The Best Backpack Sprayers

Backpack sprayers are becoming a must-have tool for gardeners, landscapers, pest control professionals, and homeowners seeking a beautiful lawn. Users look to backpack sprayers for weed control as well as pest control.

Why a backpack sprayer? They are popular because their ergonomic design allows you to carry fertilizer, herbicide, pesticide, or any other liquids on your back, rather than to drag a heavy metal cart around your yard,

best backpack sprayer

They also make it easier for you to carry more product than a handheld sprayer will hold. Backpack sprayers also have various nozzle sizes that allow for a consistent application of your product, only where you want it.

Please keep reading to see our favorite sprayers that are among the best backpack sprayers available.

Below are our favorite backpack sprayers:

Who Needs a Backpack Sprayer?

Backpack sprayers are an efficient way to carry and apply a large volume of herbicide, pesticide or fertilizer. If you have a moderately large yard or garden, I really recommend getting a backpack sprayer to make several essential lawn and garden tasks much easier and faster.

If you have a smaller garden or lawn, consider a handheld sprayer instead. However, carrying a sprayer on your back can oftentimes be much easier than having to curl a handheld sprayer filled with 3 gallons of fertilizer liquid!

Here are some examples of those that would use a backpack sprayer:

  • Homeowners with a quarter acre yard
  • Garden enthusiasts with large gardens or planter boxes
  • Those who have more than 5 trees on their property
  • Property owners with several large bushes or hedges surrounding the property
  • Those with joint problems that cannot lift more than 20lbs with one arm

Applications for Backpack Sprayers

Applying Fertilizer

A good backpack sprayer makes applying fertilizer much cheaper (since you’re mixing your own from concentrate vs. buying pre-mixed at the store). Whether you’re fertilizing your lawn or your garden, a backpack sprayer will make the task quick and easy.

Backpack sprayers also make fertilizing your plants and lawn much more consistent vs. spreading granules of fertilizer. You control the concentration of fertilizer and the amount of fertilizer you’re spraying for a given area.

Pesticide Application

Again, a backpack sprayer makes spraying pesticides much more efficient and helps you control the pesticide to a specific area rather than spreading pesticide granules all over the place with a common lawn spreader. For example, if you have a bug problem in only one portion of your property, you can only spray in that one area. This is much better for the environment as well as any children or animals that exist on your property.

Spraying Weed Killer

I’m not a fan of weed and feed herbicide granules and I definitely recommend spot treatment of weeds vs. a bulk application of herbicide. Spot spraying weeds with a backpack sprayer is MUCH better for your lawn as well as the environment. Why apply more ecologically-harmful chemicals on your property than you need to? Spot spraying weeds is a much better alternative to bulk herbicide application.

In addition to the environmental benefits, you can often mix up a concentration of weed killer that works best for YOUR lawn vs. the pre-mixed herbicides.

What to Look for When Buying a Backpack Sprayer

There are a few key criteria that separate great backpack sprayers from good ones including comfort, lightweight design, ease of pump and spray pattern adjustments.

Comfort

Obviously, comfort can be considered one of the top features of any backpack sprayer. Make sure that the sprayer you choose has padded shoulder straps and some adjustability in the straps themselves. Some cheaper backpack sprayers have non-padded shoulder straps that will leave a mark – stay away!

comfortable backpack sprayer shoulder straps

Lightweight Design

5 gallons of herbicide or fertilizer mixed in a backpack sprayer can exceed 40lbs! So you definitely don’t want to add much more to that weight with a heavy backpack sprayer. Shoot for a backpack sprayer that has a plastic tank as well as minimal metal structural design to keep the weight down and off of your shoulders.

Manual Pump vs. Electronic Pump

Manual pumping on a backpack sprayer should be easy and not something to give you a proper arm workout. Look for designs that feature a larger pump lever to give you extra leverage when pumping your chosen herbicide or fertilizer – your arm will thank you.

If you choose to go the electronic pump route, know that this feature will definitely push the price up on your backpack sprayer. It’s a great feature but I view it as one more thing that can break and also one that requires batteries – a drawback for me but it may not be for you.

Spray Pattern

You definitely want some options when it comes to the spray nozzle on your new backpack sprayer. For instance, you may want a direct burst spray pattern for pesky crabgrass so you can concentrate the spray right in the center of the weed.

adjustable spray patterns for backpack sprayers

In other cases, you may want some variability in the width of the spray pattern for pesticide application or fertilizer application.

Look for backpack sprayers that feature spray nozzles that give you at least 3 spray pattern options. You also want to take special care to notice the nozzle itself. If it looks like a cheap spray bottle nozzle design (think glass cleaner), you want to avoid that backpack sprayer!

The 5 Best Backpack Sprayers

Here are the best backpack sprayers we found on the market today.

Field King 190328 Backpack Sprayer

Likes:

  • Comfortable and easy to operate
  • Sturdy yet lightweight

Dislikes:

  • Requires a fair amount of pumping

The Field King 190328 Backpack Sprayer has an internal No Leak Pump design, safer to use because chemicals will not leak onto your back.

The internal piston pump sprays up to 150 PSI and the sprayer contains a premium, lockable shut-off with brass components and an in-line filter. Easy access to the pump allows for changing of seals in minutes with no tools.

The Field King 190328 Backpack Sprayer comes with four nozzles: brass adjustable, two flat fans, and a foaming nozzle. It also accepts Tee Jet nozzles.

The sprayer sells for about $80.00.

Chapin 61800 Four Gallon Backpack Sprayer

Likes:

  • The sprayer is easy to fill and clean
  • Features comfortable, padded should straps
  • It spreads the product extremely evenly
  • It can handle many types and sizes of product.

Dislikes:

  • A waist strap would make it easier to handle during use

The Chapin Euro Style Backpack Sprayer features padded shoulder straps for a close and comfortable fit to the back and a standard left-hand pump handle. The four-gallon tank has a wide opening for easy filling and cleaning.

It features a 2-stage filtration system to prevent clogging, a translucent tank for viewing fluid level, poly shut-off, and 2 nozzles for various applications.

Compatible for use with all the popular fertilizers, weed killers and pesticides.

This unit sells for about $60.

Field King Max 190348 Professional Backpack Sprayer

Likes:

  • No Leak Design
  • Features Viton seals for maximum durability
  • 21-inch poly wand and coated steel tank

Dislikes:

  • Sprayer may be too heavy for some users

The Field King Max 190348 Professional Backpack Sprayer was designed for large landscaping jobs. You will never have leaks of chemicals on your back with this sprayer’s internal pump design.

Including high-grade Viton seals throughout the pump and shut-off ensures this sprayer will hold up to any chemicals you put in it.

This sprayer Includes several nozzles for ultimate versatility: brass adjustable, flat fan (2), foaming.

This unit sells for around $95.00.

Chapin 61500 Backpack Sprayer for Fertilizer

Likes:

  • Inexpensive
  • Solidly built, durable

Dislikes:

  • Has trouble with rock salt, and bigger pellets of lawn product
  • Harder to crank than other spreaders
  • Smaller hopper than other spreaders

Another professional grade sprayer, the Chapin Euro Style Backpack Sprayer has the traditional look and feel of a backpack. Similar to the previous Chapin we recommended, this unit features padded shoulder straps for a close and comfortable fit to the back and a standard left-hand pump handle. The four-gallon tank has a wide opening for easy filling and cleaning.

Featuring a 2-stage filtration system to prevent clogging, a translucent tank for viewing of fluid level, poly shut-off and 2 nozzles for a variety of applications. Viton seals provide compatibility with fertilizers, weed killers and pesticides.

Compatible with most common fertilizers, weed killers and pesticides

A slight upgrade from the previous Chapin due to its polyurethane construction, this unit sells for about $70.

Roundup 190314 Backpack Sprayer

Likes:

  • Foldable wand
  • Waist belt for extra back support
  • Adjustable for right or left-handed users

Dislikes:

  • Taller users have trouble getting a good fit

Designed to address shortcomings of other backpack sprayers on the market, the Roundup Multi-Use Backpack Sprayer brings a familiar name to the category. One of the biggest complaints from other sprayers is that they leak down user’s backs. The Roundup sprayer promises to never leak.

The other big difference with this backpack sprayer is that the pump handle can be folded away for easy storage and fitted to a right- or left-handed user.

The Roundup Multi-Use Backpack Sprayers includes three nozzles for versatility: poly adjustable, high-volume fan, and low volume fan

This sprayer will hold four gallons of product and sells for about $70.

Conclusion

After researching many different Backpack Sprayers, my choice is the Roundup Multi-Use Backpack Sprayers for most people. It contains the most features for the price, and it will suit the needs of almost every homeowner and perform well for you season after season.

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