# Spreading lime with a manure spreader.



## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I have some 10-20 foot wide strips around the outside edge of an alfalfa field where the alfalfa looked weak after germinating and then slowly died over the summer. I did a soil test on these strips and the ph came back at 5.5 and very low in calcium. I limed this field heavily for a few years to get the ph high enough before planting the alfalfa but the spreader trucks must not have been throwing the lime all the way to the edge and that's why I still have a low ph strip around almost the whole field.

The trucks spread about 50 foot wide so I If have them spread the outside edge of the field again to get over what they missed It will also we way over liming a 30 foot wide strip around the field since it's only a 20 foot or less strip that needs the lime. I have been trying to figure out how to get this limed without over liming part of the field. I got to wondering if an old NH manure spreader would spread the lime since I don't think they have a very wide spread pattern? I think I can borrow an old manure spreader if it would work. If not any other ideas of what I might could use?


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Does one of your neighbors have a drop spreader like a Ezee Flow? I think many are around 10 feet wide.

Regards, Mike


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

If the trucks use spinner spreaders, they can reduce their rpms and get a narrower pattern. Trouble is it's not going to react immediately anyway so you're going to lose at least a year. If it was mine, I'd just no-till some orchard grass around the outside and deal with liming it when it's time to lime the field next.


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

Would the chains in the bottom of the manure spreader handle the weight of the lime? Quite a bit of difference in density between the two.

On the flip side, would the extra lime hurt on the stuff that is okay? I didn't really know that we could over-lime in this part of the world, but I have just planted my first alfalfa, and don't have a lot of experience in the higher pH end of the forage world.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> Does one of your neighbors have a drop spreader like a Ezee Flow? I think many are around 10 feet wide.
> 
> Regards, Mike


 Nope.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

8350HiTech said:


> If the trucks use spinner spreaders, they can reduce their rpms and get a narrower pattern. Trouble is it's not going to react immediately anyway so you're going to lose at least a year. If it was mine, I'd just no-till some orchard grass around the outside and deal with liming it when it's time to lime the field next.


 I already had them try that and it was still spreading it much too wide. I'm actually killing this alfalfa field due to a severe infestation of grubs that were feeding on the roots and has left me with a poor stand. Going to plant a grain crop on it this coming year and then the goal is to go back to alfalfa the next year. That's why I'm wanting to get it limed now so it has time to react and raise the ph by the time I'm ready to plant alfalfa back.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

reede said:


> Would the chains in the bottom of the manure spreader handle the weight of the lime? Quite a bit of difference in density between the two.
> On the flip side, would the extra lime hurt on the stuff that is okay? I didn't really know that we could over-lime in this part of the world, but I have just planted my first alfalfa, and don't have a lot of experience in the higher pH end of the forage world.


 I'm not sure if the manure spreader would handle it or not.....that's why I'm asking on here. Never been aound a manure spreader so I don't have much of a clue how they even work.

I had to apply 5 tons of lime per acre over two years to get the ph from 5.3-5.5 to 6.8 on the rest of the field so I'm sure it will take that much to fix these bad spots. I can't imagine another 5 tons of lime will be good on the ground where the ph is already where it needs to be. I'm having problems with manganese deficiency on ground that I have limed to 6.8.....seems my soil is low in available manganese and the higher ph makes it even less available......that's why I don't want to overlime part of the field.


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## reede (May 17, 2010)

Wood ash would be an alternative that might work for you in this case, as it is a whole lot lighter than the lime is, and might work in the manure spreader. Raises pH, and is a source of K as well. The stuff I'm using is supposed to be 40-45% CCE, so I go with double the recomended rate of lime. However, it sounds like, depending on the source, and how fully they burned it, liming strength can vary greatly. Would come from an industry that uses wood to power boilers. Here, we've got an OSB plant that produces it. 

http://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.cfm?number=B1142


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## Trotwood2955 (Sep 4, 2012)

It should work as long as the spreader is in decent shape and you don't put much on each load. In other words don't even think about loading it as full as you would with manure or a lighter material.

I spread a little with a New Holland 520 box spreader once but it was just a small leftover pile that didn't get spread for some reason while my custom truck spreader was there. It was probably only a loader bucket or two worth.

I have my own lime/litter spreader now. I don't have a lime trough in it though which means I have to spread smaller loads so the chain doesn't hang up. Without the trough the dealer said to just always dump the lime in one central spot vs the entire length of the spreader as it would be less stress on the chain. I would assume the same concept would apply to a box spreader.

No idea on how accurate or easy it will be to calibrate though might just take some trial and error.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

If you borrow/rent the manure spreader, could you get some manure with it? If I had to spread lime with a box spreader, I'd partially fill it with manure and put a layer of lime on top. Otherwise, the lime is going to dump right out underneath the beaters.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

8350HiTech said:


> If you borrow/rent the manure spreader, could you get some manure with it? If I had to spread lime with a box spreader, I'd partially fill it with manure and put a layer of lime on top. Otherwise, the lime is going to dump right out underneath the beaters.


 Doubt they will let me have any manure since they use what they have on their fields and are always wishing they had more. I might could buy some chicken litter to mix with the lime.

If I'm understanding you correctly the lime by itself is just going to dump out the back of the spreader and won't actually spread? Might put out way too much? Again I have never actually been up close to a spreader so not fully sure how they work.


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

I would try for a different solution to spread the lime other than a box spreader. The beater likely won't spread the lime any better than you would with a shovel and a pile in your truck. Sorry I dont have a better idea either. Although the litter idea might work but then you would also gave to mix and calibrate.

How many pounds per acre are you needing? And how big of a field? 
Sidewalk salter from tractor supply?


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Farmineer95 said:


> I would try for a different solution to spread the lime other than a box spreader. The beater likely won't spread the lime any better than you would with a shovel and a pile in your truck. Sorry I dont have a better idea either. Although the litter idea might work but then you would also gave to mix and calibrate.
> How many pounds per acre are you needing? And how big of a field?
> Sidewalk salter from tractor supply?


 Yeah, I think I'm starting to get the impression the manure spreader idea isn't the way to go. Might as well go ahead and put it all at once which will be 4 tons an acre.....will incorporate it into the soil. There is about an acre or so around the edge of this field and have another field with the same problem that I would like to go ahead and do as well so probably around two plus acres total.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Sounds like Mikes idea of a drop spreader would be the best thing for my situation to get the lime spread evenly and somewhat accurate. One of those never came to my mind before but I just don't know where I would find one as most all stuff like that was hauled to the scrapyard when steel was so high a few years back.


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Why not just use a 3pt seed slinger since you have so little to do?


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

Hayden, a lot depends upon how damp/wet the lime is. The drier it is the better for you in this instance. If it was very dry you could put it in a funnel/hurricane seeder with a agitator and get it spread....it would probably spread about 12 feet I imagine. The gate would probably have to be opened all the way. I don't know if you could rent one locally or not from a ag dealer or co op?

Regards, Mike


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Do you have Pell lime available?pelleted lime,the size of other commercial fertilizer.It can be run threw a regular buggy type fertilizer spreader.Slow the RPM down enough to get a 25'? Spread.

After I grid sampled one field I had 1 grid that need some lime so I did it with Pell Lime as it didn't take enough to have lime hauled in.It did cost more then regular Ag Lime.


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

You might check with your local extension service. They might have a smaller spreader you can rent and more accurately put down the lime where you need it. I have lime spread by a coop on our place and while it's effective, not exactly impressed with the spread evenness across the width. I'd like to be able to spread the lime myself - where it's not a rush-in/out and get another load on someone else's field so I know it's a accurate spread.

Good luck,
Bill


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## Hayman1 (Jul 6, 2013)

leeave96 said:


> You might check with your local extension service. They might have a smaller spreader you can rent and more accurately put down the lime where you need it. I have lime spread by a coop on our place and while it's effective, not exactly impressed with the spread evenness across the width. I'd like to be able to spread the lime myself - where it's not a rush-in/out and get another load on someone else's field so I know it's a accurate spread.
> 
> Good luck,
> Bill


Same here Bill, I use the coop or a private spreader with his own truck. Not impressed with the spread pattern nor the level of agitation which ends up creating a lime cloud which limes somewhere else, just not the field that the truck is driving on. Guess we need to go back to the old days of everyone having their own ezflow and polluting the ground with diesel fuel cleaning it out after each use. Now about how to get bulk lime in the spreader? Guess I will keep using the coop with their bad habits.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Pell Lime
http://feeco.com/pelletized-lime-vs-ag-lime-imposters/


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

I would go with Lewis's seed slinger, using Swmn's pelletized lime. As Swmn mentions pelletized lime is more expensive, but you are doing a small area.

Larry


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

Peleatized lime is what we've been using here for a couple years.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Vol said:


> Hayden, a lot depends upon how damp/wet the lime is. The drier it is the better for you in this instance. If it was very dry you could put it in a funnel/hurricane seeder with a agitator and get it spread....it would probably spread about 12 feet I imagine. The gate would probably have to be opened all the way. I don't know if you could rent one locally or not from a ag dealer or co op?
> 
> Regards, Mike


 The lime I get tends to be on the damp side. I tried to spread it with a cyclone spreader and I ended up having to shovel it out as I would just pack in the bottom and not come out the gate.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Lewis Ranch and SWMN hay, how much are you guys paying for pellet lime? That would be the easiest ting for me to use with a cyclone spreader but the cost is the problem. Here pellet lime is $150 a ton and when I'm needing close to 4 tons to the acre that gets awfully expensive. Even though it's only a couple acres I just can't justify spending that much per acre.....especially since this is rented ground.


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## endrow (Dec 15, 2011)

Lot of good advice here that has come out for lime spreading. I would go as far to say hear the dry lime we have, if you would throw that on a box spreader and end up with a real shabby spread job. The places where it is applied super thick could have a negative effect on next year's crop


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

$220 a ton local ag place is spreading some for me today. Here they say 200lbs of pelatized lime is equivalent to two tons of our ag lime.


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## Farmineer95 (Aug 11, 2014)

Thinking about your 10ft strip, I'm wondering if you see that throughout the field. I have a 8 ton Chandler lime spreader and spread width for lime is less that granular fertilizer. I'm curious if the spread width was miscalculated for the whole field??
If you could get your hands on a spreader I wonder if you could narrow up the spread by putting deflectors on one or both sides of the spinners?


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Lewis Ranch said:


> $220 a ton local ag place is spreading some for me today. Here they say 200lbs of pelatized lime is equivalent to two tons of our ag lime.


 Wow, 200 pounds equal to two tons of powdered lime. I wonder what makes the pellet lime so much more effective? I don't think that is the case with the pellet lime we have here.....I think it's the same stuff as our ground powdered lime just formed into a pellet. Only people that use it around here are landscapers using it on lawns due to the high cost.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

Farmineer95 said:


> Thinking about your 10ft strip, I'm wondering if you see that throughout the field. I have a 8 ton Chandler lime spreader and spread width for lime is less that granular fertilizer. I'm curious if the spread width was miscalculated for the whole field??
> If you could get your hands on a spreader I wonder if you could narrow up the spread by putting deflectors on one or both sides of the spinners?


 No I'm not seeing strips throughout the field....just on the edge and it varies from 10-20 foot wide. I talked to the place I buy my lime and fertilize from and they said the driver was staying away from the edge so there wouldn't be any lime get thrown into the woods or on the road.....said most people get bent out of shape if they see lime get thrown outside of the field. I told them I would rather lose a little to the woods and driveway than not get enough around the edge and the crop not grow well.


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

Lewis Ranch said:


> $220 a ton local ag place is spreading some for me today. Here they say 200lbs of pelatized lime is equivalent to two tons of our ag lime.


I never heard that ratio, I was always told pelletize lime just reacts faster (in my area). See attached MSU piece.

Larry


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## VA Haymaker (Jul 1, 2014)

FarmerCline said:


> The lime I get tends to be on the damp side. I tried to spread it with a cyclone spreader and I ended up having to shovel it out as I would just pack in the bottom and not come out the gate.


I have an old Lely spreader, I believe it is a model H or might be an HR. This thing is at least 40 years old. We pulled it out of the barn and gave it a good going over and it is an outstanding and very accurate metering spreader - which we use for fertilizer.

There is a free manual download for this spreader here: http://www.lelyturf.com/manuals/H_L_Operators_Manual.pdf

In the manual, there is a section dealing with spreading powdery fertilizer and lime, including damp, lumpy lime. They make an optional agitator for this spreader, two pieces, a base and a stem (for lack of a better word) to keep the powdery/lime flowing. The manual also speaks to application techniques to minimize the cloud of powder going in the air vs the ground.

The Lely might be to small for your lime needs, but for a perimeter, might do the trick. You can still buy these spreaders (and similar larger ones) too. Given they have been around for at least 40 years, you might snag a used one on the cheap.

Regardless - the Lely manual is a great reference as to what is possible with a rotary spreader.

Hope this helps.
Bill


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## Lewis Ranch (Jul 15, 2013)

FarmerCline said:


> Wow, 200 pounds equal to two tons of powdered lime. I wonder what makes the pellet lime so much more effective? I don't think that is the case with the pellet lime we have here.....I think it's the same stuff as our ground powdered lime just formed into a pellet. Only people that use it around here are landscapers using it on lawns due to the high cost.


Supposedly more pure than our poor Ag lime that comes in here although I'm not 100% positive. I just have them put out the recommended amount per the soil test.


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

Not sure what the Pell lime cost me,it was 4-5 yrs ago that I did it.And it was only on 1 grid of about 5 acres that I used it on.99% of the time we use the regular ground ag lime.Not all of my acres call for lime.Go off grid samples.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

leeave96 said:


> I have an old Lely spreader, I believe it is a model H or might be an HR. This thing is at least 40 years old. We pulled it out of the barn and gave it a good going over and it is an outstanding and very accurate metering spreader - which we use for fertilizer.
> There is a free manual download for this spreader here: http://www.lelyturf.com/manuals/H_L_Operators_Manual.pdf
> In the manual, there is a section dealing with spreading powdery fertilizer and lime, including damp, lumpy lime. They make an optional agitator for this spreader, two pieces, a base and a stem (for lack of a better word) to keep the powdery/lime flowing. The manual also speaks to application techniques to minimize the cloud of powder going in the air vs the ground.
> The Lely might be to small for your lime needs, but for a perimeter, might do the trick. You can still buy these spreaders (and similar larger ones) too. Given they have been around for at least 40 years, you might snag a used one on the cheap.
> ...


 Those Lely spreaders look to be in a completely different class than the 3 point cyclone spreaders that I'm familiar with. My experience with them is its pretty much a wild guess at adjusting and how much your spreading. A 3 point spreader is too small for my fertilize and lime needs but if I could find one cheap enough it might be worth buying one to spread this lime around the edge of these fields and could be handy every now and then if I only need to spread a small amount of fertilize somewhere. Was really hoping I wouldn't have to buy something to spread this lime and could get by with borrowing something.


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## Bgriffin856 (Nov 13, 2013)

If you could get a side delivery manure spreader that'll work. We used a NH 306 we used to have to spread lime a couple times.

A box spreader would work even if the beaters don't spread it. Just put a small amount in, set the apron chain speed on a low setting and adjust your ground speed and rpms to spread it light enough


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## r82230 (Mar 1, 2016)

If you are set on the box spreader, I would at least put some straw on bottom so the lime would be hitting the beater above the half way point (for spreading purposes). Years ago, we used a box spreader to spread morrow (poor man's lime) and we always put it on top of either some manure or straw for that reason.

Larry


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

I was down at my fertilize dealer today and was talking about the issue with the strip around the field that didn't get limed and was asking the owner if he knew of anyone that had an old drop spreader I could use. He told me that the lime we use around here wouldn't work in a drop spreader because it's too damp.

He then asked me why It wouldn't work to use the spreader truck and reduce the rpms so it wouldn't throw as far. I reminded him that we already tried that a couple months ago and it still was slinging the lime almost as wide as normal.....just that the truck wasn't moving as fast with the reduced rpms. He then said that the driver was supposed to reduce the rpms of the hydraulic driven spinners.....not the truck engine rpms. He said that the spinners could be adjusted slow enough where it wouldn't spread too much wider than the width of the truck. If that's the case it looks like that will be the easiest and most cost effective way to solve my problem.


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## 8350HiTech (Jul 26, 2013)

FarmerCline said:


> I was down at my fertilize dealer today and was talking about the issue with the strip around the field that didn't get limed and was asking the owner if he knew of anyone that had an old drop spreader I could use. He told me that the lime we use around here wouldn't work in a drop spreader because it's too damp.
> 
> He then asked me why It wouldn't work to use the spreader truck and reduce the rpms so it wouldn't throw as far. I reminded him that we already tried that a couple months ago and it still was slinging the lime almost as wide as normal.....just that the truck wasn't moving as fast with the reduced rpms. He then said that the driver was supposed to reduce the rpms of the hydraulic driven spinners.....not the truck engine rpms. He said that the spinners could be adjusted slow enough where it wouldn't spread too much wider than the width of the truck. If that's the case it looks like that will be the easiest and most cost effective way to solve my problem.


You must have had a trainee. Of course they can slow the spinners. That's why I suggested that first.


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## FarmerCline (Oct 12, 2011)

8350HiTech said:


> You must have had a trainee. Of course they can slow the spinners. That's why I suggested that first.


 I don't know anything about a spreader truck so when you said reduce the rpms I thought you were talking about engine rpms as that is what the driver did.....I had no idea that the spinner rpms were adjusted hydraulically and separate from the engine rpms.

The driver wasn't a trainee.....of the two spreader truck drivers they have I just always seem to get the driver that doesn't appear to care as much of how good of a job is done spreading. He also has a habit of spreading while turning corners rather than shutting it off and making a loop to get going straight again and resume spreading.


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## Ox76 (Oct 22, 2018)

I realize this thread is almost 2 years old but I had a thought in my little ol head. I'd guess a 3 pt hitch salt spreader would work for this purpose. Salt is heavy, likes to get damp and bunch up just like lime, and lime would likely be spread just as effectively as salt would. I'm talking the spinning wheel type of distribution styled spreader, with an inverted cone style hopper above it.

Might could be an effective alternative for somebody some day...


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