Spreader Broadcast Spreaders

[zuiko]

I need a spreader, around 6 bushel. Anything I should look for or avoid in one? I'd be using it for seed, fertilizer, and salt.

 

[beenthere]

If you get a wheeled one, make sure the wheels are spaced out far enough to keep the spreader upright when on a bank. I have one (small) and the wheels are too narrow, making traversing a bank a bit precarious sometimes. Not well engineered, but storage is easier. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

On/off and spread-rate controls that can be reached from the seat are desireable, in my book. Changing on the go is often needed.

 

[PineRidge]

We use a 3-point Worksaver brand broadcast seeder/spreader that is PTO driven. It will hold 600 pounds of material safely and does a good job of spreading fertilizer, grass seed, buckwheat, oats, and the like. An optional agitator is available for this unit although I have never needed it. There is an adjustment to spread your material in a half arch or quarter arc left or right should you need to use that feature. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

It is easy to attach to the tractor, works well, and all adjustments are easily performed. The gate can be opened and closed from the tractor seat. I would highly recommend rinsing out the hopper anytime that you spread anything caustic such as fertilizer as I have seen implements eaten away because that advice was not followed. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

I have never had any luck with wheeled models for the big jobs so I would recommend avoiding them unless you have a very small job to do.

 

[BWa]

I bought a cone shape type spreader , I now wish I had looked in to it more and gotten a wheeled tpye spreader . Cone type will not do lime very wel unless you like to eat the stuff , a drop type wheel spreader would do this job and the others well if not better ..JMHO.
Bill G,

 

[PineRidge]

<font color="blue"> I bought a cone shape type spreader , I now wish I had looked in to it more and gotten a wheeled tpye spreader . Cone type will not do lime very wel unless you like to eat the stuff , a drop type wheel spreader would do this job and the others well if not better </font>

I agree with you on that one. I used my 3-point spreader once for lime. It goes everywhere but where you intended for it to go. There is also a lot of waste as the wind blows it around.

 

[SimS]

I tried spreading lime in my cone spreader too. Mucho in the air and very little on the ground. My supplier recommended pelletized lime and it works super. Little to no dust and it spreads great. On the downside, I don't think it is absorbed as quickly as the powder. My two cents.

SS

 

[Junkman]

I have heard, but with no certainty as to the accuracy, that lime that is applied takes about 12 months to get the full effect of it. Around CT if you have a lot of area to lime, there is a company that will come in and spray the fields with lime at the rate of X tons per acre as you specify. A neighbor had the fields limed and went overboard and could taste it in the well for a few months afterward. I use pelleted lime in my cone tow behind spreader. Works well for me, except for the problem of disposal of the paper bags. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

 

[HayDR]

Hydrated lime needs to be spread with an EZ-Flow type spreader but the pelletized lime can be spread with a spin spreader.

<font color="blue">CCM Net Special $ 235 </font>

 

[zuiko]

Interesting... hadn't even thought about a tow behind one. I haven't seen a tow behind that size. About what do they run? I assume they cost more than the 3ph variety.

I'm not too worried about spreading lime because I would probably hire that out anyway.

Thanks.

 

[sweettractors]

We sell a lot of these units for the applications you refer to--Ken Sweet
Sweet Farm Equipment Co *New and used Equipment*

 

[CTyler]

Will these spreaders sling road/pea gravel or so you need to stick with sand?

 

[sweettractors]

We have a local company that takes the pea gravel from the mine--They grade it in several sizes from sand to 1/8 diameter all the way to 2-3 inches in diameter--I dont see why some of the smaller grades would not feed just fine--sorta like pelleted lime, I would think?---Ken Sweet
Sweet Farm Equipment Co *New and Used Equipment*

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I had a tow behind rotary spreader and hated it. I threw it out to the trash but someone "salvaged" it before the disposal company arrived. The ground wheels engage the rotation shaft and if the ground wheels don't have enough tractions they do not work well. I got mine for winter salting but found it to be pretty much useless because of slick spots on the drive way. For fertilizing it seemed to do well when it was loaded down with 100 pounds or more of something because the weight of the material in the hopper helps keep the wheels spinning but as the material is thrown out of the hopper it lightens up and you lose traction, especially on bumpy or lose ground.

I am considering another one, but I'd only buy a PTO driven unit like the ones at Sweets or CCM. There is another brand that I've seen that is 3 times the price that looks to be more flexible in what it will spread, but I'm not sure I have the use for something that has the capabilities, I think the brand was HURD.

 

[zuiko]

How big was it? I would think if the unit was heavy enough empty that would take care of the traction problem.

The two advantages I would see are being easier to adjust the coverage of the material since its driven by the wheels instead of PTO, and being easier to hook up (no PTO shaft).

For example, it seems to me if you shift from say B2 to B3 without changing RPMs all the sudden your coverage is much less. There are three variables there vs just the one on a wheeled version. Not sure how much that matters in practice but I imagine it could be annoying. It would probably be worse on a hydro because it's variable and harder to reproduce an exact speed.

 

[sweettractors]

<font color="blue"> The ground wheels engage the rotation shaft and if the ground wheels don't have enough tractions they do not work well </font>

Bob--It has a lot to do with the diameter and width of the tires on the ground drive units (bigger is better)---We sell 25 three point models tub and Herd seeders to every pull type version--They are definitly a speciality item and that is the catagory we put them in on our website --Ken Sweet
Sweet Farm Equipment Co *New and Used Equipment*