I Got to thinking about this after reading the other thread about killing unwanted vegetation. Has anyone on here ever sprayed diesel fuel from a sprayer for a four wheeler. These ATV sprayers have electrical powered motors and I just wondered if you could do it, or would it ignite the mist from the tank. I have never sprayed diesel through one of these, but have sprayed a lot of diesel through a PTO powered pump on a tractor. Lemme know if you can safely spray the diesel through the ATV sprayer if you have done so.

Diesel is hard to light with a propane torch so I wouldnt sweat it.

Diesel is not going to ignite from an electric motor. It isn't combustible like gas.

I wouldn't worry about the diesel igniting.
My experience with spraying weeds with diesel has not been favorable. It will make them die back quickly, but in my experience it does not kill them.
I have about a 1/4 acre of mature pines in my front yard that I try to keep the weeds killed in and I've sprayed them with many different concoctions (diesel, diesel/gas combo, ect) and gly has worked the best.

I would check with the pump manufacturer. I wouldn't worry about the four wheeler igniting it, but the sprayer pump might be a different story.

Oh, and liquid diesel is indeed hard to light, but get it going in a mist, and it lights up easily. Diesel is a combustible liquid, meaning it will ignite above 140°F, whereas gasoline is a flammable liquid, which will ignite below 140°F. Get diesel going in a vapor/mist cloud, and it'll fire right up.

I mix diesel and gas at 3/2 mixture and use my 4-wheeler sprayer to control burn with.

I think you mean it is not flammable like gas. It is combustible, as that is why we have diesel engines.

Wonder how cutting concentrated Roundup or other weed killers with diesel rather than water would work? Had a neighbor bring me a mix like that from where he worked and this stuff had weeds curling up in ten minutes. Lasted quite awhile, too. He moved before I could find out what the weed killer was.

The main problem I have with spraying diesel is then your sprayer and most likely you smell like diesel. Yuck. I love the smell of it post burn but HATE getting it on me.

This comment is not directed at anyone using diesel to initiate a control burn. If you're using it in lieu of an herbicide, please be mindful that a small percentage of everything we put on the ground ends up in a ditch, which ends up in a creek, which ends up in a river.... Most pollution is not the result one person or company dumping massive amounts of pollutants. The majority of our pollution is from lots of people contributing a little bit each. Please think before you do stuff like this. Herbicides have recommended rates for a reason. Everything over that amount is either unneeded or has the likelihood of ending up in our waterways or drinking water.

^^ This. Nonpoint Source Pollution is a cause of water quality problems, affecting drinking water, fisheries and other wildlife.

I would rather have a dose of diesel get in the water than a dose of Arsenal.

With that being said, I spray both out of my Moultrie ATV sprayer and have never had any trouble. Typically I am spraying cogongrass and use the following dose:

-25 Gallon Sprayer
-4oz per gallon on 41% gly with surfactant
-1/2oz of arsenal
- 1 gallon of diesel

It kills anything green that it touches, and it will stay dead for months. Only downfall to diesel is you have to rinse the tank several times to get the residue out of it. I wouldn't recommend it if you use the same tank for liquid fertilizer.

I found out that either the diesel or the gas mixed with it would ruin one of the pumps that come on a plastic 15 gallon sprayer. I hook up a fuel pump from the parts house when I'm spraying diesel or gas from the tank. When it is just a gly mixture I use the supplied pump.

Second on the objection to diesel as a carrier because of the potential for contamination and runoff. Having attended several invasive species meetings here and in TN, the general consensus is that diesel gives you such a rapid "burndown" that the plant dies back before the roots fully absorb the poison, and is therefore countereffective. Use a good surfectant rather than diesel. Personally, I don't want a dose of anything in the water. I hear maybe 10% of the bullfrogs on Bankhead that I heard growing up, and that's back when they were spraying DDT. All these herbicides are hard on amphibians. I know it's hard to both get good results and be careful, but as hunters we're supposed to be conservationists.