Fertilizer hopper?

[jjeff]

Buying something like this is very expensive if existent so Looking for ideas on smaller scale two bin fertilizer hopper to load into a three point spreader and a small garden tractor pull behind. Found it much cheaper pd per pd to buy by the ton vs 50 or so lb bags, but requires a careful/gentle finesse of controls and is time consuming loading with use of mini x to load 3 pt spreader at least without tearing the bag open. After testing the soil on the 10 or so acres I hobby farm it's in need of potassium aka potash and nitrogen which I use granular urea to supplement, Anyways curious if anyone ever thought of or built something like this? Good control of gates to discharge into spreaders is important. I have old steel plate ready to be repurposed, and a few pieces of old square tube, channel and smaller I beams to elevate estimate 3 or so feet pending measurement of how low I can get three point spreader to load. Hopper would be used and stored inside my barn, may consider buying a material vibrator to assist in discharge if i build this. Id Probably like to design it for 500 lb capacity per each bin and will be loaded with mini x from 1 ton bags when fertilizer in hopper gets low. I apologize in advance but I'm guilty of asking for advice on some of my hairbrain ideas only to find a different route cuz of either cost of components I feel I need, inability to find or repurpose junk in what I want it to do, much more knowledgeable insight from others than me, lack of finding time, or frustrations attempting to electronically document during building etc. Thanks.

 

[Rustyiron]

Not exactly what you're asking, but fertilizer dealers have " buggies" (trailers) that are available if you buy enough tonage. They may even make up your needed mix. You'll need enough tractor to pull it through the field. Check with a farm bulk supplier.
Used feed bins came to mind initially but they usually require an auger truck to deliver the fertilizer.

 

[jjeff]

Yeah I'm aware of fertilizer delivery methods current set up is the company I buy it from loads one ton palletized bags on my deck over trailer haul it to my hobby operation unload 4-500 lbs directly into spreaders if I don't need that much ill drive trailer in barn during inclement weather , I can lift them off with my mini around1500 lbs off the front boom in close front blade down, replace on pallets and slide into storage in barn until I need a few hundred pds. or so again. Just started this method last year and estimate one ton bags should last 3 years minimum. Like I said much less than purchasing lesser amounts especially by the individual bag usually around 50lbs. Id like to make something that probably would look like a elevated trough with a divider each side has its own gate to put fertilizer in either a small pull behind or 3pt spreader. Unsure on ideas how to make control gates, almost everything that was close to what I want is either for huge farms and or way out of my budget. Even junk I was hoping to convert for my usage was out of what I was willing to pay, thanks for the reply.

 

[Rustyiron]

I've never used the big bag "totes" but a buddy does. He always has trouble in the field with trying to meter it into his spreader (just a 3 pt spinner) and ends up with spilled fertilizer because it doesn't "shut off" very well. I understand your need but building several 500# bins would be more than a casual project but well worth it in the end.

 

[old and tired]

Get more seat time, spread the fertilizer one at a time, don't combine the two. Just use a regular fertilizer spreader for the 3 point hitch.

Get to know your fertilizer spreader, calibrate one fertilizer at a time so you can dial it in correctly. Write down the setting on the side of the spreader so you don't have to calibrate it again. Then do the same with the other fertilizer...

Seems to me like you are trying to reinvent the wheel to save a little bit of time.

 

[jjeff]

I don't mix fertilizer hence my reasoning to put a divider and separate gates in it. figured potash is solely for my frasers and other verities of evergreens, nitrogen is for my sweetcorn, though twice a year ill put nitrogen own tree rows of new plantings.
Countless times what I thought were good ideas turned out otherwise probably why I'm so cheap with certain ideas lol, I'm due for a future debacle provided I get the motivation and time.

 

[jjeff]

Handy drifting hack I learned if your using a small backhoe or mini x with teeth on the bucket to partially empty a one ton fabric tote, roll top down to level of material with tote fabric facing outward point bucket teeth down on inside of farthest edge from mini and plunge the boom down the side, curl it when you stop lift and repeat. Use slight movements on joysticks and finesse. Time consuming but minimal wasting of material plus gives you stick time. Also had a large old piece of cardboard under 3pt spreader which easily curls up and empties spilled material to use. Anyways thanks for the insight and now I'm figuring out the size and shape I need to hold 1k lbs hoping i have enough old plate lying around to make a sizable enough hopper.

 

[oldnslo]

What size are the hoppers on pickup mounted salt spreaders for snow and ice? Could one of these be used vs trying to build something?

 

[jjeff]

Good idea probably around 1/3 yard x2 which would probably be close to the weight cap I want, and would need briefly thought of them. Worth at least looking for a broken down tailgate spreader if I find one. I'm only looking for enough volume to initially remove 500 or so pounds from totes so I can get them off trailer but would go bigger if building it myself depending on how much steel I have. Figuring out how to build or repurpose opening and closing gates and have them mounted strong enough and work reliably and controlled especially on a old poly salt spreader might be somewhat challenging though.

 

[oldnslo]

jeff,
I have never looked at a tail gate spreader but don't they have some form of gate on them from the factory for controlling salt - sand flow rate? Was just thinking they might have corrosion resistant components since fertilizer rusts everything and dust gets in every crack imaginable.

I believe some company used to also make a small pull type spreader but do not recall the company. Might have been Wilmar spreaders and this is going back 50+ years so memory is definitely foggy.

 

[jjeff]

To be clear I'm not looking for an alternative to applying fertilizer, just a means to store and dispense it into spreaders for application.

 

[jjeff]

Some heard the saying cart before the horse my vast reserves of free repurposed plate steel I thought I had to build a hopper have dwindled down over the years. So back to looking for an alternative lol.

 

[jjeff]

Speaking of dialing in spreaders frequently use this small old John Deere branded yard tractor pull behind it was free of course still works unlike several others I've owned I assume it uses steel Instead of plastic gears to turn wheel anyways getting ready to spread grub killer which have decimated a lot of my new bare root transplants over the last few years msds says 80 lbs ber acre. It's a cheaper generic version of mallet can't buy in one ton totes. Does anyone have experience dialing one of these in? Or pointers. I figured if I had to I can stake out multi half acre plots measure 40 lbs in spreader and adjust accordingly? It has a dial to regulate flow currently have it set at 5 of the 10 settings. More pics available on request.
Fortunately I saved instruction sheet for flow settings on my three point. May use that if I have to.

 

[jjeff]

Not wanting to reinvent wheels or spend extra time and money on this idea I sacrificed an old shop vac, that I had to replace switch on (luckily I save junk including switches lol.) anyways took the casters off and cut out the bottom fits perfectly and securely in a old 5 gal bucket. So I'll suck out 5 gal buckets full of fertilizer use the full buckets to fill my small pull behind spreaders and see how this works. Initial tests showed it's better and less of a mess than hand shoveling. Still planning to fill big 3 point spreader directly from totes with mini x. Thanks for the insight.

 

[BigGG]

Not wanting to reinvent wheels or spend extra time and money on this idea I sacrificed an old shop vac, that I had to replace switch on (luckily I save junk including switches lol.) anyways took the casters off and cut out the bottom fits perfectly and securely in a old 5 gal bucket. So I'll suck out 5 gal buckets full of fertilizer use the full buckets to fill my small pull behind spreaders and see how this works. Initial tests showed it's better and less of a mess than hand shoveling. Still planning to fill big 3 point spreader directly from totes with mini x. Thanks for the insight.

Actually, that's not a bad approach. You could expand on it by elevating the bucket and fabricating a cone bottom with a gate of some type. Close the bottom, use the vacuum to fill it, then shut off the vacuum and open the gate to fill the hopper. You've created a pneumatic conveyor. You may need to adjust the air and solids flow at the suction to keep it from plugging. You could build a larger hopper to handle the larger spreader.

Another approach would be to have the fertilizer loaded in a bottom spout bag. These have a tube made into the bag's bottom to discharge the material. Then you could suspend the bag above the spreaders and fill as desired. The spout is tied off with a rope or belt to stop the flow. You'd need the supplier to fill the bag and you might have to furnish the bag.

 

[jjeff]

Yep some sort of a hopper system is still in the back of my mind and I know if I get enough fertilizer out of totes initially i can lift them over hoppers cut the bottoms out and fill the hoppers but i don't have enough of what I need on hand to construct something that big. more time and experiences loading these spreaders will help me determine what exactly i would like to try and make, currently i can use old shop vac to fill multiple 5 gal buckets by placing vacuum on empty 5 gal. buckets that I've accumulated a lot of over the last decade, for the folks who don't understand why i buy fertilizer by the ton price out a 50lb bag compared to cost of a 1 ton tote lol. good idea with feed bags.

 

[rswyan]

Not wanting to reinvent wheels or spend extra time and money on this idea I sacrificed an old shop vac, that I had to replace switch on (luckily I save junk including switches lol.) anyways took the casters off and cut out the bottom fits perfectly and securely in a old 5 gal bucket. So I'll suck out 5 gal buckets full of fertilizer use the full buckets to fill my small pull behind spreaders and see how this works. Initial tests showed it's better and less of a mess than hand shoveling. Still planning to fill big 3 point spreader directly from totes with mini x. Thanks for the insight.

Why not just create a plate (plywood?) with a hole in it for the shop vac that could sit on top of the tow-behind and 3-point spreaders and suck the fertilizer directly into the spreaders from the tote(s) with the shop vac ?

 

[jjeff]

Why not just create a plate (plywood?) with a hole in it for the shop vac that could sit on top of the tow-behind and 3-point spreaders and suck the fertilizer directly into the spreaders from the tote(s) with the shop vac ?

I don't believe that old shop vac is powerful enough to create adequate suction. Briefly tried something like that with a scrap piece of ply wood with vac cut out on top of my pull behind it didn't work, It does have enough sucking power when used over a 5 gallon bucket though.

 

[jjeff]

I've come to believe that the plastic collection bin is an integral part of the suction power, and a unperforated plastic bucket seems the best I can do producing enough suction with that older shop vac.

 

[rswyan]

Edit: never mind then … lol