Spreading lime with manure spreader???

JakeBrakeIH · Dec 1, 2016

Hey Guys, I had a bunch of soil samples come back and our PH is extremely low. We have a small dairy and money is extremely tight as anyone in the dairy business. We need to spread roughly ~100 tons of lime throughout the farm. I am working on a neighbors Meyer v max 3245 spreader to finish empting our pit and had wondered if we could use it to spread the lime out?

If we have the lime just dropped in bulk, it would save is about $2,200 dollars vs having them spread it. The spreader is labeled to do dry material such as chicken litter, but Im a little nervous that the augers would "pack" the lime tight at the end of the spreader? We live in an area where there is not many farms left and getting hands on equipment is tough so it would be great if this spreader would work.

Thanks in advance!

cumminspuller · Dec 1, 2016

I would want to look for something else to spread my lime with. I can't see that spreader working good with lime.

coonie minnie · Dec 1, 2016

Think about this... How do you know you got the lime spreading calibrated right with the manure spreader????

It will be expensive when the pile is gone and you are only half done.

It will be worth the money to have it done right.

paul · Dec 1, 2016

I think you will get an uneven spread with a manure spreader, but I live with a soil ph of 6.5 to 8.2 so I know very little about like......

Paul

Traditional Farmer · Dec 2, 2016

I've mixed lime in with manure when I was loading and spread the lime and manure together but of course its not an even spread but here I can't hardly get too much lime on land so it worked for me.One thing half of it didn't blow away like it does sometimes spreading with a truck.You might check around to see if anyone rents something like a Stolfus spread in your area.

Brown Swiss · Dec 2, 2016

I would not be a happy spreader owner if a guy borrowed it to spread strait lime with it. That said I have put lime on top of loads of manure but in a box spreader, yes not a perfect spread but it did work fairly well. I watched around and got a regular lime spreader and use that instead, but I understand about money being tight and then the company wants as much to spread it as what the lime is worth, so it comes down to half a dozen of one and six of the other.

farmerwithmutt · Dec 2, 2016

I've always added lime to my manure. What I did to measure how much I spread a 40 is roughly a quarter mile long and 33 and a half wide is an acre. So I would count how many loads it would take to spread that area and knowing how much the spreader would hold I would get a rough number. Same with lime I would know how much I had in a load and then knowing how many loads per acre I would have how much I put on per acre.

JD Seller · Dec 2, 2016

Well you will get way too much lime on per acre with the Meyers spreader. You can NOT put the gate down at all in lime or you will push the door into the beaters. Also you will really wear the beater blades in lime. Chicken litter is way different than lime. The density of lime is about 2-3 times what manure of any type would be.

IF you need lime then add it on to your manure as you spread it. I have not hired lime spread in over 40 years. I have lime hauled in and add it to the top of the loads of manure. I average spreading a load of manure per acre so I add about 4000 lbs. of lime to each load going to fields that need lime.

hayray · Dec 3, 2016

Like others said, mix with manure. Or get the marl type lime from water drinking water treatment lagoons if they have that in your part of the country. My lime country uses a Knight side slinger spreader to spread that stuff, it is like a clay type material.

rick n ohio · Jan 13, 2017

here in eastern central ohio you can rent a lime spreader for next to nothing at the county extension office.
RICK

showcrop · Jan 19, 2017

Lime does not need to be spread anywhere near as accurately as fertilizer, and as others have said I have seen it put on spreaders on top of manure plenty of times. I used to rent a six ton spreader from ten miles away, and there was another one fifteen miles away. I would think that there must be one somewhere around you. Ask the people that you will be buying the lime from. Be sure that the lime is wet. If it is going to be sitting let it get rained on but if the weather is going to be sunny and dry tarp it.

Spreading lime with manure spreader???

JakeBrakeIH

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cumminspuller

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coonie minnie

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paul

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Traditional Farmer

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Brown Swiss

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farmerwithmutt

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JD Seller

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hayray

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rick n ohio

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showcrop

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