manure spreader--- question

Ellis Kinney · May 5, 2016

My neighbor spread manure on one of my fields. It was mixed with bedding and straw. The spreader dumped it out in large clumps leaving me with an awful job of trying to separate it with a pitchfork. I don't know the brand of spreader, but it was PTO driven. I tried the bush hog but it wouldn't pick it up. Is there a brand of manure spreader that is far superior to others that will chop real fine and sling spread? Thanks, Ellis

MARK ROBKE · May 5, 2016

Not sure if any spreader is better at more even spreading,but that is a good reason to spread in the fall,so that it can rot down over winter.My Dad made me go out at times and knock clumps apart with a pitchfork in the hay fields.Also if you can stockpile the manure for a year helps,too.Mark

Billy NY · May 5, 2016

I'm a fan of the New Idea with the flail type beaters, those do a good job of breaking up clumps. I've used it to mulch new pasture seedings as well, tossing in flakes of hay without breaking them up.

Dave Sherburne, NY · May 5, 2016

Cut down a big old apple tree and drag it over the field. Saw an old fella doing this with a team of horses about 50 years ago, he did it every spring till he moved up to an Oliver 70

Wheatfarmer · May 5, 2016

Just have to know how to operate a PTO driven one. Need to get tractor moving same time PTO moves. Or it is falling out the front, and even the read before the beaters start moving. I have a ground driven one that works the best. He might have a tail gate and shouldn't load it up to the gate so much.

M Nut · May 5, 2016

You want one with a double beater on the back. They make a big difference in the spreading of straw packed manure.

Brown Swiss · May 5, 2016

Normal farmer thing, try to put two loads on one spreader! LOL He needs to just not over fill and try to break up the material with the loader before putting in spreader.

ss55 · May 5, 2016

Dragging a harrow crosswise over it might break up the clumps and spread things out.

JDIH · May 5, 2016

Yup. When it's overfilled it rolls over the top of the beaters in clumps

flying belgian · May 5, 2016

The short answer is no. When I take the bales from covering the well pit over winter it is an awful mess of slabs. I use the field cult. and try and drag it around and feather it out.

Alan K · May 5, 2016

Ive got a New Idea 214 pto spreader single beater. I think they turn just a little faster than a New Holland, at least compared to my cousins it does. They had told me my New Idea sure spreads better than their New Holland does. But I agree with the post below of filling it too full, especially on a single beater spreader. They filled theirs so full it was just as high as the spreader sides its self. Not good as it overloads everything. Tractor pto and ground speed all play a roll in it as well.

BarnyardEngineering · May 5, 2016

Have you priced spreaders lately? It's not like you're going to convince this guy to go out and buy a new spreader just because it inconveniences you a little bit.

The simple single-beater box spreader is the least expensive and even small ones are $12,000-$15,000. One of those spreaders with the twin vertical beaters on the back, which is the only thing that will really chew up long hay manure, starts well over that and needs a big tractor to pull even the smallest one. V spreaders with the augers that spit it out the side just wrap up with long hay and break the drive chains.

You can try to get this guy to break up the manure more as he loads it but he may not want to beat his loader and spreader to pieces trying to do that. You can try to get him to haul smaller loads but he may want to get the job done sooner rather than make an extra trip or two.

It may just be simpler to tell him to take his manure elsewhere, and spread bagged fertilizer on your fields.

Traditional Farmer · May 5, 2016

Why are you worried about separating it?

Ellis Kinney · May 5, 2016

There are huge areas where it will kill the grass. Ellis

rrlund · May 5, 2016

Something with vertical beaters is about the only thing that'll tear it up. I had a John Deere Hydra Push that was about the worst for tossing big chunks,but that might be because I way overloaded it because there wasn't any chance of braking the apron.
I just had quite a time two weeks ago plowing some under that I had clumped up. I ran the disc over it first. That helped. My White spring reset 18" plow has a lot of clearance,that helped,but I still spent some time backing up or driving in circles.

NY 986 · May 5, 2016

You have two options. Either discontinue having the neighbor apply manure or find a drag type spring tooth harrow and pull it across the field when the material is dry to break the lumps. If he is running an old box type spreader with horizontal beater it is only going to break the material up only so far. I don't know your neighbor but if he is not running a more modern spreader it is probably because he can not afford one. Good quality manure is worth having so if it were me I would find a spring tooth harrow. Since you would not be disturbing soil a 18-20 wide unit could be pulled by a Farmall M.

Donald Lehman · May 5, 2016

No single beater spreader does a very good job of shredding long hay or straw. If you put a half load on at a time maybe they would do better, which would be fine if somebody else is buying fuel and paying for the time to make the extra trips. Find a 3 pt hitch spring tooth harrow or one mounted on wheels at an action. The drag types will be constantly clogged up as you try to level it out. If you only have a garden tractor, pulling a set of old mattress springs am level the stuff off. Or chain a series of 2x6's maybe three or so, with bolts sticking through the bottom to drag it out. Be careful about how big a bite you try to take with a garden tractor though or you will be in the middle of the pile and stuck. Work around the edges at first.

farmerwithmutt · May 5, 2016

If you have room compost it first then spread later. What gear is he using ? Depending on the spreader there is different apron speeds he can lower the rate on the apron and keep the pto speed up that might help .

Bruce from Can. · May 5, 2016

After it drys some you can drag just about anything over it to spread it around , some chain link fence , or even an old gate .

gene bender · May 5, 2016

You run the web slow so the beater can tear it up learned that long ago with an old horse pull type New Idea on rubber converted from steel.

NY 986 · May 5, 2016

I agree that all the better if you can find a transport harrow but they are getting very hard to find. The OP mentioned the manure being spread on grass that will stay that way so if the manure is so heavy to plug a drag then the manure has been way over applied for the situation.

JD630-2520 · May 5, 2016

I have an old New Idea single beater and it does fine. I think the neighbor was in a hurry to get done and was trying to get a load off as quickly as possible.

4020_guy · May 5, 2016

Farmerwithmutt is absolutely correct about composting the hay-straw laced manure. As long as there is enough manure for the nitrogen in the carbon-nitrogen ratio and with some pile turning the hay will break down and spread a lot better. Also with a single beater spreader, slow apron speed, high beater speed and smaller, lower piled loads will help a lot as well......Ron

showcrop · May 5, 2016

Come and buy my 12 ft Starline. It grinds it up so well that you won't be able to find a piece of straw. I used it to spread sheep manure bedding pack. I loaded direct from the barn into the spreader, and it ground it up completely.

coonie minnie · May 5, 2016

A knight slinger does a good job of spreading pen pack manure.

A key to success in spreading manure with a lot of bedding evenly is to chop the bedding pretty short. This has two advantages- it absorbs more, so you need less straw, and it spreads better.

We spread with Knight slingers and an older Knight box spreader. We can do a good enough job to then no-till corn into the bedding manure.

fixerupper · May 5, 2016

I had a neighbor who jokingly called a spreader a 'manure unloader'. LOL Best way to load a single beater spreader with straw manure to try to avoid large piles in the field is load small bucket fulls at a time evenly from front to back and don't heap much above the beater. Dad bought a large single beater Kelly Ryan because it was cheaper and it worked fine for cattle yard manure but heavy matted straw manure was another story. This doesn't help your immediate problem though. Maybe a straight bar drag harrow will help. The straw might roll up in ropes under a flexible harrow.

farmerwithmutt · May 5, 2016

Another thought how you load a spreader makes a difference. Load from back to front that way the weight of each dump will hold the manure down as it unloads. If you load from front to back it will have a tendency to pull the pack off. Kinda hard to explain but spent a lot of time with a fork.

coonie minnie · May 6, 2016

I had a neighbor about 15 years ago that cleaned out a pack barn with an old spreader... one with NO beater! It must have been fun working that down!

paul · May 6, 2016

Lots of little things go into getting good results. How he loads, how he drives, what throttle setting, and of course the beater type on the spreader. Many other little things.

Piling and composting for a year is a great way to handle manure with big amounts of long straw or hay in it.

A brush hog? You might need a real, heavy duty disk or a high clearance field cultivator, you need the proper tools as well? Pitch fork works, if you have the time and need the exersize.

Paul

Bret4207 · May 6, 2016

I've only seen 2 spreaders that do a really good job with heavy bedding manure- an IHC 200 and a NI 10. The IHC 200 does a far, far better job of shredding the pack and spreading it evenly than the NI and the NI is worlds ahead of a single beater. But finding a good IHC 200 is pretty rare these days. IIRC it has 2 shredders and the widespread.

Cas · May 6, 2016

M Nut is right on the money. We have both single beater and double beater New Holland spreaders over the years. For pen manure, the double beater(horizontal) spreader beat the single beater spreader hands down. Also, slowing the apron speed helps a lot.
Time always seems short when cleaning a barn out. I always loaded the spreader till it started falling off the sides. Never had a problem with double beater spreaders. Single beater spreaders are another story.
Noticed the price of a new spreader was mentioned above. I bought my first New Holland 518 in the early 1970s was about $1500.

manure spreader--- question

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