Spreader lime/fertilizer spreader questions

[JohnnyDark]

i am thinking about buying a 3 point spreader and was wondering if you can spread powdered lime with one? thanks johnny

 

[creeper]

Local farmers do it all the time around here, A little dusty tho,may want to wear a mask.

 

[teddydo]

I hate to disagree with the other guy but I have frist hand expenience with a small threepoint hitch seeder. I will not spread lime, It does a great job with fertilizer and seed. But you had better clean it well after spreading fertilizer or it will be short lived. The lime just will not come out it just packs when you fill it and that's where it stays. Luck to you and sorry to disagree with the fellow poster......teddy

 

[grandad]

My local ag supply dealer sells pelletized lime in 50lb bags... works better for a broadcast spreader, but he's just a couple miles up the road and can put down 8 tons of the stuff on my place in 10 minutes with his truck. If you have any amount of acreage, you may find it about as cheap and much easier to go that route vs. slingin' those bags yourself.

 

[JohnnyDark]

i have had the truck come out from baker limestone in the past , but i am in the process of converting some woods into pasture. i have thinned them out but not enough for the spreader truck to go thru without problems.

 

[JohnnyDark]

do you know how much the 50 lb bags route cost per ton?

 

[johan3400]

That will depend how close you are to the processing plant. Last year the 50 pound bags retailed for between $4.50 and $5.50. The pelletized lime works well through most small 3pt spreaders. Sometimes you need to keep the weight down in your spreader to keep it from packing in. I ussually keep it at no more than 2 bags. It is a pain if you are spreading a large area, but it helps.

 

[jeff_jeff]

I put 3000 pound of ag lime through my cheap cosmo spreader every year - I usually load 7 or 8 50 lb bags at a time - works without a problem - I have to do it that way since none of the lime guys will come out to our farm for such a small amount

 

[greg_g]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( do you know how much the 50 lb bags route cost per ton? )</font>

If you go by THIS, it would be about $110 bucks. But they come 75 bags to a pallet (3000 lbs), and I think you can negotiate something like a 20% discount for "pallet rate".

Regular ag lime (powdered) compacts in my broadcast spreader too. I get the lime trucks in for the big patches, then spread pelletized lime with my tractor to cover the areas they miss. I've got a 10bu spreader, but never actually counted how many bags it takes to top it up - I'm guessing maybe 15

//greg//

 

[Egon]

Think the spreader design will be the determing factor for spreading powdered lime.

I have a little pull behind two bag model that required a few modifications before it worked properly with lime.

The area I lime is not Truck friendly due to steepness and moisture.

If possible I'd go the truck route with proper dedicated equipment able to apply the lime at the required rate.

Egon /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif