Lime?

[omicron1792]

Honestly, the fastest and cheapest way would be to take your pick up truck to the co-op or place to get the lime and have them fill up the bed of your truck. Then have someone drive slowly through the plots and you use a shovel to put out the lime. Again, this would be the cheapest way, and fastest, would take you less than an hour.

Note, I did not say the easiest, but honestly one hour of using a shovel would be less work tgsn toting 25 40 pound sacks around

 

[wisconsinteacher]

I have access to an ATV spreader. I could also use a trailer and have my wife drive me around as I shovel it out.

 

[SD51555]

When I'm doing bags, I drive them right to their spot in the plot and pile them right where they'll be spread. I've found if I don't need to move much, I can spread them in a little over a minute per bag by hand. This day, I think I whacked out these 20 bags in about 30 minutes once I started flinging. I dump a half bag into a bucket and just slowly turn in a circle flinging it out right where I stand.

 

[yoderjac]

Thanks for all the info so far. I have a lot to learn about pH and lime. The coop did say I should use pellet lime because it is easier to spread and do without a lime cart.

Yes, on a small plot, the spreading cost of ag lime, often offsets the cost of the actual lime itself. Pellet lime is more practical.

 

[omicron1792]

Yes, on a small plot, the spreading cost of ag lime, often offsets the cost of the actual lime itself. Pellet lime is more practical.

I've done it both ways. I think you know I actually switched over to liquid lime (let's not start a debate!)

I built three ponds this last year, and I need to lime them. So I'm going ahead and having 30tons delivered and spread on whole property. Might as well since I needed 8 tons in the ponds.

 

[omicron1792]

When I'm doing bags, I drive them right to their spot in the plot and pile them right where they'll be spread. I've found if I don't need to move much, I can spread them in a little over a minute per bag by hand. This day, I think I whacked out these 20 bags in about 30 minutes once I started flinging. I dump a half bag into a bucket and just slowly turn in a circle flinging it out right where I stand.

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I feel you my man. Done it every way. I do have a 700lb 3pt spreader now so It is much easier to do pellet lime for me. Again, they would probably fill up your pickup truck or a trailer for 50 bucks, and you can take a bucket and scoop or use a shovel to put it out while your wife drives truck.

 

[SD51555]

I feel you my man. Done it every way. I do have a 700lb 3pt spreader now so It is much easier to do pellet lime for me. Again, they would probably fill up your pickup truck or a trailer for 50 bucks, and you can take a bucket and scoop or use a shovel to put it out while your wife drives truck.

Wives and trucks?

 

[yoderjac]

I've done it both ways. I think you know I actually switched over to liquid lime (let's not start a debate!)

I built three ponds this last year, and I need to lime them. So I'm going ahead and having 30tons delivered and spread on whole property. Might as well since I needed 8 tons in the ponds.

Agree, there are other threads where liquid lime is discussed and no need to debate it here, but since there is a newbie as an OP, I do need to say that liquid lime is by far the most expensive way to adjust pH on a food plot.

 

[omicron1792]

Wives and trucks?

View attachment 49337

That's funny my man. I only mentioned wives because he did. My wife couldn't get to our farm by herself for a million dollars.

 

[omicron1792]

Agree, there are other threads where liquid lime is discussed and no need to debate it here, but since there is a newbie as an OP, I do need to say that liquid lime is by far the most expensive way to adjust pH on a food plot.

And I didn't even recommend to him. With one acre there are so many cheaper and better ways to do it.

Now if he had 10 acres and the coop wouldn't come spread for him......

 

[bigboreblr]

Few Questions... How did you collect your sample? IS your plot uniform? Same kinda soil, same kind and type of growth? I use the native plants to give mee an idea of whats going on. 2 tons/acre is steep, but not impossible to go up .6 pH. I wouldn't go past a ton /acre for now. 600 lbs seems low for me. Guessing you have pretty rich soil where you are. If the sample isn't corrected well, your test can be off. I usually collect from 6-8 spots, mix them together and grab your sample from that. Any recent plot work past year or two, added lime already, major tillage. Planted somethere there already, how did it grow? What would you like to see grow in there?

What kind of spreader are you using? Drop or broadcast. I picked up a nice gandy 3ft drop spreader, it does powdered lime very nicely., little to no dust. Pelletized still does dust, so use a mask.
Broadcast spreaders whould only be pelletized lime. Make sure you wash everything down well when done. Can rust stuff up if left on.

I used to used pelletized lime to help me spread small seeds like clover. IF you do, open the bags and save one or two that has smaller pellets than the other bags. I got a solo 421 spreader that does clover well now, so no mixing up is needed.

 

[yoderjac]

And I didn't even recommend to him. With one acre there are so many cheaper and better ways to do it.

Now if he had 10 acres and the coop wouldn't come spread for him......

Agreed. New folks get blasted with lots of info and it can be difficult to digest it. It is easy for them to misinterpret things. I know you were not advocating it for him. Just trying to be clear for him.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

I have had winter rye in the plot the last 2 years. The first year, I seeded right after the dozer created the plot. I simply broadcasted the seed and walked away. 2-3 weeks later I layered more on it and it looked great. Deer hammered it. Last year, I disked the plot with an ATV disk and then seeded, used a harrow drag and then cultipacker. The winter rye grew great. I didn't layer 2-3 weeks later due to time but I should have.

This year, my hope is to disk the plot again and keep removing old roots and rocks. I got most of it cleaned up last year. Along with cleaning it up and tilling it lightly, I think the lime will make it better. I would like to split the plot 1/2 with cereal and 1/2 with brassicas this year to try something different.

 

[yoderjac]

I have had winter rye in the plot the last 2 years. The first year, I seeded right after the dozer created the plot. I simply broadcasted the seed and walked away. 2-3 weeks later I layered more on it and it looked great. Deer hammered it. Last year, I disked the plot with an ATV disk and then seeded, used a harrow drag and then cultipacker. The winter rye grew great. I didn't layer 2-3 weeks later due to time but I should have.

This year, my hope is to disk the plot again and keep removing old roots and rocks. I got most of it cleaned up last year. Along with cleaning it up and tilling it lightly, I think the lime will make it better. I would like to split the plot 1/2 with cereal and 1/2 with brassicas this year to try something different.

You will be better off mixing the cereal, brassica, and a legume together. They complement each other planted in a mix.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

My wife better help, she will be hunting there this fall. lol

 

[omicron1792]

My wife better help, she will be hunting there this fall. lol

Damn. I like separation of church and state.

 

[wisconsinteacher]

Damn. I like separation of church and state.

I need her to hunt. Without her we wouldn't have any big bucks on the wall.

 

[Foggy47]

Oh good! Another opportunity to show off my EZ Flow Lime spreader. I used a twelve wide EZ flow and took two sections out of it to make it 6 feet wide. Holds about 1000 lbs / load and pulls nicely with a wheeler. I've put down over 35 tons of ag lime with it......and I plan to do another 23 tons this spring. Likely a days work or so. You can still find a few of these if you search long enough. Getting scare tho. I showed a thread on TBN some years back on how to section one of these down. I called it my King Cutter Lime Spreader.......and a few folks believed me. Grin.

I dont own a wheeler any more.....and was just thinking about having to run back and lift that center lever to open the gates all the time. May have to get a family member to ride in the back of my Side by Side. I think I paid $50 for this one....but put another $400 into some fab costs and a pair of new tires. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

 

[Maddog66]

I bought a 8’ lime spreader I found online ($1k). I spread 2ton / acre last summer and I’ll do the same this summer then check it next year.

 

[omicron1792]

Oh good! Another opportunity to show off my EZ Flow Lime spreader. I used a twelve wide EZ flow and took two sections out of it to make it 6 feet wide. Holds about 1000 lbs / load and pulls nicely with a wheeler. I've put down over 35 tons of ag lime with it......and I plan to do another 23 tons this spring. Likely a days work or so. You can still find a few of these if you search long enough. Getting scare tho. I showed a thread on TBN some years back on how to section one of these down. I called it my King Cutter Lime Spreader.......and a few folks believed me. Grin.

I dont own a wheeler any more.....and was just thinking about having to run back and lift that center lever to open the gates all the time. May have to get a family member to ride in the back of my Side by Side. I think I paid $50 for this one....but put another $400 into some fab costs and a pair of new tires. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.
View attachment 49347

I've looked at those. I think I told you my mechanical skills aren't as good as yours. No cutting and welding for me!