I intend to start eliminating prickly pear this summer.

I realize there are herbicides specifically formulated for pear - most of these, however, require a TDA Applicators license to purchase and apply - I am looking for off-the-shelf alternatives.

A few people I know have claimed that a simple Remedy & Diesel mixture is effective - especially if the pear pads are punctured by some mechanical means (spiked roller).

Any first-hand experience with Remedy & Diesel?

Remedy will work and also kill mesquite and locust trees. I don't use diesel instead I use blue marking dye so I know what was sprayed.

I’ve sprayed the R&D but generally just use a shovel.

When I first bought my place in 2016-County Ag recommended PastureGard HL at 1.28oz/1 gal water with a surfactant and blue marking dye. It worked but slow to kill and very time consuming because have to spray both sides of pads. I ultimately wanted quicker results so went a different path. Depending on the size of your place and financial means may work better for you like it did for me. I ended up contracting a local company (Wade Lake Dozer) as he has an attachment on his skid steer to get the prickly pear out of the ground root and all with minimal pasture damage. I had him pile them up in several areas throughout my place, in which as they dried and weather allowed-burn them, or spray them if tried to re grow-but now more concentrated area. Also had him grub out alot of Mesquite while there. In my mind the $ I spent to have him do it in the time it took him vs the time it would have taken to spray and wait was worth it...

I keep a can mixed up of Remedy and diesel all of the time.

It will kill anything that lives off photosynthesis. In my case, honey locust trees. And I have sprayed pear with it, with equal effectiveness. It is a mean blend.

I have some meat goats and have been burning the spines and small red stickers off of the pads and the goats have gotten to where they eat the prickly pear fairly well. It takes about the same amount of time to burn off the thorns as it does to spray both sides of the pear pad. Cows are even more effective in eating prickly pear with the thorns burned off. Once they know what you are doing, the cows will run over you to get to freshly burned off prickly pads. Cows also destroy the plant more effectively than goats because of bigger feet tromplng on what is left of the plant. Get a pear burner and a bottle of propane and make some livestock feed. You will be surprised at how few stickers are left on the pads after a scorching.

Fire works wonders on it. Control burn if you can. Will help with a lot more than just the prickly pear

Yes, that combo works but I don't see why to use Diesel instead of a commercial surfactant. I have had good luck with cactus and dish soap but lately I've been buying and using Surf-ac (it's cheap - way cheaper than diesel these days.)

Lately I've also been using Sendero on cactus with great results vs Remedy (but I've been a long-time Remedy proponent.)

There is a process that has had good results in the rolling's plains, above in the Caprocks and in South Texas. Yes, it takes time, but we have seen 80-95% kill rates on cactus, the low growing brown spine is really affected. The move vertical south Texas variety is a little more difficult. Allow enough grass to grow that early spring and apply a fire on the unit/ pasture. Controlled burn to expose the waxy layer and then spray with Tordon before the waxy layer can be replaced on the pads. There needs to be enough fuel to get the waxy pads heated and to turn yellow. Not enough fuel/grass is just wasting time/money. Do not allow trees to leaf out in the spring, this will increase the amount of chemical needed to reach the ground or your wasting money. Tordon is slow acting chemical, it can be replaced with MezaVue or Surmont as a chemical control. Tordon was what has been available on the pastures applied. Three years after the chemical treatment control burn again to remove the cactus skeletons and treat any resprouting. The more grass fuel available the better the results. This has been method hunters are using to get dogs in pastures that have been established colonies of cactus.

this but I get using red diesel as thats what i used for years. Surf Ac is cheap when you figure $64 per 1000 to 2000 gals of water

Remedy works well on it but ditch the diesel mess and use an actual surfactant, it’s cheap and works better than diesel and however not mandatory we run a dye in our sprayers so you can visually see what’s been sprayed or missed. It comes in very handy if you have a large area to spray or having to drive around obstacles. We used diesel for years in smaller sprayers but after having our chemical guy talk us into trying an actual surfactant when we started using a large rig for first time there is a definitive difference in the effectiveness of the chosen herbicide sprayed.

We sprayed the same 90 acre pasture half with diesel and half using the right chemical and a month later the difference was clearly obvious, the diesel worked but not nearly as effective as the actual surfactant. Chemicals in general have become so expensive even if it only helped a little it would be more than worth the added expense but it actually makes a pretty big one so it’s a no brainer.

Do some research on Mezavue.

I’ve had good luck with remedy clear pasture and sendero. I usually mix with diesel because I have it. Have also used roundup, it took a long time but did work.

I have cleaned out poison oak and briars with remedy and diesel. Around the house area and a mile of road from front to back of the place.

I've had great success with water + PastureGard + surfactant + blue dye (shows better than red imo). Yes, it takes time, but after 9-12 months, the pads basically disintegrate.

Here is my prickly pear killing set up. 1% each of oil, herbicide, and dye mixed with water. The 35 gal tank holds the batch, the 4.5 gal battery powered backpack sprayer does the work.

Spray one side or two sides of the cactus, it doesn't seem to matter too much. Stuff starts to look bad within a week, and is dead in 90 days. I've been doing this for 3 years, and the cactus doesn't come back and I haven't killed anything that I didn't want gone (no trees).

I mount my tank on the back of a 4wheeler. It goes places other stuff doesnt

Remedy + diesel works, but its not effective if you have to do a bunch of it.

Itll require multiple applications.

We eliminated some through aerial application.