/ FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS #11  
Hi! Does anybody have any tips, techniques, or ideas on how to keep horse manure from freezing to the bucket on a backhoe? Wicked hard to chop it out if it gets frozen….(and it usually happens EXACTLY when you need the backhoe for something else, right!?!?)
😉😂
I’ve tried putting a layer of straw down…but doesn’t make any difference - especially if we get free/thaw cycles (which they are predicting this year🤦‍♀️).
There’s some recipes I’ve seen to stop windshields from icing up that include Dawn dish soap, rubbing alcohol and some other ingredients, but I have my doubts that would work on a metal bucket with freezing & thawing material sitting on top of it!
I saw an article from 2014 in the Farm Show magazine about a guy who makes custom bucket liners out of a certain plastic with specialized seam sealing and attachment to the bucket.
But the price was special too- about $6000!😮 I’ve just sent him a message- maybe his prices have come down since then. 🤷‍♀️
But if anybody has come up with a creative way to deal with this issue, I’d love to hear your feedback!
Thanks! 😊patti

I'd scrape it out with a metal square mouth shovel right after use and park indoors, or in a way that snow or water doesn't collect in it. Ice frozen in a bucket is just as bad.
 
   / FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS #12  
Blow torch or other hi heat device, heat the bucket and you'll have a 'bucket shaped' clump to dump.
BUT
Best is empty B4 that happens, supper will wait!
 
   / FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS
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#13  
We always kept dairy cow manure from freezing on the sides of the spreader by scraping it down after the load was off. If it was well below zero out we cleaned it between loads. Good times.
yup- I do scrape it with my ice chopper after I dump it…but seriously- it is like concrete on there!!!
If I tried to get it even ‘semi-cleaned off’ it would take me hours!
I guess it’s because I throw it on as I go- not all at once. There wouldn’t be any problem with it freezingfc if I did it that way, but utscjshfdx Tuff
I'd scrape it out with a metal square mouth shovel right after use and park indoors, or in a way that snow or water doesn't collect in it. Ice frozen in a bucket is just as bad.
yes!! You’re right! ice is wicked too. I swear it’s just like concrete in a bucket!
Unfortunately, no place to park it indoors or in a shelter. I tip the bucket if I’m not using it…but I figure if it’s sitting out there anyways I might as well be loading it rather than having to pick it twice! 😉
But maybe that’s just going to have to be the way it is.🤷‍♀️ Suck it up buttercup!! 😂

I have done that in the past- waited till I had a full load before loading it…but then I get busy doing something else, and end up leaving it in there. Inevitably of course, we’ll then get a rainstorm, or ice/snow storm, followed by a brief thaw, (but enough to fill the bucket half full of water!), followed by a deep freeze that lasts for weeks, making the bucket one solid, giant ice cube, rendering it unusable!! (Which- of course- will be the EXACT time that my friend needs it back to do a plumbing job- or we have to unload/move something- RIGHT!?!? 🤦‍♀️🙄.
I guess there’s always good old propane torches!! 😁
Lots of fun lying on the ground in -25C weather heating the bottom of the bucket!!! (You’d think I would learn wouldn’t you!?!? 😂😂😂)
 
   / FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS
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#14  
Blow torch or other hi heat device, heat the bucket and you'll have a 'bucket shaped' clump to dump.
BUT
Best is empty B4 that happens, supper will wait!
Haha! Yes…I had JUST mentioned good old torches before I saw your post! You’re right- I just need to ‘git ‘er done!’ 😂
 
   / FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS
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#15  
We always kept dairy cow manure from freezing on the sides of the spreader by scraping it down after the load was off. If it was well below zero out we cleaned it between loads. Good times.
 
   / FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS
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#16  
Clean when finished, set in sun, pallet under bucket.
Yup! And I tip the bucket too…but there’s always those times…when I have it loaded and don’t get it dumped…🤦‍♀️So I was hoping for some little ‘miracle tip’ to help avoid the inevitable chopping that follows!
 
   / FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS
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#17  
I am not in the severe temperature zone you are in. Sometimes it is snowing and freezing but not much. I take the time to hose out or scrape my bucket when done. A clean bucket is a happy bucket! I take the time, makes my next barn cleaning or rock hauling easier.
For sure! A clean bucket is a happy bucket…
chopping/scraping does not make me happy…
And you know how the old saying goes…
And ‘if momma ain’t happy, ain’t NOBODY happy!’
😂😂😂
 
   / FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS
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#18  
We always kept dairy cow manure from freezing on the sides of the spreader by scraping it down after the load was off. If it was well below zero out we cleaned it between loads. Good times.
Sorry about the other message…I drifted off to sleep writing it! 🤦‍♀️😂 (Can you tell??? LOL) Bottom line is: don’t load it until you’ve got a full load & can dump it right away. And make SURE you DO dump it right away!!!! (Even IF you can’t feel your fingers, toes or face!!!😂
(I hope these horses realize how MUCH I HATE winter…and how MUCH I must love ‘em!!🤦‍♀️😁) lol
 
   / FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS
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#19  
Why are you using a backhoe to scoop horse manure? What is your bucket width? The narrower the more it cakes in.
Oh…not scraping…mucking out/picking up by hand.
Good times!! 😂
(Horses…🤦‍♀️😂
Gotta love them! 🤷‍♀️)
And I’ve been too busy (unmotivated perhaps??!?🤷‍♀️😂) to unload the huge bucket of wood on the skidsteer!! Lol
 
   / FROZEN MANURE ON BUCKETS
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#20  
If your using it, mix up some liquid manure/molasses/beets juice and put it in a sprayer. Or feed it through a heated pressure washer. Same as they do for roads.

If your not using it you can always spray with oil frequently.

If it's just while sitting, a tarp and magnetic heat pad could be used as well or a heated horse trough.
Mix all those things together- or just one?
I don’t have liquid manure…(only bucketfuls of frozen solid manure…which is the reason for this post! 😂😂) Do you know if the beet juice they use on the roads is just straight beet juice or is there something else in it?
Do you know where you can buy beet juice? (Anywhere in bulk?) I wonder where townships buy it for road maintenance? I guess could just give them a call!
Do stores like co-op’s or TSC carry it? Or do you have to go directly to a beet farm?

I HAVE actually coated it with cooking spray before-like I do with all my shovels!
You have to re-coat it after every load though…
And if the manure is sitting in the bucket, I imagine the water/straw would erase any of the non-stick benefits of the spray. Can’t hurt though!! What kind of oil would YOU use to coat it??
Brush on a coat or used (or new?) diesel oil? Cooking oils? car engine oils?
Hmmmm… I wonder if routinely spraying it with a coat of WD40 would help since it IS designed to displace water. 🤔
It might keep the water out of a thin layer- just enough to act like a buffer between the metal and manure.
I might just give that a try!
I’ll post if it makes a difference! I’ve also got some spray that stops stairs and windshields from freezing, so I’m going to try that, and that recipe using the Dawn. Don’t have anything to lose by giving it a shot right!!? My mantra is..
Work smarter, not harder!!😂
(Somebody needs to tell the HORSES that!! 😂)
 
 
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