|
|
 Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
 
Location: Duvall, WA | Who uses them, what kind, and what features to you like/need? We have five acres with four horses and try to pick up most of the manure. Understand the concept of a rotating pile, etc. It is just too much of a pain to dump one tractor bucket at a time then drag it, so want to buy a spreader. Input appreciated, thanks!
Edited by NipntuckLR 2017-07-06 10:20 PM
|
|
| |
|
 Coyote Country Queen
Posts: 5666
 
| We use a manure spreader. Ours is an older one that we got from my in-laws, it's ground-driven and small enough that I can pull it with the 4-wheeler. We have the big wheelbarrows, and I can get around 5 or so in there before it needs spread. We had a ramp built so I can dump the wheelbarrow straight into it. Depending on your set-up you might be able to get one that you could pull through the barn and clean straight into it. We have stalls with runs, so it's easier for us to use a wheelbarrow. |
|
| |
|
 Veteran
Posts: 148
Location: Rome GA | I have a 14 year old Newer Spreader. Works great for smaller operations. No repairs yet!
https://newerspreader.com/store#!/Spreaders/c/12503196/offset=0&sort=nameAsc |
|
| |
|
 Hummer's Hero
Posts: 3071
 
Location: Smack Dab in the Middle | I had a Newer Spreader for about 10 years. I loved it, but it wasn't perfect. It struggled to process any hay at all. Manure and shavings, it worked great. And I liked that I could push it around the barn aisle by hand. I did have to buy new kick chocks for the wheels, and my wheels got chewed up pretty bad over the years from when the ground freezes in the winter. Finally, one of the wheels just fell off one night. About a week later my husband bought me a 50 bushel ABI ground drive for my birthday. I LOVE IT. I pull it with our Artic Cat 400--same thing I pulled my tiny Newer Spreader with. It is the perfect size for us, 5 stalls and we live on roughly 5 acres. It can process whatever we throw in there, and I can set it to break it up very fine like my Newer Spreader did, so that it breaks down very quickly and won't attract flies. Even when I have all 5 stalls occupiedl, it will usually take at least 2 days to fill. Takes maybe 5 mins to empty, including opening and closing gates. I pull mine up and down the aisle to clean directly into. We've also used it to spread old hay/manure/dirt mixture when we clean up around where the round bale feeder is. Hubby scoops with the skid steer and dumps it in the spreader and I spread. Really helps us keep our place cleaned up. I clean stalls every day and have no manure pile at all. |
|
| |
|
Elite Veteran
Posts: 824
Location: Duvall, WA | Thank you all so much for your replies. We have been looking at the ABIs, Mill Creeks and newerspreaders. Problem with the first two is they have to be shipped from PA so are very expensive. But hubby is insisting we do it right the first time. This info is all good.
Edited by NipntuckLR 2017-07-06 10:20 PM
|
|
| |
|
Member
Posts: 23
Location: Tennessee | We have a Loyal-Roth and have had it for years. Had to replace the feeder chain and the bearing, but it has been a good one. It is pulled behind our four wheeler. |
|
| |
|
Married to a Louie Lover
Posts: 3303
| I don't have the foggiest what brand ours is, it's a PTO driven one, but not huge. It's old. We broke the axle a year ago and had it repaired. Broke the chain and repaired it ($3 link), it'll need a couple new boards by next spring, but she chews through it all including some pretty nasty packed cow crap and hay/straw.
We don't use shavings in our runs and push them with a skid steer when needed (horses are only locked up overnight), which is once a week right now since they stand up in the shade all afternoon. We turn the pile every time we clean and use fly predators. We're letting the pile compost right now for the garden in the fall.
On a side note - we must have a serious population of manure loving bugs (I have no idea what these would be in Iowa, enlighten me) because if they poop at the tie rail before we leave in the morning for a jackpot, the pile is like completely broken down by the time we get home that afternoon... I've never noticed manure to break down that fast...but I love how gorgeous the compost in my pile looks. |
|
| |
|
Nut Case Expert
Posts: 9305
Location: Tulsa, Ok | We have a Frontier spreader. It is chain driven. My husband usually uses the front end loader on the tractor to load it and pulls it with his four wheeler. It is probably too much equipment for an operation with just two or three horses. |
|
| |
|
 Expert
Posts: 1367
Location: mi | We had the mill creek first. That lasted about 6-8 years before it rusted away. We replaced it with the one that TSC sells that the body is galvanized steel. That one has lasted about 7 years and is now getting to the point that anything that the floor is rusting away and everything is so loose that it is ready to be put to rest and just used as an extra wagon. They were both $2k or under and for the amount of use they got I am happy with that. Both were the size that you could fit about 5-6 muck buckets in when they were in prime working condition. For what its worth the TSC one was better as it had higher ground clearance. Living in mud and snow zone that is pretty important. :)
Edited by ajs2002 2017-07-10 2:25 PM
|
|
| |
Folks on-line