Applying Lime

[nrowles]

New to this forum. Tried to post on another forum I was a member of and apparently it is shut down. Quick summary - I recently bought 14 acres of jack pines and built a home. In addition to a couple small food plots, I am going to open up a few acres on the back half for some hobby farming, fruit trees (for home and wildlife), etc.

I am struggling with planning how I will be applying lime. Soil test calls for 4 tons of lime per acre to get to 7ph. Yes, 4 tons per acre. I plan to do this in 2 applications. I don't think a lime truck is an option since it is off the beaten path. I don't want to do pelletized because that would cost a fortune. I have the tractor that is in my avatar but the only piece of equipment I can find to apply lime is a drop spreader that holds 175lb.

Any suggestions on how to economically and efficiently get some lime to the ground? I'm pretty much to the point of shoveling it and dragging a chain link fence I have to even it out.

 

[Natty Bumppo]

I have a similar thing going on and I just use elbow grease. I buy a ton of lime at at time, have my guy load it into my pick-up on a pallet, transfer it to my wagon or trailer, and pull it out to my site with my ATV or tractor. I grab a bag at a time and just walk and spread it. Really not that big a job for small food plots. I can spread a ton in about an hour. I don't worry too much about covering every square inch on ground or even application. I just get it down the best I can. Then, yes, I drive over it with a set of chain harrows and let mother nature do the rest.

 

[tooln]

Any coops in your area have spreaders? Most around here do and will deliver them for you. Hook your tractor to it and you spread it.

 

[nrowles]

What is a coop and how would I go about searching for one? What is a coop in the "business" of doing?

 

[BJE80]

Agriculture Cooperative. Coop is short. Its a Farmer supply store to buy things in bulk for farming. But they usually have smaller quantities as well. Some people call them an "Elevator".

 

[nrowles]

Co-op in my area does not have lime spreading equipment.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Where in Central Pa. ?? Is your ground rough, steep, or rocky that a lime spreader can't get in ?? If you have rugged terrain, you may have to do what Natty does.

Before we had equipment, we started spreading lime by distributing the bags around a field, then opening them up and dumping the bags on the ground. We then took shovels and tossed the lime around roughly, then drug some chain link fence around the field. It worked and we got clover to grow.

 

[Fall's Legend]

Since the Co-Op does not do it, and I assume they did not make any suggestions, ask your nearby farmers how they get lime and spread it.

 

[MRBB]

start looking about old farms for old drop box spreaders
there are a LOT out there sitting dormant
I am in PA< NE< and north central, and travel about the state
most of them are still in working order, or need some little TLC to get going again, they were all the crazy back in the late 60's and into 70's and 80's
almost all older farms had them here in PA

over the past 20 yrs I picked up about a dozen, have two at my hunting camp, and had one at each of the farms I plot on and hunt, used to be able to grab them for about 50-100 bucks, and most just needed tires, and would get them free at tire stores, as most had 15-16 inch wheels, so basic tires off small truck or larger cars worked for field work(wheels of most GEO trackers, fit every one I needed them for, got tires and wheels many times at junk yards for dirt cheap)
Most I have found have been in the 10-12 ft wide, but have had a few in the 8 ft wide
they tend to hold about 1,000-1800 lbs of pulverized lime
they have ground driven mixer that runs across the bottom of the b box, and there almost bullet proof, they were made back then to last forever, , the boxes are sheet metal,. some have needed patching from rust


but again, these things are out there if you look, they can be pulled on level ground fully loaded by an atv too, tractor makes it easier if any hills, but an atv can do it

LIKE drop spreaders by modern R made models are like $2500-3500+, they count on hunters being suckers I think??
Only advantage I see with the new one's are they are made of stainless, so rust shouldn;'t be a worry really

I just wash mine out after every use, and grease every fitting before and AFTER every use, and I then spray mine down with oil mixed with KERO, thins it and use a spray bottle to apply

 

[MRBB]

and here are some pic's if your NOT sure what they look like

even older farm tractor shops might have some in there lots and will be willing to sell if you ask

http://search.aol.com/aol/image?q=o...7C479D324D9E7556018C0FFF&v_t=keyword_rollover

 

[MRBB]

and here are two for sale
again, if you look on old farms, you will find them laying about as modern farming doesn't use them,. guys that bother to post add's ask premium prices, but just so you can see some options,, I never paid more than I think 200 bucks to buy one off a farmer, as there NOT using and any $$ is better than none I think to many!

http://www.equipmenttraderonline.com/Farming-Equipment/listing/-JOHN+DEERE-LF-116036588

http://www.farms.com/classifieds/antiques/john-deere-lf-8-drop-spreader-for-sale-87570.aspx

 

[MRBB]

a little better on price
http://www.tractorshed.com/contents/adpic38848.htm

http://www.tractorshed.com/contents/adpic27906.htm

 

[nrowles]

Location is Millerstown area. It's twisty turny with bumps here and there getting back to it. I suppose if I widened the path (it's just big enough now for my tractor to squeeze through) a truck might want to get back in. I just figure they want something really decent to take their truck on. Hill wise the worst would be a 15% grade over about 50'. A lot of the local farmers have good access to their fields and I've seen lime trucks in many of them. I can ask around though.

I can get loose lime for $32 per ton delivered here so that's why I'm looking to do it that way. Would be even cheaper if I bought the equipment and applied it myself. If I apply 4 ton per acre over 4 or 5 acres, the equipment paid for itself and made money in the first round.

MRBB.......Great info. I have thought about putting a wanted ad in the local paper which always tends to work very well for me. Generally anything I put a wanted ad in there for I get a few responses. I didn't know what exactly I was looking for here though. I would definitely have to widen my path if it is 8-12ft wide, but holding over 1,000 lbs is great. That dinky thing the box stores sells and hold 175lbs looks like more work than it's worth. And probably garbage. I'll definitely be looking around for one of these.

 

[alldaysit]

I tried using that 175 lime/fertilizer spreader two weeks ago. I rented it from Ace Hardware for like $25. It would not spread pulverized AG lime I bought that had a little moisture in it. I ended up using the tractor bucket and spreading 2000lbs with that to the best of my ability.

I am now looking for a lime/drop spreader like the one mentioned a few posts above.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[MRBB]

if you widen the road to your field, MAKE sure you also open up ABOVE the road, as them lime trucks are tall, and need a lot of over head clearance, something many forget when they widen things thru woods and such


AS for posting an add in the local paper, maybe yes maybe no
as I said, I got all my drop spreaders by driving about farm lands and spotting them and then approaching the farmer with cash in hand

as many have long since even forgot they have one, sitting surrounded by weeds or in old barns

best time to find them is in late winter early spring before green up, as the weeds are down and they stick out

Someone replying to a want add in the paper will more likely want MORE $$ than if you go look(same as will any one listing it on a forum or at a tractor store, as they know what new one's run and that hunters tend to over pay for things in the farm world)
a few bucks in gas driving around, normally will find you one if your in a older AG area in PA

I just seen one a few weeks ago at a New Holland dealership near me, if you want info on dealership , PM me
its about 2+ hrs from Millerstown however!


but many farmers tools from the old days are WAY cheaper than buying ATV made products of the likes for hunters, OEM's figured out hunters will pay CRAZY prices for small tools
have a look at groundbusters drop spreader and see the $$, these are teh same thing just old school materials

 

[bbcoach]

My avatar to the right, is about a half acre in planted pines. Planted pines will have a PH of around 4.5-4.7. I couldn't get my COOP to bring in about 4 tons of lime because the shooting lane is narrow and stays wet much of the year. I used a small trailer and my ATV to get the 4 tons of lime into this lane and spread the lime with a shovel. I could shovel off a ton in about 45 minutes. This particular plot had a PH of 4.7 and the lime I added brought it up to 6.2. I still need another ton or two which will probably get put down the first of the year. Get the loose lime from your coop and haul it in, bags are too costly and take forever to put down.

 

[tooln]

Can't beat a drop spreader. I sectioned mine to be 8' wide.

Before

During



After

 

[bbcoach]

It has been my experience that drop spreaders don't do a very good job of spreading bulk lime. Normally bulk lime is too finely ground and or damp and will clog the exit holes in the bottom of the spreader. Also bulk lime doesn't gravity flow very well. Most bulk lime spreaders have a huge gate with a conveyor belt that moves the bulk lime on to a large spinning blade that distributes the lime. A drop spreader maybe able to spread pelletized ok.

 

[MRBB]

BBCOACH< these above like drop spreaders have a gear in the bottom of the box that spins and breaks up any clogs or sticky lime, and does a pretty darn good job of dropping lime, the boxes are V shaped and they vibrate and bounce pretty good, helping it continue to fall
Ideally you want your lime as dry as possible, but they are WAY better than the one's that just have a opening to fall out, as them SUCK and are about useless for pulverized lime

I had a tow behind trailer that had a 15 inch(or so) chain that ran the length of the bed and would pull lime down to the spinner , held I think 2 tons of lime at a time
it worked great, but had flaws, one being it was bigger and heavier, ONLY a tractor could pull it, was top heavy, felt tippy on side hills, you worked your butt off loading it, if you didn't have a front end loader, and last, when it was hot and DRY out and a windy, MAN you got coated with lime driving the tractor
I was made an offer I couldn't say NO to and sold it LOL
pro's and con's to all things

but I find the drop spreaders like above to be the low costs and work great, and like above , if you have the skills and means, you can cut them down too.

NOTHING beats bulk lime trucks spreading however, cheaper faster and less work LOL

 

[bbcoach]

Do you have a PIC of the internal workings and openings, I would like to see them? I would also like to know how they vibrate?