find they want a bigger machine. Often they find there is a lot of business and the bigger machines can do jobs faster with less time filling.

With anyones jet machine the bigger the tank the more mixing power you need. Someone with a 300 gallon can get along fine with a 13 HP engine. Someone wanting lets say a 500 gallon can get along with a 13 but there is enough improvement in the mixing that I would usually recommend they go up to an 18 hp and larger pump no matter whose unit they are looking at.

As far as hose, I find that 150 feet of hose lets me do 95% of the jobs I get. You can spray out another 40-50 feet past the nozzle if you need to. The bad part about using 200 feet is that you have to deal with that hose on every job and will only need it 5% of the time. What I usually do is go with 150' and carry the extra 50' with me when I will need it. It makes handling the hose a lot easier.

As far as hose reels. They look nice and they can be handy. Personally I don't like them. The main reasons I feel that way are that as the fluid passes through a hose reel you have three bends it must pass through. Each of those is a potential place it can clog and any restriction in a hose such as a bend will reduce the power by 6.2% per bend so you are looking at an 18% power loss using a hose reel. The other thing I don't like about them is lets say you have 200' of hose on a hose reel and you have a job where you need to spray someones front lawn. That hose wrapped tightly on the hose reel either needs to be totally unwrapped or you are going to have a major power loss from all the wrappings. Hose wrapped on a side mounted hose holder is big loops and you can just unwrap what you need. In our own case we could make more money suggesting hose reels to everyone but we try hard to give people what is best for them and try to discourage them as much as we can.

Probably for a one man operation there could be some advantages with a unit with a centrifugal pump. I find units with a gear pump just a little harder to use and a little trickier to use but I do have a lot more time on our units which anything you use all the time is easier to use. I know I do 85% of my seeding alone and have no difficulty. Probably any of the units by any manufacture in that size can be run by one man. I think the bigger units are better with some help. I have lots of women hydro seeders that run the units by themselves so that is no problem. Actually I enjoy doing it and find it fun. You may even find your 9 year old spraying out some loads alone. (with you there to supervise of course.) I have seen guys buy units for their high school age son to use as a part time and summer time business for them. One person is not a problem.

Most manufactures include all the nozzles you will need with the unit. There is one that most use 95% of the time. In our case it is an 80400 which means it has an 80 degree spray and a volume of 40 GPM at 30 PSI. (the actual PSI on one of our units in the 300 gallon size is more than twice that but it is how they rate the nozzles).

The only other nozzle I use a lot is the straight one. That is only because I am lazy. Sometimes if I drag the hose around the right side of the house by putting that nozzle in I can get the opposite corner of the back yard and not have to drag the hose around the other side of the house to reach that opposite corner.

Usually a double axle 7000 GVW trailer will handle any units in the 300-500 gallon range. Those trailers are often fairly inexpensive and it leaves you some room for supplies.

What I use for a nurse tank with a 300 gallon unit is a 200 gallon PCO tank. (rectangular sprayer tank). What I find is that if I am running a hose into that while I am spraying out my previous load it works about right. It usually is not quite full but if I pump that over and start adding materials with the hose now in my unit that my tank is full at the same time my materials are in and I can switch the hose back to my nurse tank and start spraying. Basically I never have to shut the water off and I have no down time.

If you are using a unit in the 500 gallon range you might want to go a little bigger tank and may have a small amount of down time but then again sometimes you can run two garden hoses to your tank and perhaps again have no downtime.

Sorry for the long post. If I forgot to answer anything remind me. I hope the ideas I have mentioned are usable for anyone using an brand of machine.

 

Thanks Turboguy! Appreciate your help, not sure what I'll do but I'm sure lookin'

Regards

 

You are welcome. I am sure whatever you do it will be a good decsion. If you get any more questions I will be happy to help any way I can.

 

each their own.
i live in a small town. i have a jet machine i ran for a year. then a local guy was doing lawns at 4 cents a foot, so i advertised at .10, and subbed to him. he has a small, antique old mixer with a couple of nurse tanks.

now, he has raised to 8 cents a foot, and then he annoyed me, so i will be doing my own for a bit.

the jet probably shouldn't be used on 30 degree slopes. but i don't have many lawns at 30 degrees.
the jet is quick, it is simple, there is only the engine and a pump for moving parts, and it don't rust out.

i figure my 750 gallon jet pump is a quarter the cost of a mechanical pump and it always seems to work.

30 degree slopes are rare.

 

Thanks for the comments. There are some products that will work in a jet machine just fine when someone gets steep banks. One is envirotrol BFM (Bonded Fiber Matrix) As with any hydroseeding unit using a BFM it is probably better to apply it in two layers with the seed in the first layer if possible. The other I use a lot is locking fibers which are 1/2" long kinked nylon fibers that blend evenly in the mix. I have done some very steep banks using the locking fibers and always had good results.

 

I'm interested in doing liquid fert and bio weed & feed (green guardian) applications starting next season so I've been looking at various tank sprayer setups. I've been toying with the idea of buying a small hydroseeding setup so I could take on some small hydroseed jobs. It seems like there might be a market for small repair type jobs that the larger operations cant do cost effectively. How well would a jet agitations system work for liquid fert. appliations.

 

i think i read every word in this entire thread im going to look into hydro seeding more i sub all my stuff out to guy that does it for $.04 a square foot

 

I think there would be two schools of thought on that Tom. One would be if you can make good money and do nothing but make a phone call there is not much wrong with that.

I tend to subscribe to the other school that thinks if he can make good money at $ .04 you can gain both a nice increase in your profitability plus control in that you don't have to worry if he will be available when you need him you would have your machine ready to go as soon as the lawn was prepped. You would have control of materials and all aspects of the job.

I never like to portray hydro seeding as a get rich quick scheme. It is not, but is is very profitable and you can benefit in many ways by doing your own. You can get into it without a big investment and get one of the better returns on time and capital invested. Best of luck.