Dry fertilizer handling

How do you guys handle your dry fertilizer at planting time. I need a better way to handle it for planting. Currently we just spread it preplant even for corn. I think corn would get more from in row or near row application. I would also like to be able to transport it from farm to farm since they are as much as 10 miles apart. I need to be able to load about 10ton.

Gravity wagon with an auger. The fertilizer plant delivers to me 4 to 5 ton at a time and unloads in my wagon then I haul it to the field. I put a blue tarp in the wagon and put the fertilizer on top of it. Just open the door and cut a slit in it. It plugs up leaks and keeps the wagon from rusting any worse than it already is.

We buy in 1000# bags and handle them with loader forks on one of the tractors. Works very well and is very easy to handle. We load into the fertilizer boxes on our John Deere 7200 plateless corn planter. When the bags are empty, we send them back to the fertilizer vendor. An added benefit of these bags is that they are pretty waterproof.

google "gravity box fertilizer auger". Similar setups for barge boxes, trucks, are available. Can easily make your own. Ev4en use a grinder mixer?

I used to follow the drill and 7000 planter with this Killbros cart, it had the hydraulic auger.

Randy, that's exactly how we did it, bulk truck delivered, filled the wagon, we worked off that, and yes it had to get back to the machine shed overnight, too costly to risk. This one had a bit of rust too.

A lid or 2 blew off the 7000 planter one night, during a storm, the dry boxes had fertilizer in them, somehow it worked. It was hard to tell how much water it took on, but the fertilizer granules were flowing and we emptied it while planting. I believe we even had the darned thing tarped over too, not a good feeling when you pull in to the staging area on this other farm where everything was parked and you see that. The gravity wagon was tarped and cinched with a rope but good, that held thankfully.

I use an old farm truck (grain truck) with a drill fill auger. Sorry, don't have a picture to post.

We use a gravity wagon with a hyd auger on it, then auger it into the planter. We first found a gravity wagon that didn't have any rust, then we had a body shop sandblast the inside of it and then had the entire inside of it sprayed with Rhino Lining or whatever that heavy duty truck bed lining is. It works real well. It has tarp hooks all the way around the top, and a rubberized canvas tarp with grommets that the hooks hold onto, so it stays very dry. We have it filled by the local fertilizer provider, they usually show up the same day within a couple hours of calling. Any fertilizer left after planting we auger into our broadcast spreader and spread it onto fields that could use a little extra.

Ross

I use a 300 bushel gravity wagon with the hydraulic auger as many have mentioned. When I am done I try to wash everything very well and either oil it up or paint it. I have used this wagon many years for fertilizer. Two years ago I did have to bolt in some new metal on the seams where the angles meet. Fertilizer gets between the metal and just keeps doing its job - rust! I have done what was mentioned in regards to dropping a cheap blue tarp into the wagon to protect the walls. The first load out you just slit the blue tarp at the door. Good to shut the door and let the auger clean out after the planter is filled. Why?? The auger gets pretty heavy and I have broke the cable bouncing over some rough ground. Secondly, the fertilizer can settle downward and make the auger hard to start if your hydraulics aren't the best. I fill an 8 row corn planter with an across the top auger with a hopper on one end. It runs off of the planter tractor. Research shows that the fertilizer doesn't "tie" up in the soil chemistry if banded as it is a more concentrated deposit of fertilizer rather than a pellet here and there. Therefore research shows that rates might be cut approximately 1/2 over broadcast. Secondly, you can get a "starter" fertilizer effect reflected in greener, better doing plants at emergence. You do have to have caution that the seed isn't setting in the fertilizer as the "salts" will destroy germination. I mean 100% no germination with dry fertilizer. I normally put down about 220 pounds per acre and raise 185 to 200 bushels corn per acre. That provides P and K for the beans the next year also (50 - 60 bushel beans). I have put down 300 pounds at 3" by 3" with no problems. Coulters place the fertilizer roughly 3 inches to the side and horizontally 2 to 5 inches deep. Products used are 11-52-0 and 0-0-60 mixed equally at the ag service. Sometimes I will put some urea in the mix for another 10 - 15 pounds of N along with the NH3 put down pre-plant. Sometimes I add in some pelleted gypsum for additional sulfur and calcium. Gypsum is fairly cheap. Works well for me in a 100% no-till situation where I can get the P and K in the ground. Good luck.