[AT] Fun with the manure spreader

[Dean Vinson]

Dean, yeah, I was pretty embarrassed, but at the same time relieved not to have a big repair bill.

And agreed, I'd loaded that spreader pretty full as shown in the photo.   And I'd even had your exact same thought a few weeks earlier when I broke a pin in the "beater" drive chain and cursed myself for pushing that old machine too hard, and then added more curses while laboriously digging out around the beaters and redistributing the remaining load.   But when I looked at the chain, I realized the broken pin was just a cotter pin somebody had stuck in there and it naturally enough had sheared right off.  I replaced it with a proper pin and then seem to have forgotten my concerns about pushing too hard...

But I will say that disposing of that big pile was a one-time event, as it was the result of many past years' worth of accumulation.    Our new plan is to accumulate manure on a section of the old concrete feedlot area, not inside the pasture, where I can easily get to it once a month or so without having to deal with pasture fence gates--and before there's enough accumulated to overload the spreader.

One other note:   After I'd disposed of the big old pile in the pasture, I wanted to smooth out the overall area just to help it look properly cleaned up, ready for grass to get reestablished, etc.   Made short work of that job with the JD 620 and #65 rear blade... :)

Dean Vinson
Saint Paris, Ohio
 

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Dean VP
Sent: Friday, November 17, 2017 2:19 AM
To: 'Antique tractor email discussion group' <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] Fun with the manure spreader

Dean,  That had to be really hard to accept. 😊  Reminds me of when I had my wife pull my hand start JD H with another JD H because I couldn't get the damn thing started. Down the driveway on to the asphalt road. Not a pop. She stopped and asked me if I had gas in the tank. Next subject! Yes, but not in the tank that I had connected to the carburetor. Duh!!!

Dean, a hint that I too had to learn the hard way. Sometimes we think we are still using newer tractors and implements and push them to their design limits.  But on the older/used implements it is sometimes very wise to not quite fill the manure spreader completely full. 😊   Learned the hard way. It pays to be a little conservative. 

Dean VP
Snohomish, WA 98290