3-pt Spreader

[Farmwithjunk]

I've always been of the philosophy that you get what you pay for. That being said, the Vicon's are about 4x more spendy than many others. The concensus seems to be that they're worth the extra benjamins??

Yes....over the long haul, in my situation. Each persons needs and budget will dictate THEIR opinion.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

The Vicon spreader is easily worth its price. It is one of those items where you will be happy you bought it every time you use it.

 

[flINTLOCK]

I'm in eastern Pa. The suppliers I've found on the net are west coast. Anyone know of east coast supplier??

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Are you talking about Vicon dealers? I would think most dealers would deal with Vicon in your area. At least in this area they do. Suppliers supply the items to the dealers so there may only be west coast suppliers.

 

[flINTLOCK]

I'll have to do another net search for Vicon dealers. Maybe I can find one close enough to eyeball it before purchase.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

In this thread http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/attachments/57074-ccm-fertilizer-spreaders.html I posted a few pictures of the Vicon spreader that should give you a good idea what it looks like if the pics don't show up in this thread.

 

[Roto]

This is what the cheap $400 metal spreaders do. I tried everything to correct it but couldnt. You need a Vicon!

Picture of tractor with cheap spreader.
Pictures showing the streaks in the field.
Picture showing the direction of pattern.

You can see its not an overlap problem but throws too much out to the edges. i tried different settings and speeds and heights but no go.

mike

p.s. i cant figure how to put a picture on without the link. Like the one above.

 

[Charolais]

This is what the cheap $400 metal spreaders do. I tried everything to correct it but couldnt. You need a Vicon!

Picture of tractor with cheap spreader.
Pictures showing the streaks in the field.
Picture showing the direction of pattern.

You can see its not an overlap problem but throws too much out to the edges. i tried different settings and speeds and heights but no go.

mike

p.s. i cant figure how to put a picture on without the link. Like the one above.

There may be one out there I've never seen, but every spinner spreader I've seen or used put out more material on one side than the other.Even spreader trucks. Your pictures look like some of my hay fields before I got the Vicon.

I use a foam marker mounted on the tractor and it sure helps with either type spreader.

For those that havn't used a Vicon. In the manual are instructions for calibration. You have to remove the wagtail and set a container under the drop out. Then start the PTO (540)and open the metering gate for a set period of time. Then weigh the material. Also there's a speed chart(MPH) and a throw distance chart. Once you get that nailed down it's ready to do some pretty work. With todays nitrogen and fertilizer prices the Vicon is well worth the money for doing the job right. When you sling plant food now it's like throwing gold out there.

I know ya'll will laugh at this but last year in the drought I had to feed about 350 pounds of corn gluten/soy hull pellets per day. I used the Vicon to do this. I removed the wagtail and would drop the feed down in small piles. Then open the lot up to the cows. It sure saved me a lot of time and manual labor come feeding time. I bought the feed 5 tons a load and would dump out of the truck right in the Vicon hopper. So the Vicon is more than a fertilizer spreader. (grin)

 

[Roto]

That metal cheap one I have puts out equal on both sides but just too much thrown out to the far edges. equal sides but not uniform.

The perfect run to see is that run up against the fence. Look at the picture with no marks and see the run up against the fence. you can see dark green at out edges of spread but equal on both sides.

Mike

 

[Soundguy]

That metal spreader you have is of a pretty common design. though many variants exist. i have an older magrix which is similar.. hower it has a few shields and director chutes on it.. some of which can be adjusted to help control seed direction.. etc.

It looks like these simple design differences (refinements? ) make a huge difference. I owned a real cheap ( 300$ ) pyramidal 'cone' spreader from tsc for a few yeras.. it was deffinately an 'odd pattern' thrower. I'm glad it finally died so i would have to get a better one. Luck was with me and I found my cone spreader at a junk dealer. had a few warts but was 100% working.. Took a handfull of parts and some sweat equity.. but I'm prety happy for it.. especially since I only paid 150$ for it.

by the way.. even 'striped' where you have overlap or thin areas.. your place looks really nice and green compaired to those of us living in drought area..


Soundguy

This is what the cheap $400 metal spreaders do. I tried everything to correct it but couldnt. You need a Vicon!

Picture of tractor with cheap spreader.
Pictures showing the streaks in the field.
Picture showing the direction of pattern.

You can see its not an overlap problem but throws too much out to the edges. i tried different settings and speeds and heights but no go.

mike

p.s. i cant figure how to put a picture on without the link. Like the one above.