Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer

I’m not naturally a green thumb. But, the more I get into gardening, the more I am becoming aware of the importance of the right tool for the job. The prime example of this is my lawn. You might think that keeping a small patch of grass in a townhouse backyard in tip-top shape should be easy… But it’s not. I have enlisted the help of the Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer to see if I can get on top of my green grass problems.

Disclosure: Husqvarna provided Blog of Dad with the Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer for the purpose of review and ongoing use. Any thoughts expressed about Husqvarna products in this article are based on my own experiences. For more information, visit my disclosure statement. 

My Problem With Grass

Let’s cut to the chase. I can’t keep grass alive. This is disappointing, especially as I put a fair amount of time and effort into levelling it out and laying new turf just a couple of years ago. Despite my ignorant assumptions that grass just grows, it turns out that effort is actually required to make it look good (more than just the occasional mow…). After a bit of research, it appeared that the two sizable trees in my backyard were taking all of the nutrients out of the soil and leaving my poor grass hungry.

I have tried the granular fertilisers, but I never seem to get it quite right. Once, I definitely over-fertilised a patch of the lawn, because it burnt the grass away entirely. That might have made me overly cautious, but I now seem to find trying to apply the correct amount of granules a bit stressful.

The other problem I have is the kids. Despite the small (and semi-grassless) nature of our back yard, they still love to play out there. Whenever I think about applying granular fertiliser, I wonder how the kids will cope without the use of their favourite part of the house for 4-5 days.

The result? I don’t apply as much fertiliser, as often as I should.

The Solution – Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer

After quite a lot more research, the solution to my under-fertilised lawn problems might just be a liquid fertilizer. They are faster acting, meaning less down-time for my precious patch of lawn. With the right equipment, a liquid fertiliser should be even easier to evenly apply too.

A couple of months ago I reviewed the excellent Husqvarna PW 235R Pressure Washer. The PW 235R impressed me greatly, so naturally I went looking for that same kind of quality for this new project. The Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer seemed like a it would definitely be up to the job.

Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer – First Impressions

The Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer certainly looks the part. It’s 8 litre capacity is sizable enough to get jobs done, but still easy to manage when it comes to fully-loaded carrying and use. It looks great, and the large Husqvarna symbol (and the Husqvarna Orange highlight) proudly show the product’s authenticity. But more importantly than looking good – the teardrop shape has been engineered to provide a low centre of gravity for improved stability. The handgrip is an excellent width (perfect for my hand) and comfortable to hold.

The white, plastic tank is translucent with large, clear markings at litre intervals. This makes it easy to both precisely fill the Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer, and monitor your application. The plastic components are virgin plastic. While the conservationist inside us might wish it was made of partly recycled materials, the reality is that a container designed to potentially deal with harsh chemicals benefits from the added durability of virgin plastic. Also, this isn’t exactly a disposable product. Husqvarna’s durability should ensure that the Husqvarna Handheld Sprayer is part of my garden toolkit for many years to come, more than mitigating the environmental impact of using non-recycled plastics.

The included heavy-duty, non-corrosive 635mm lance is a good length for a comfortable application, ensuring that I can avoid too much bending over while spraying the yard with liquid fertilizer (or for any other future application). While I appreciate that in my small backyard, those with larger spaces will surely appreciate it even more!

The Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer comes with three nozzles – an adjustable brass nozzle (solid stream to fine mist), a high-volume nozzle for broader coverage and a low volume fan for precision spraying.

Other quality materials include a 1.2m reinforced PVC hose and genuine Viton® seals.

Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer – Use

With its 8 litre capacity, the Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer is a great size for jobs around the home. For my townhouse lawn I’m certainly not filling to the brim, but in the name of a comprehensive review I topped it up fully and carried it around for a while. For me, the weight was easily manageable as I walked around the yard.

The long hose and wand means that the 8 litre tank can be placed on the ground and moved periodically as you walk around the garden. That was my preferred method in testing, although it didn’t bother me to hold the handle for sustained periods of spraying.

The Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer is easy to fill and the clever design on the opening catches any stray drops of chemicals or water. The parts screw into place easily and securely to create the important air-tight seal that is required for pressurisation.

Creating the pressure is also easy. The carry handle unclips to double as the pump mechanism, which moves smoothly and certainly seems to push through a lot of air with each pump. The manual doesn’t state a number of pumps required to create pressure, but I found around 10 seemed to do the job well with the tank full, and a few more each time as the tank emptied. If a bit of light manual pumping just isn’t your thing, Husqvarna do offer a battery-powered version that is good for up to 90 litres per charge. At more than double the price though… I’m happy to put up with the small amount of extra effort!

In the interest of testing limits, I did attempt to over pressurize the Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer. With the tank half-full (just water) I made about 50 pumps before the build-up of pressure made it very difficult to continue. However, the pressure-release valve still did not pop. This makes me think that the Husqvarna Handheld Sprayer is capable of handling far more than my own incompetence can throw at it! This gives me the confidence to potentially work with some fairly harsh chemicals without too many worries.

After a solid pump, the spray came out of the brass nozzle in a steady and predictable manner. Twisting the end of the nozzle changed from a broadly-deployed mist to a targeted jet of water. For my purposes (fertilising the grass), the broad spray should be excellent. I found that I had great control over where my spray went, which again gives me confidence that I can achieve an even coverage of my lawn (or, say, target specific weeds if weed spraying).

Each set of pumps enabled my to deploy up to a litre in a fairly steady stream, although it seemed to me that the intensity of the stream dropped towards the end. That makes sense, given the nature of the device, but it is still worth being conscious of as I go about attempting to provide an even coverage to my lawn. In my testing, each litre took about 4-5 minutes to deploy (including pumping time). I expect this will improve slightly as I become more competent in my use of the Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer.

Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer – Cleaning and Maintenance

The Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer is easy to clean and maintain. Simply fill with cool, clean water, agitate and tip out (into gravel or bare soil). Then refill, pressurise and flush the lance/nozzle for at least 30 seconds. Release the pressure, tip out the contents and repeat the flush a few times until you are satisfied. Please refer to the user manual for detailed instructions.

The pump will need to be lubricated from time-to-time. This involves the application of 10-12 drops of light oil and is very easy to do. Gaskets, O-rings and valves need to be checked periodically for degradation and replaced as required. While this is important for ensuring the optimum performance of the Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer, replacement is a simple, tool-free process. The necessary components are listed in the user manual, and can also be found on the Husqvarna website. Your local dealer will also be able to help you – I found my local dealer to be very helpful and knowledgeable when discussing the Husqvarna PW 235R Pressure Washer last year.

Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer – Final Thoughts

The Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer is cost-effective, easy to use and feels built to last. It is comfortable to use (in terms of carrying, spraying and creating pressure) and more than capable of servicing my needs in my townhouse courtyard. I imagine I’d be pretty happy with it even with a larger patch of grass to maintain, although there is a 15 litre backpack version for those with more extreme needs.

As should be the case with any container designed to potentially carry and disperse harsh chemicals, the Husqvarna 8 Litre Handheld Sprayer appears to have user safety at the forefront of design. Nice little touches, like the drip-catching nozzle holder and the spill-resistant collar go one step further than some other designs.