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Calculator

Spray drone tank coverage calculator

The answer is direct: usable gallons divided by gallons per acre. A 10-gallon usable load at 2 GPA covers about 5 acres before the drone needs another fill.

Tank math

4.8acres/fill

At this rate, 100 acres takes about 21.1 fills. Usable tank volume is 9.5 gallons after reserve.

Tank

10 gal

Rate

2 gpa

Reserve

5%

100 acres

21.1 fills

Acres/fill

4.8 ac

Usable volume

9.5 gal

Refill cadence

21.1 / 100 ac

What changes it most: application rate dominates the result; doubling gallons per acre cuts acres per fill in half.

gal
gpa
%

Refill ledger

This calculator is for fills per job, not acres per hour.

Use it when the question is usable tank volume, gallons per acre, reserve, mix-load cadence, and whether the landing zone can keep the aircraft supplied.

Main output

acres/fill

Bottleneck tested

tank / GPA

Use before

planning refills

Agricultural spray drone mid-pass over crops with a dense white atomized spray mist plume descending toward the canopy
Tank size sets refill cadence: ABZ L30 v2 at 30 L, DJI Agras T50 at 40 L, XAG P100 Pro at 50 L, Hylio ARES at 13 gal (≈49 L) liquid or 20 gal spreader. Application rate decides which is the right tank for the job.

Why tank coverage matters

Tank size controls refill cadence, not just headline payload. Lower-volume work may make a drone look fast on paper; higher GPA herbicide or orchard work can turn the same platform into a refill operation with a drone attached.

Always cross-check the chemical label. If the label calls for a minimum spray volume, a drone workflow has to meet that volume or the operation is not ready.

Worked examples

Herbicide benchmark. A 10-gallon tank with 5% unusable reserve leaves 9.5 usable gallons. At 2 gallons per acre, that is 4.75 acres per fill. A 100-acre job would require a little more than 21 fills before accounting for partial loads, moving the landing zone, or mixing delays.

Assumptions to check

  • The product label allows the selected gallons per acre.
  • The drone can carry the planned volume safely in the conditions.
  • The crew can mix and refill fast enough to keep the aircraft moving.
  • Reserve volume is realistic for pump pickup and end-of-load behavior.

What changes the answer fastest

Application rate dominates tank coverage. Doubling gallons per acre cuts acres per fill in half, even if the aircraft, pilot, and field are unchanged. That is why tank math belongs near the top of every spray-drone buying conversation.