Hydraulic Push VS Apron Chain

Kawookie

Member
MY old spreader died yesterday so now I am off looking for a spreader. I have decided to get a new one but not sure about the hydraulic push off. Dealer says it is the way to go but i have always had the apron chain. Supposibly the Hudraulic wont freeze up as bad as the chains. Any help is appreciated thanks
 
We sold the heck out of the JD hydra push spreaders around here. I would never go back to a apron spreader for winter use.

A company by the name of Pikrite is making the JD hydra push spreader. Hagadorn is another good brand. Leon makes one. There are several brands to chose from.
 
Why would you want chains? We had two old ones. Chain links broke several times. No fun shoveling a load of manure off on a windy day.
 
I bought a new Deere 450 HydraPush back in 89. Used it every day for dairy manure. Loved it.Only problem I had was with a real quick freeze. If the manure was wet or if it rained or something the day before,then the bottom fell out of the thermometer,I'd have to throw several pails of hot water in it to break it loose.
They were God awful expensive to repair if something broke. I had a five dollar pin break one time,it held one of the cylinders underneath. I couldn't even begin to see where it was broke,had to take it to the dealer. They had to take the whole floor and front pan out to fix it. This was back in the mid 90s mind you. The bill for fixing that $5 pin back then was $1065.
 
Why would you even consider a box spreader. The V types can fine spread/top dress with persision, and you can go down your drive way or a highway without drizzling loose cow juice all over the road. They also have a minumum of moving parts.
Loren, the Acg.
 
I had one of those things. Never again,unless it's maybe one of the side slingers. I had a Meyer 3254 rear unload. They were fine for slop,but I ruined it trying to haul pen manure. There are carriers at the back of those augers with a nylon bushing in them. They need liquid to lubricate them. On mine,the ends of the augers got cut right off from the wear. I found some pipe that fit inside them with a little force,so I welded both of'em back together,but when one broke for the second time,it went to the scrapper and I bought a New Idea 3732 box spreader.
 
It depends on what you are spreading and what dealers are nearby. Personally if I was buying new the H&S TopShot is basically the Gehl design for a V-tank slinger is the best bar none for sloppy runny stuff, but not so good for pack or anything with lots of straw or hay in it even though the auger lifts. For pack and the like a, Knight slinger handles that better and can still handle slop but the spread pattern is more limited than the H&S. For the eventual maintenence issues I wouldn't even consider a hydra push, the t-bar or t-rod chain holds up really well and if you see it's getting worn, replace it and you won't break a chain with a load on.
 
Yeah thanks I was looking at the 227 Hagedorn Hydra push i do a lot of straw pack manure. I also looked at H&S 425 bushel Hydra push or the New holland 195 apron chain... Just not sure
 
I don't know of too many guys who are happy with the New Holland 195. I'd be looking at a New Idea if you're going with a chain type.
 
I was refering to Knight and Gehl side deliveries. Myers built a decent box spreader but the one you described was a poor excuse for a spreader.
Loren, the Acg.
 
Pik-Rite is where you need to look. They took the John Deere version and grew it into many models. Problem with a knight spreader is they are not precision. You can see out through a field each time the paddle pushes another clump through the impellers. The meyer rear unload, like stated below is pretty light duty unless they have changed alot.
 
It all depends on how much your doing and how much you want to spend.
The Meyers V spreaders do a fine job, but you have to have "slippery" manure and if you are doing pen pack you cannot put snarls in there like the bottom of a round bale that had a ring feeder around it. You will be digging that thing out for days. The hydro push spreaders do ok but if you have some tough pen pack that does not slide too well it will want to push up and go over the sides of the spreader. We have traded in machines for this reason.
New Ideas are now built by H&S. H&S offers a decent brand but nearly everything you see that is a couple years old has welding on it.
Meyer has been a decent built spreader but we would get complaints on spreading, they would not spread except strait back and wouldnt even cover the wheel tracks. They have done better with this now have the vertical beater box spreaders. These do an excellant job and are holding up real well.
The New Holland 195 does a nice job as well. I would like to see a few things a bit heavier. If you have ice chunks the paddles break off and if you over feed the top beater it will bend. But I would not have anything but a hydraulic driven apron. Less moving parts and easier to get the right speed.
Basically if you want something to spread anything a box spreader is still the way to go. The vertical beaters get the even spread of a side slinger and you dont have to worry which way the wind is blowing.
Also, there is a Meyer brand and a Meyers brand.
Jim
 
I was referring to a Meyer in my post. Seen a guy get some type of barnyard junk like a concrete block or wood under the augers and rip the rear carriers right out of the floor. But you can destroy anything trying to feed a curb through it.
 
The door in the back just wasn't big enough for anything too solid. It would just mash the stuff in the doorway and slip the clutch. If the clutch was too tight so it didn't slip,it would break something. I did it way too many times.
If you loaded it with slop then cleaned up around the round bale feeded and put that in,it would take the slop out of the bottom and keep rolling the solid stuff in to a big tangled,tough ball,then try to push it all out at once. Disaster.
 
We rarely haul on our hay fields, just fields we're either gonna plow, or fields that have been plowed. So for us the spread itself doesn't matter much.

We've got a pretty old H&S 235 box spreader that we've all but completely rebuilt the last few years. Still works good, just small if we're going up the road.


P1030004.jpg

IMG_20120429_195203.jpg

IMG_20120429_170706.jpg

IMG_20120512_182758.jpg


Last fall we rented a Kuhn Knight 500 bu. box spreader for some serious hauling to the fields farther away. It's a hydraulic apron with either vertical or horizontal beaters. The one we rented had horizontal beaters. I thought it performed well, I have nothing against apron chains. They'll empty anything, and the new spreaders are tight, no slop running out on the road.

And has been said, if you replace the chain before it's worn out, you won't be digging out a busted spreader. And don't let it freeze, but that's with anything.

IMG_20121125_122457.jpg


Donoan from Wisconsin
 
We've had a hydraulic push now for 25+ years. That aspect of it has never ever given any trouble and I don't expect it ever will based on the way this one is built.
If I was looking for a new spreader today tho... very likely be a Hagedorn with vertical axis beaters. Just keep in mind that you need some serious power in front of it.
Regardless, it would be hydraulic push. I do not want to see an apron chain spreader, ever again.

Rod
 
Alot of good replys on this topic. I myself have a 185 New Holland , that I bought new 15 years ago. It has , and continues to serve me very well. We have a tie stall dairy with 73 stalls, so it gets a lot of work. Still on the first apron chain. I clean it out and oil it couple times a year. Like any other piece of equpment, how you care for it will dictate how long it will last. You could easy spend 25 or 30 thousand on a new spreader, and if you neglect it , and it will give you just as much trouble as a 15 thousand dollar apron type will in time.I would look at how much work I had for the spreader and how much monry you want to tie up.Bruce
a104107.jpg
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top