[AT] Manure spreaders

[Len Rugen]

One of my manure stories.....  As a kid, I had to clean out the chicken house.  It has a broken up concrete floor, mostly gone, but too many chunks left to use on the garden or fields, so we just dumped it in a low spot at the field edge.  This year, it was a road edge.  It was mostly dry, lots of corn cobs, but Mom must have thrown the guts of some cushaw squash out for the chickens.  A vine sprouted in the dumped manure, climbed about 20' up a tree, it was HUGE.  But when it turned a little dry, it died, must have been too much N in the pile :-) 
 

Len Rugen

rugenl at yahoo.com


 

    On Wednesday, March 30, 2016 10:53 AM, Spencer Yost <yostsw at atis.net> wrote:
 

 First,  I use my antique 1939 John Deere b to pull the spreader so this qualifies as an antique tractor discussion.    Second, I have learned TONs about manure over the last 4 years from industry seminars and the extension office.

To answer your question directly:  I use the ABI brand spreader.  The 50ft3 model and love it.  Very very high quality.


Now - to give  you four years of learning in four minutes:

I never spread fresh manure and  recommend composting for several reasons:  Mainly because spreading fresh manure on actively grazed pastures only reinforces and supports the life cycle of parasites.  Definitely a bad idea.  Spread only on idle pastures if you must.  Also composted manure spreads easier and more evenly and has better biologics (worms, microbes, etc) for the soil.  In fact at certain times of the year my manure looks like a worm cup from the bait store.

Keep several small piles.  Much easier to keep them turned.  If turned frequently they compost very quickly.  I keep three piles.  The first is ready to spread by the time the third is too large to add any more.

Keep them covered.  Rain leaches the nitrogen and some other nutrients.  Smaller piles means cheaper tarps too.

The ratio of carbon to nitrogen drives the composting speed - so throw bedding in the same pile.  Too little carbon and the pile will stink and  break down slowly.  I hardly never have to add carbon but when I do I use wood stove ashes and lawn leaves.    You get a 6th sense eventually as to what the pile needs.

Testing to determine its fertilizer value  is free in most states at the extension office.  Bio additives (worms, microbes, etc) is the most valuable part anyways, but knowing the X-X-X value helps in calculating how much you can reduce your other fertilizer applications.

Make sure the core of the pile hits as close to 160 degrees 1-2 days after turning as your conditions allow.  140-160 kills parasites and most weed seeds.  In winter this requires a cover and a very tall pile.  It will also tell you when it's done.  If it doesn't reach this temp but stays down around 110-120 even after turning the pile is ready to spread.

Be careful using it on gardens if your horses graze on pastures treated with certain types of pasture herbicides.  That manure will kill most gardens instead of help it.

More than you wanted to know I am sure but I hope it helps!

Spencer Yost

> On Mar 29, 2016, at 11:26 PM, Mike M <meulenms at gmx.com> wrote:
> 
> OK, so we (my wife) have 2 horses that generate around 2-3 wheelbarrows 
> worth of manure each day. I load it into a 3 sided structure made from 
> railroad ties until it is jammed full and piled as high as my tractor 
> will reach. I try to turn it as much as I can, but that doesn't happen 
> very often as it gets too big to turn given my time allowed. Would a 
> manure spreader be a better way to handle what comes our way each day? I 
> would estimate that there is about 20 yards of manure in the bin right 
> now, and as soon as things dry out a bit, I'll start emptying it. Up 
> until now I've been using it to help build up low spots in the pastures. 
> Any advantage to a spreader, or would it be better to keep doing what 
> I'm doing?
> 
> I've looked on CL and all I can come up with is brand new ones $$$$ or 
> used ones that look like they would need a lot of attention. Any 
> thoughts would be appreciated.
> 
> Thanks,
> Mike M
> 
> 
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