manure spreader question?

carvel minne farmer · Apr 24, 2018

good evening guys I am going to look at a I.H. manure spreader one of my neighbors has, (when it drys up here) we where talking at a local hall function and he's retired from farming and has his land rented out. he was telling me it's in nice shape just needs new plywood floor. I am thinking about an idea I had a few years back but didn't do it (wasn't my spreader) of putting in the new plywood floor and then putting 1/4" poly puck board on top of the plywood. for you guys that aren't hockey fans puck board is a white plastic (poly) comes in 4' x8' sheets and is used to line the inside of the boards in hockey rinks. one side is very smooth and slippery, and the other side has a rougher texture to it (for gluing).

my question: would the smooth slippery surface work better for unloading the manure? the chains and cross bars should move smoother and not have as much drag on the slippery puck board. going with 3/4" pressure treated and then the 1/4" puck board on top.

thoughts on this and has anyone done this?

steve706 · Apr 25, 2018

I thought of trying the puck board idea, but went another route that I found even easier. I used solid vinyl deck planking on it?s own and the
results have been great, nothing hangs up,slides really smoothly, and it?s not going to rot like wood.

Leroy · Apr 25, 2018

There is a special plastic made for flooring in spreaders and comes in sheats big enough to cover the floor and I dought that an 8' sheat of plywood would be long enough.

TJV · Apr 25, 2018

Our new holland spreader came factory with poly plank floor and yes I think it unloaded easier than the previous wood floor spreader and the
poly doesn't rot away. Now your idea still leaves great potential for rotting the wood under the poly for the simple fact it will get wet
between the layers and not dry out easily, like the idea of the poly deck material mentioned in the last post, it also eliminates the issue
of how to fasten the layers together or a seam between two pieces that could catch the chain slats and tear it.

Destroked 450 · Apr 25, 2018

I like the idea of the deck planking
Poly and wood have different drink rates which will cause bucking (raised spots) in the poly, these spots will wear faster creating holes and tears in the poly.
As other have said the plywood would also rut out faster due to moisture between the wood and poly.

carvel minne farmer · Apr 25, 2018

(quoted from post at 04:41:25 04/25/18) I thought of trying the puck board idea, but went another route that I found even easier. I used solid vinyl deck planking on it?s own and the
results have been great, nothing hangs up,slides really smoothly, and it?s not going to rot like wood.

thank you steve I will check with home depot and the other lumber suppliers here. I plan on stripping out the old plywood and buffing everthing up, then applying por-15, then the poly deck planking. what width and thickness of poly planking did you use steve?

carvel minne farmer · Apr 25, 2018

(quoted from post at 05:59:02 04/25/18) Our new holland spreader came factory with poly plank floor and yes I think it unloaded easier than the previous wood floor spreader and the
poly doesn't rot away. Now your idea still leaves great potential for rotting the wood under the poly for the simple fact it will get wet
between the layers and not dry out easily, like the idea of the poly deck material mentioned in the last post, it also eliminates the issue
of how to fasten the layers together or a seam between two pieces that could catch the chain slats and tear it.

thank you tjv, as both you and steve said I will go with the poly deck planking, question travis what size are the planks on your nh spreader, width and thickness?

steve706 · Apr 25, 2018

I used 7/8? thick by 6? wide that my local Home Hardware building center was getting rid of since it was all mismatched pieces. My spreader is
a IH 150 and it took 9 planks, I just beveled the ends so the chain and bars would glide over nicely. Installed them almost 20 years ago with no
issues at all, washes out a 100 times better than the wood floor did and the colour has yet to fade.

paul · Apr 25, 2018

Does that poly deck stuff fracture a bit more easily, I've heard maybe ice lumps getting dropped intot he spreader could bust a hole in a little
easier?

Paul

steve706 · Apr 25, 2018

The composite decking doesn?t crack, warp, twist, snap, or get holes through regular use. The stuff is far from brittle, I?ve dumped a load of gravel in mine and didn?t cause any damage at all.

paul · Apr 25, 2018

There are different styles of composite; some are fairly hollow, or shaped out underneath.

Are you folk using some sort of solid stuff, or?

Thanx.

Paul

steve706 · Apr 25, 2018

Yes, the solid type, same dimensions and thickness as pressure treated wood. It?s pretty popular here in Canada due to the weather and stands up better than any wood. The stuff I bought is a vinyl composite and to be honest I was sceptical at first, but the stuff has exceeded all expectations. The hollow or shaped bottom I don?t think would hold up.

Fordfarmer · Apr 25, 2018

New Idea 3600 and 3700 series spreaders came with plastic-lined plywood floors. EXCELLENT way to go - less chain wear, almost no freeze-down. I wouldn't go back to a bare wood floor.
There is a company in I think Cadott, WI that will plastic-line your spreader, barn cleaner chute, dump truck, manger.... just about anything you can think of.

Leroy · Apr 25, 2018

The one that you don.t think would hold up I believe is all that is avaible here in this part of Ohio. I looked at it and bent too easy to have supports any farther apart than 16", then I would question it for anything heavy.

carvel minne farmer · Apr 25, 2018

(quoted from post at 08:24:44 04/25/18) I used 7/8? thick by 6? wide that my local Home Hardware building center was getting rid of since it was all mismatched pieces. My spreader is
a IH 150 and it took 9 planks, I just beveled the ends so the chain and bars would glide over nicely. Installed them almost 20 years ago with no
issues at all, washes out a 100 times better than the wood floor did and the colour has yet to fade.

thanks steve we have both home hardware and home depot close so will price them out and go with the 7/8" x 6". beveling the ends so the chain and bars roll smooth. that was my thinking going with plastic that it would wash out and clean up a lot better than wood.

paul · Apr 26, 2018

Yes, that is commonly what we findaround here for composite deck material, hollow of some sort, and needs 16 inch or less support. It holds up to weather, but go across it with a pogo stick and you might punch it through.....

I'll have to see if there is a solid type available around here. This is what I see, and does not look strong enough?

Paul

Leroy · Apr 26, 2018

That is all I see around here and to me it looks like too much flex even for a floor you walk on spaced on 16" centers,

Traditional Farmer · Apr 27, 2018

Get some of the ploy type stuff they line the bottoms of dump truck beds,we used to use it on material handling chutes at the concrete plant slick as it can be and nothing will
hardly freeze to it.

manure spreader question?

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