# Fertilizer Buggy Settings



## rajela

Could somebody tell me how you read this damn chart so that you can spread 150# of urea per acre. I can never get these things set correctly I either spread to much and run short or I have to go over the meadow twice to get it all spread.


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## r82230

2 inches at 35 feet, IF your urea weights 50# per cubic foot, should put you in the ball park. I normally, go a little less, because the guy my wife married is not always good at distance and has overlaps I believe.

Larry

Ps just read Urea can weigh between 48-52 # per cubic foot.


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## endrow

All the you really got this year weighed 47 #


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## PaMike

Even when its set correctly I still never have it all work out like its supposed too...


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## glasswrongsize

I agree with PaMike that it rarely, if ever, comes out perfect...

My fertilizer supplier takes a couple of samples while loading and gives me the density number. The stuff I spread 2 weeks ago had a density of 63 and I wanted 225 lbs per acre.

It was told, even at the widest setting, the spreader spreads farther than that, so you are essentially double spreading/have overlap.

Anyway, I downloaded the farm sprayer app for my cell phone as I don't have a lightbar. I set the width on the app to keep my on track for 30'...so to set from your chart, you would first go over the top line to the closest density setting (65) and go down til I find the closest to the pounds I want to spread (226), then go back to the left and you will see that you had to open the back gate 2" to spread 226 lbs of 65 density material on a 30' swath. I know that my density is a little less than that, so I opened my gate an extra 1/4 inch to 2-1/4.

Theoretically, that is how you do it. I spread about 28 acres and had @500 lbs left over. I hit the poorer ground some more.

Since it is ground drive, speed is not too relative except the fact that you need to go 5 mph or so to make sure you are spreading wider than your selected width.

73, Mark


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## rajela

Well it looks like I am not alone on this matter. My coop loads the buggy with the requested blend, then they go the extra mile by giving me a big ole pat on the back and wish me good luck. I have asked the young man (Andrew) who operates the blending machine about where to set the gate on the spreader and he just looks at me with a grin.

Glasswrongsize I to will hit the poor or suspected poor ground with the extra if there is any. Sometimes I have to go back to the coop and get a little more to finish out a field because I go a little heavy but that only hurts my ass pocket and not the meadow.


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## r82230

Similar to Vol, except I over buy fertilizer by 5%, then I under apply by 5% (of target). This year using the new Raven II GPS, I still came up short by about 1,000 pounds (out of 36,000 pounds purchased, needed theoretically 34,000 pounds). I think the charts are calculated to apply 'heavy', maybe the fertilizer company's supply them to the manufactures, to help sell more fertilizer.

Using the GPS this year, I know that I reduced the overlap and overages on the ends of the fields. So this year my overages were reduced a lot, but still over applied by about 5%. Next year, I am going to reduce the spread rate by 10% (verses 5% this year). This should make my rate closer yet to target. It is almost to bad that I only get one shot a year to get this right. This year was the first, where I used the same spreader and was able to spread all my fields the same day that also helped getting my overages down (I adjust the spreader after the first load and I knew the acreage that I covered, but still that fertilizer was 'gone').

Larry


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## mlappin

One advantage to owning your own spreader, you get to know the quirks, and even then do we rarely come out perfect.

A load that is bone dry flows better and will go on heavy while a load that is slightly sticky will go on light, all depends on how well it flows under the gate.

Depending on what your blend is some fertilizers seem to absorb moisture right out of the air making them sticky on humid days.


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## Gogetter

Would someone explain to me how to spread fertilizer? I read something about weight of fertilizer per acre but what about PTO and wheel speed ?


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## Teslan

Gogetter said:


> Would someone explain to me how to spread fertilizer? I read something about weight of fertilizer per acre but what about PTO and wheel speed ?


While spreading today I was wondering precisely the same thing. I just do around 350 rpm and go about 7 mph. It seems to spread and get about the acres I requested for the load.


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## RockmartGA

I also get the loaner buggy when I purchase fertilizer. This year, the buggy I received must have had a malfunctioning spinner. I get this nice stripe of extremely tall, green hay.

Can't win for losing sometimes.....


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## Vol

One thing a person needs to do on a rented or loaned buggy is knock all the fertilizer buildup off the spinner pan....especially on the fins. That buildup will shorten the throw considerably and sometimes cause the "throw" to leave a streak like Rockmart is talking about. Just peck it off with a ball peen hammer or something similar.

Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg

I pay them 5$ an acre and they spread it in criss cross patterns to achieve a rate of 100-0-100 pa....
I used to spread my own....life is too short and spreading equipment is too expensive and fertilizer is too corrosive


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## carcajou

Just received the bill for this years spreading. Already looking for a used Terragator with an air boom. Custom is just getting too high here.


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## RockmartGA

Vol said:


> One thing a person needs to do on a rented or loaned buggy is knock all the fertilizer buildup off the spinner pan....especially on the fins. That buildup will shorten the throw considerably and sometimes cause the "throw" to leave a streak like Rockmart is talking about. Just peck it off with a ball peen hammer or something similar.
> 
> Regards, Mike


Yep, an expensive lesson learned.


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## Teslan

somedevildawg said:


> I pay them 5$ an acre and they spread it in criss cross patterns to achieve a rate of 100-0-100 pa....
> I used to spread my own....life is too short and spreading equipment is too expensive and fertilizer is too corrosive


They charge $6 here. They can usually spread it more accurately then I can. But I still have them send a buggy for my small flood irrigated fields.


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## rjmoses

Since I was just spreading some AMS yesterday and still had the buggy here, I got some good pictures on how to set up a Doyle buggy for you (other buggies will be similar):









Using these instructions to get the material weight per Cu. ft: (weight of one gallon of material x 7.5 = lbs/cu.ft.)









Then read across BOTTOM and UP on this chart (bottom is weight/cu.ft; UP is pounds/acre) to get gate setting (LEFT) in gate opening inches:







:

Then set the gate opening according to the notches (each notch is one inch):









E.G.: 70 lb weight at 100 lbs/acre = 1"- (First notch is 0 on this buggy. 1" opening would give 123 lbs/acre.)

N.B.: Left side of chart is for left sprockets, right side of chart is for right sprockets. (There is also a master chain drive not discussed here). (Picture is sideways so bottom gear is left, top is right)









I had two tons to spread over 38 acres at 100#/acre. Spot on settings!

Hope this helps.

Ralph


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## glasswrongsize

Gogetter said:


> Would someone explain to me how to spread fertilizer? I read something about weight of fertilizer per acre but what about PTO and wheel speed ?


The pounds-per-acre of fertilizer will be set by your gate opening as indicated on the chart for the spreader. Also figured in on the chart is the density (because it takes into consideration spreading light material...for instance 100# per acre of thistle seed would be way more volume than 100# per acre of 0-0-60...therefore the density measurement which will be provided by the supplier when you pick up the fertilizer).

PTO speed needs to be enough to spin the spinner hard enough to get the spread width you are attempting to achieve.

Ground speed or wheel speed (on buggies) is a non-factor per say; the tires on the buggy drive the drag chain that pulls the fertilizer to the back. Therefore, your buggy doesn't care (unless to extremes) how fast or slow you drive...it metes out X-amount per revolution of the tires regardless of speed. This is a different than the gravity flow ones (seed or cone spreaders for example) that speed is very important as the gravity is consistent and only flows X-amount over a specific amount of time instead of distance.

Clear as mud?

Mark

PS, seldom do the custom spreaders come out perfectly as is evidenced by the cliche' conversation:

Farmer "So, hodja come out?"

Spreader " same way I came in...'cross the culvert"


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