Spreading urea....plan B?

Having decided against trying to use the dry boxes on the JD7000, I need to come up with a way to get urea in the ground where I grow corn. Why not stick with the tractor pulled spreader? Well, because the elevator owns them and they are auctioning them off in a month. The next closest elevator is 20+ miles away. I don't want to do that back and forth with my old trucks. I am going to try to bid on the spreaders at the elevator auction, but I am sure there will be a long line of bidders for those and I have a budget to work with. They have some parts units but I'm sure if they were economically fixable he would have done so. I am doing almost no grain in 2019. I made the decision to switch some acreage to grass hay last year and that turned out to be a pretty good choice. But I would like to keep growing corn in the future so I have to adapt. Near as I can tell I have all I need except a smallish bin and a way to spread inputs...urea being the big input. Assuming that I cannot outbid the bigger guys for the spreaders, any other ideas?

can you rent a 28 applicator?

Have you got any good neighbors you can work with and buy one together?
Dave

How much corn are you doing? For 20-30 acres you could buy a 3 pt spreader such as what TSC sells. A little more time intensive than what you would like at crunch time but would get the job done. I've seen guys do the 3 pt spreader with more acres but again time gets to be an issue. 100 plus acres then it gets to be pretty unrealistic to use such a small spreader. There was a farmer years ago that bought smaller equipment than what was needed but he liked the seat time and really did not like making plans with the wife. Anyways, he accomplished a lot with what he had (he had the money to buy larger and bragged about it) so maybe plan on spending more time on the tractor seat.

There may already be a Plan B in place. Have you talked to or checked the websites of that elevator and your other suppliers about what products and services they will be offering this spring? They may be shifting more economical forms of fertilizers and offering more custom application of fertilizers and pesticides.

How many acres? So we know what it?s worth investing.

My coop covers 100 miles square, they deliver the spreaders for a reasonable fee and take on the liability and time. Check with the coops around.

NH3 available, usually cheaper.

Paul

Are you working the urea into the ground? I remember taking class on fertilizer while working for a Coop. The instuctor told us sunlight breaks down urea. That was 30+ years ago. Things may have changed.

Best to work it in in a few hours. There is an additive that stabilizes it if you don?t. Or catch a rain in a few hours to water it in, but we all know how planning for a rain works out.....

Paul

What size tractor do you have? If you can mount or carry tanks, 28% could be applied using a cultivator, run hoses from tank to cultivator???

I am interested in this idea, but it is new to me. I have a 1586 IH with dual PTO. My main issue with this is the danger factor. Sounds like this stuff can mess you up in a hurry if you have an issue. I did a little reading and if I understand correctly, the injectors are basically a knife with a tube on it that applies the nitrogen underground where it binds with soil moisture quickly. Downside, as I understand it, is that it has to be under high pressure. This must require some type of regulator, etc...I don't really know what all, but probably expensive and I would need to be very clear on how to use it. Not sure this is the way to go. Need more info.

You are confusing NH3 (anhydrous ammonia) which is a dangerous gas, with 28% which is a liquid.

The 1586 most likely has a 20,8 X 38 rear tire which will feel tight in 30 inch rows. I've done the liquid and one has to consider wet/muddy conditions which do not favor the cultivator. It pays to do the math as to which is more economical in terms of liquid or urea.

Dave H (MI),

i am not familiar with your part of the world, but in mine, it takes a very nice spreader to break the 1000 dollar mark because they are becoming one of those things that newer and more "conventional" guys arent running them, or if they are, its just to cover some pasture ground, where the urea has a chance to sit under cover of plant life and wait 7-10 days before lack of moisture has an effect. Nobody in my area is really going after them. you might be surprised at what they bring at the auction, plus its early in the year, take a chance on a cheap on, there isnt much to them, weld a few new floors in, make sure the pto pump is good....

thats what i did with mine.

Ah...OK. More research needed I guess. So how do you apply the 28%? When we were talking cultivators, I was thinking field cultivator. The one I have seen set up had a poly tank and hoses mounted right on the frame of the cultivator. So I was not thinking of going thru planted corn. I was thinking of an application during final tillage. Not how it works?

Well...we will see. I could not make the auction preview today. The weather here is filthy and our furnace has been on the fritz for going on three days now. Just got it working about an hour ago.

28% or in some areas it is 32% is liquid N, fairly safe to handle. It is more or less urea that is dissolved into water. It tends to be a little expensive. Works nice for an N boost but price it out if it is your main form of N, you have to handle a lot of gallons when it is only 28% nitrogen.


The nh3 I mentioned below is the pressurized gas. It is often the cheapest form of N, but yes you need to handle it carefully. It seeks water very aggressively, once it catches up with enough water it becomes a very safe and stable thing with no long term concerns at all, but until then it will suck the water right out of you so you do need to be careful with it while applying.

Paul

In MI the insurance has made NH3 about impossible to buy. None of the fretilizer peoples want anything to do with it.
Dave one option would be to apply part of your N preplant as urea to get the bulk of it down then apply the rest post plant as 28% down the rows with drop nozzles or with a knife. This would do two things one save N money if it id ry and no growth. The other would be it splits your nitrogen applications to get more use of it. Yes it does take up some extra time though.
With the spreader, upkeep is pretty minimal for the use and cost of the spreader. If you had a cement slab under a roof that you could drop your urea on, you could load it with a loader as you use it. I would not want to drop it only a short time in advance of use. The slab would be so you could haul it or have it hauled to use at your convenience. Saving time.

Do you have a sprayer? My brother set up a sprayer to dribble on 28% as side dress. You need a nozzle over the middle of each row, use an orfice( flat disc with a small hole in it) and fasten a piece of garden hose on the nozzle to reach almost to the ground, set the pressure and drive. I did it that way for a few years until I bought an old NH3 applicator and then used that. Sorry I can't

find a better picture. This is from 2010, it was really wet that year. The corn was stunted on the

east side of the field and hood high on the west side of the field. If you look close, you can see the hoses hanging from the boom.It worked well, just cost more than NH3. I can look around and see if I still have a book from Stutsman's that has orfice sizes and gallons chart if you want. Chris

How many acres?

Urea not practical here in northwest central Ohio. years ago a lot of places quit selling anhydrous ammonia nue to danger and liability. Now 28% is a very good chioce. So with that you would have to decide the time frame you want to apply it. I do not know if it can be appiled over top of growing corn or not as if it will dammage the crop. Wheat it is applied overr top as a sidedress, you get a little crop burn but not enough to have a problem. Some places had a 14% for wheat top dress to eliminate that crop burn. Now for the wheat or a grass crop-pasture it would be put on with the field sprayer, just have to be able to run higher capacity sprayer made with resistant parts against rust. It would work with preplant as well. Now depending on when you want to apply it would make the difference in if you want to put it in rows or not. The applicators with knives to put in ground are designed to put it on with the crop from 6" to 30" tall. I think about 24" is best to give crop late season boost where at the 6" height (and I have seen it done at 2") you are getting it on too early to be avaible for that late boost that makes the grain. You can apply the 28% either broadcast on not only your corn ground but any hay ground or wheat crop or you can just dribble it on top to sidedress your corn (just use the sprayer with no nozzels) or if corn is to big to spray on top to get it to ground youse a drop tube same as dribbling it but with the nozel on and spread it over the ground farther, smaller corn that would be better but larger corn no difference.. You can mount tractor side mount tanke for the 28% and just run a hose to boom on either front or rear of your field cultivater or to side dress just a boom on back of tractor, you would not want it on front so tractor would be kept out of it to not let it rust tractor. 28% is what we used with the applicator for sidedressing from the dealer at the about 18"-2' height. Now I have seen lots of ways. I did work for fertilizer plant and had to fill the anhydrous tanks and that was very dangerous, everytime you have to uncouple a hose even with things turned off you get a big wiff of that deadly gas and you have to use special yery heavy and long rubber gloves and mask when filling tanks. I also delievered them. And I have seen many a time when it is being applied that they are not getting it sealed in ground enough and it is all going up in the air and you can smell it from a quarter mile away driving down the road. If you would happen to be driving down the road where they were doing that and have car trouble you could not get out of that cloud before it could kill you. The anhydrous tanks by law have to carry those gloves at all times plus have a water tank for you to wash up in if you should happen to get in the gas cloud and it will instantly freeze your skin if it gets against you. The 28% you only should where a glove that will just keep it off your hands, will if you get it on your skin make your hands dry out and crack like winter weather will.Filling thse anhydrous tanks was the worst job at fertilizer plant. When we went to putting on more nitrogen that could put in with dry in the corn planter got an anhydrous applicater and after an hour messing with it told them come and get it, we want nothing to do with it. went to the 28% and use their applicater with ground drive pump. Years ago neighbor thought he was gong to be smart and about killed himself in prossess. he with hose turned off put it down ground hog hole and filled the hole with dirt around hose and turned on the gas and walked over to see how it was doing. Hose pulled out while he was at the end of hose. had to craul on his hands and knees back to tank to turn gas off. Very littl if any urea used in this area. The difference in price between anhydrous and 28% is not worth killing yourself over and too many people NEED you for you to do that. I worked at 2 different fertilizer plants delievering those tanks. And the tanks for the 28% are just a thousang gallon tank on a tandem axle trailer with a 2" transfer pump. And if you had your own tank you could fill it up anytime 6 months before you were ready to apply it. I know you are smart enough to build your own applicator. The planters with the likuid fertilizer attachment would use the pump you would need to make your applicator for dribbling it side dressing. STAY SAFE.