Manure & Bucket Rust

[MarkMac]

This summer I decided to start using my tractor to dump horse manure. Previously I used a plastic trash barrels on a dump cart rowed by ATV.

During the Arizona summer it’s so hot & dry I don’t really worry about the manure in the bucket. Come fall, when I’ll have to deal with horse manure AND wet urine, I’m concerned about a bucket rusting.

Horse urine soaked sawdust seems to go through sheetmetal wheelbarrows and dump carts real fast, rusting them out in a season.

The tractor bucket is MUCH thicker though. The steel may outlive the horses and me.. even with daily exposure to horse urine?

I still have the ATV and dump cart with plastic cans, but the tractor is super fast and easy.

Would you use the bucket for horse manure?

Has anyone ever rusted out a loader bucket?

 

[big bubba]

Scrub power wash each time after use, & of course, tilt bucket down in storage.
just like using fertilizer. other than that, how long do you plan on living given the thickness of the steel? that's what buckets are made for, regards,

 

[MarkMac]

Horses crap constantly. The clean-up is a daily chore.

 

[WM75Guy]

Wash it out occasionally and you should be OK. We have 3 warmbloods that have free access to their stalls in the barn. We use plastic muck buckets on a cart to clean stalls. Stalls get cleaned once a day and manure spread. Now that we are both retired, we try to not leave any manure in muck buckets in the barn. If it is really raining, we may wait a day to spread manure. We use a Loyal manure spreader behind the Mule to spread manure on pastures. So far It has lasted 15 years without any rust issues and it is thinner metal than a bucket.

 

[fishheadbob]

I've moved many tons of horse and cow manure over decades. Rust is not an issue. When everything is covered in manure it made me feel better to rinse it off; I doubt that the bucket cared at all.

 

[big bubba]

Horses crap constantly. The clean-up is a daily chore.

then you've answered your question, i think the bucket will be fine,. for those less familiar than yourself, allowing moisture to remain on manure (& fertilizer) creates problems, but you know that already, regards,

 

[redman135]

Rust is only an issue when left undisturbed. Frequent use seems to stop rust. Fun fact. a disused bucket holding clean rain water will rust out due to holding water. If the tractor is parked outside then put a slight tilt on the ducket so it is self draining. If it is parked in a shed you are good.

 

[Mtsoxfan]

I helped my neighbor muck out the corral area when his horses were still around. I was ignorant to the fact of it's acidity level. Never washed out, aside from the occasional power wash to make tractor clean again, (after particularly heavy mud on it) but not purposely after mucking. Bucket gets plenty of loader use, I would figure the other materials would scrape all manure out.

 

[LouNY]

Yes, buckets and blades used constantly will finally rust through. It does take lots of years. Of course the tractor will also rust and rot from manure just like it will from road salt when used for snow removal next to the highways.

 

[5030]

Horses and boats have one thing in common, a boat is a hole in the water you pour money into and a horse is a hole in the pasture you also pour money into.

We had horses way back when but Percheron Draft Horses. Big poopers.

Why I do livestock, not equines. Far as manure, I have it as well but I cold water pressure wash out my buckets after using and repaint them every couple years.