Mesquite control

Looking at buying a field sprayer to spray mesquites at my place. How many gallons /sprayer size should I buy and how many mid size plants can I expect to cover based on the gallons/size of the sprayer?

How big is your place
do you have a tractor, SXS or 4 wheeler
How thick are the mesquite trees

You should be able to get by with a 25 gallon unit.
I spray Remedy to control mine.

Yeah, I have a 25 gallon sprayer, but have found it much easier just to use my backpack sprayer on mesquite. I can’t get as close with the 25 gallon on Mule or tractor, so end up taking much more time to do same area. Using 3 gal mix of Remedy and diesel, I can spray an acre or so in an hour or two. I also get a better kill cuz I am more focused.

I have noticed this year that I am getting some regrowth this in areas that were cleared last year, but it is easy to get to them now and 3 gallons will knock out several acres of regrowth. It is an ongoing battle.

There ain’t no way a 3 gallon sprayer would work for me; way too small. But if it’s 5 acres with 10 bushes, that’s fine.

Try Remedy and Reclaim mixed with water and dish soap. I got the same kill as with Remedy and diesel, it was cheaper and and a plus not using high dollar diesel. I use a 25 gallon sprayer in the back of my Mule. Been doing this for many years and it works great.

Thanks for the suggestion, but do you mean "Remedy OR Reclaim"? Surely not both?

Yes, mix both together. I believe it's 2oz of each per gallon of water but I'll have to check. I use that and picloram for cactus and Roundup for weeds so I don't remember off the top of my head the different mix ratios for each. They sorta run together. I'll check the next time I go into my shop. Also about 8oz of dish soap for 25 gallons.

I use this mix at a rate of 0.8 oz of each/gal water or equates to ~2.5 oz, of each/3 gal. water and I used "Induce" surfactant. This worked good foliar applicated to small mesquite. I use the remedy/diesel sprayed on the bases/trunks of bigger mesquite.

I was using the generic formulation of Reclaim and I think it is called Pyramid if I remember correctly.

Here is a tip:

add a few drops blue food coloring to the tank if you spray with a hand wand, this way you don't spray the same bushes/trees over and over

I use 15oz of each for 25 gallons, plus 6-8oz of dish soap for surfactant.

I’m just looking to spot spray. It’s about 240 acres but not thick mesquites just small bushes and sprout ups.

That's a good tip. Thanks.

Power pellets work pretty well.

Sendero is newer chemical from Dow for leaf spraying. Takes the place of the reclaim/remedy mix, as it requires no chemical mixing and is supposed to have a higher kill rate. Mixes with water. Around $170/gallon but makes around 100 gallons of spray. Recommend use of seed oil or surfactant to help stick to leaves. Can only be sprayed at correct times of year (late spring early summer). Dye also helps.

Remedy and diesel for basal spraying can be done year round. Backpack is the way to go. I use less Remedy than recommended and still get great results.

Sendero is the Remedy and Reclaim already mixed. They charge you a lot of extra money for mixing it. Save yourself some money and buy them separate and mix them yourself. I just bought a gallon of Remedy and Reclaim for $206, that's two gallons total.

we use sendero when using airplanes but it has a pretty tight window for good success for spot spot spray we mix 1 part remedy to 4 parts diesel and just spray bottom 12 inches of trunk and can apply any time with great success just time consuming

Sendero is not technically the same as a mix of Reclaim and Remedy. Sendero is a mix of Aminopyralid 23.4% and Clopyralid (Reclaim) 5.8%. Remedy is Triclopyr, not Aminopyralid. Dow/Corteva claims 17% better kill rates after 2 years with Sendero vs R&R. There is no doubt mixing Reclaim and Remedy as you do will be successful, as that was the "go to" Brushbusters standard for years, but that mixture is not the same as Sendero.

Aminopyralid (Milestone) is $355/gallon. This price difference of $355 for Aminopyralid and $75 for Remedy/Triclopyr would also show that they are not the same chemical.

To your point about cost difference: 2 gallons of Sendero will cost around $340. 1 gallon of Remedy and one gallon of Reclaim (Sonara) will cost around $230. Both methods yield 200 gallons of spray. So, arguably $110 more or so per 200 gallons for an alleged 17% better kill. 17% of mesquites sprayed with 200 gallons of spray does not seem inconsequential.

Sendero works mainly on mesquite and locust. R&R will kill more plant species, which could be an advantage.

I've used both, and I didn't get a 17% better kill. Been spraying mesquites every year for 24 years and have tried it all. Mixing R&R gets the best kill at the best price. Aminopyralid is in the same family as Triclopyr and is a broadleaf herbicide.
But you are correct, both will do the job, I just like to save money where I can.

We have read these comments and have a few more questions that I hope some experts on here can help us.
We have a new hunting place and it has a lot of mesquite trees but they are not real big in general only about 6' tall
but they are thick in several places. We were planning on getting a person who has a tree mulcher that says he can
knock those mesquites down and make us some shooting and travel lanes on the place. We were going to get some R&R and
follow behind him as he mulches and try to spray the small stumps etc.. We were told that you need to spray them immediately
and that if you don't the cut trees develop a layer over the exposed trunk areas and the spray is not effective.
Do you guys know if this is true and any comments about our plans, will this work and be effective, etc?
Any other suggestions?

As always we appreciate you all for your time in providing us some great knowledge and experience you all have.
Many thanks

My experience goes all the way back to 2,4-5T. I've tried every combination of chemical out there for mesquites including some not labeled and so far Invora has been light years ahead of the others. The Sun, moon and stars don't have to align perfectly for it to work plus it has soil activity. By far the best I've ever used.

I did the reverse and sprayed first, let the trees die, then had them mulched and/or knocked over for burn piles. I have done three pastures this way and in process with a 4th.

If you've seen how the forestry mulcher leaves the debris, I think it would be very hard to cover much land trying to figure out which are the stumps, and which debris is just mulch. On areas where I had live mesquite trees mixed in with those I sprayed, I just waited on the regrowth and sprayed that. Careful though, if you do not stay on top of them, they come back more as bushes than trees.

I have heard that it is important to spray soon after cutting or knocking over. When clearing trails with chain saw, I keep a small bottle of remedy with me and immediately spray the stump...so far, works pretty well.

Yes stumps must be sprayed quickly after mulching. The mulching I have seen leaves a mine field of scattered thorns bad for rubber tired rigs. When I forested mulched and ask county ag man what was next he said let hem grow back for two years and then spray all leaves to kill the root maybe. Note I just had a man with track skid steer with a bucket with a jaw. He could pull up mesquites root and all and then machine stack for burn pile. I liked the process a lot.

thanks guys for the comments;

Shooter- that process sounds better because you probably don't get so many nasty thorns that way.
How much could they get done in a day?
Cost per hour?
We have a place in Southwest Oklahoma - may need to find a guy in my area and check into that way you describe.

Fellow THF Members-
I need to try and get details about the mixtures mentioned above i.e. Remedy, Reclaim and Diesel
because we are going to take down some of the mesquite we have to create shooting lanes and open areas for
hunting vehicles and maybe a small hunting cabin. Hunting season will be here soon.

From feedback in the thread above this is what I understand (feel free to correct me and provide what I am missing):

I gallon sprayer - .8 oz of Remedy , .8 oz of Reclaim. (those are point 8 ounces)
How much diesel and how much water to complete this mixture? ( I can double it for a 2 gallon sprayer etc. )

thanks for your help.

Also saw where a person can buy Remedy and Remedy Ultra - the ingredients below
Interesting the Ultra has a tiny amount of active ingredient. Would have thought it would have more.

Remedy Ultra :
Active Ingredient:
Triclopyr: 2-[(3,5,6-trichloro-2-pyridinyl)oxy]
acetic acid, butoxyethyl ester ................................................... 60.45%


Remedy :
Active Ingredient:
triclopyr, butoxyethyl ester: ((3,5,6-trichloro-2-
pyridinyl)oxy)acetic acid, 2-butoxyethyl ester ............................61.6%

Don't use diesel, mix with water and dish soap. I've been using Remedy and Reclaim (Sonora) for many years with water and soap. It works just as well as diesel.

In fact, I'll be spraying tomorrow.

Thanks Stompy for the response.
Any specific amount or brand of soap per gallon?

Also - there are cows grazing right now on the place, will it be safe for the livestock if we spray Remedy and Reclass?

we are not spraying a large area but some specific areas as the mulcher moves through an area.
For example the place is about 300 acres and I estimate we would spray an area equivalent to 2-3 acres max.

thanks again for the help

Cows are fine. I use 8oz of any cheap dish soap in 25 gallon sprayer, it doesn't take much.

thanks Stompy for the responses

I am digging a little deeper into this spraying so I need you experts to help me - please

here is the scenario and following are my questions:

I mixed up my sprayer with both chemicals (Remedy and Sonora) and sprayed some smaller mesquite trees.

1. when should I expect to see the results- a week, several weeks ?

2. is there a better time to spray such as spring or fall or summer?

3. should I only spray when the temperatures are above a certain temperature?

4. when I spray should I spray the whole tree , the base or the top green leafy areas?

5. as far as results go - will the tree die and whither or will the tree be dead but the thorns
sticking all over still so I still need to mulch them down to minimize flat tires etc?


thanks for your help.

I used Remedy and diesel at about a 10 to 1 mixture to kill off poison oak/ivy. Used it along a one mile road riding a 4 wheeler with a big Harbor Freight spray tank. Then went to areas that I hunt. It didn’t take but once ad killed ivy, brush and small trees. Kinda non selective.

1- They will start to turn in 3-5 days. The hotter it is the faster they turn.
2- Summer is the best time to spray.
3- Not sure about temp, I just know it works better in the Summer.
4-I spray the leaves, but I'm not spraying bigger trees, just smaller bushes.
5- Leaves fall out and bush dies, but you will have a skeleton with thorns when it dies.

Like someone mentioned, add a dye to the liquid so you can see what you sprayed and what you missed. We use a blue dye, but hear that a red dye is easier to see. That’s for the small bushes in the pasture. For the larger stuff, trees, I’d chainsaw them down low and spray the stump. Worked great.
I use a pole saw on the trees to keep from losing too much blood when I cut them down.

thanks everyone for the responses. I appreciate all of you taking the time to answer.

our camp area has yaupon coming back aggressively after a fire 1.5 years ago and then the LO had a mulcher come thru to chew up the left overs earlier this year. I stated looking for Remedy without success last week. Where are ya'll buying it? Tractor Supply shows it on their website but none of the stores have it in stock with a note stating it can not be shipped to over a dozen states, including Texas

I got the generic shipped to me off Amazon. I'll look for the name. It worked.

Triclopyr 4

thanks! I was in a rush to find something off the shelf as my son was going to the lease this Wednesday and could do the spraying. I found some Brush Killer at HD that main ingredient was Triclopyr (like Remedy), so bought a 32 oz concentrate bottle for him to try out. It's not a big area that needs attending and worth a shot near term.

Tractor Supply in Coleman had 20-30 1-gallon jugs of Remedy when I was there Friday. Bought a jug last month at TS in Brownwood before the price jumped (paid $89, it was tagged $119 Friday). Not sure why you're having trouble sourcing it.

no clue, checked with Georgetown, Hutto, Jarrell, Cedar Park and Liberty Hill ... none around me. I found some brush killer concentrate that has the same active ingredient at HD, will see how it works.

I can’t spray on my area. Too much possibility of affecting the Cows. No way I want to chance that.

I’ve never seen any of these harm cattle. And that’s with crop planes covering them up and helicopters.