No way to get a lime truck to my plots and thinking about buying one of these. The one I found is the groundbuster. Anyone have one of these and have good luck with it? They are pricey so want to make sure it's worth the investment. Any other brands out there that are similar. Hoping to use it for fertilizer also.
Anyone find a good spreader for ag lime?
- Thread starter giannid
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yoderjac
Well-Known Member
I am able to rent a lime buggy from the local coop. It is ground driven so you can pull it with a tractor or truck. It holds about 3 tons of ag lime, so depending on how much acreage you are doing it can take several trips. My soils need over 3 tons/ac for initial amendment, but it takes quite a long time before they need maintenance lime as they are heavy clay. I had a lime truck come in for the initial application due to volume, but after that, I just rent a lime buggy for maintenance lime.
Most regular spreaders don't do well with ag lime in all circumstances. The characteristics of ag lime can vary a lot based on moisture content. If the lime has the right moisture content, these drop type spreaders can work, but they don't hold much lime. I've seen guys apply ag lime from the bed of a pickup with shovels or a blower on small acreage depending on moisture content.
Most regular spreaders don't do well with ag lime in all circumstances. The characteristics of ag lime can vary a lot based on moisture content. If the lime has the right moisture content, these drop type spreaders can work, but they don't hold much lime. I've seen guys apply ag lime from the bed of a pickup with shovels or a blower on small acreage depending on moisture content.
We have a groundbuster DS4000. Nice overall unit. You can get a different bottom plate for fertilizer for it. Very wet lime will still bridge. If you can afford it, get the double auger model. We just started experimenting with adding a battery powered vibrator to help with damp lime. (Had a small load of very wet high mag lime this spring) A few places rent them, depending on your location.
Video from guy who I got the idea from. (This is a 3GP file, so it might only play on your phone)
Video from guy who I got the idea from. (This is a 3GP file, so it might only play on your phone)
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I bought a 12' ez flow spreader to spread 16T of ag lime this year. If it's wet, it'll bridge, but otherwise it worked well. I had it delivered and then spread over 3 weeks time, and it rained in between. I just let the lime dry out some and it went fine, If it bridges, I used an broom handle to break up the bridges every so often.
I ended up buying a DS5000 Groundbuster used. How did the vibrator work out for you? Wondering if I should add one. Also, did you purchase a different bottom plate to spread fertilizer for yours? I'm wondering if the existing bottom plate will work for fertilizer. Be nice to do both fertilizer and lime with the unit.We have a groundbuster DS4000. Nice overall unit. You can get a different bottom plate for fertilizer for it. Very wet lime will still bridge. If you can afford it, get the double auger model. We just started experimenting with adding a battery powered vibrator to help with damp lime. (Had a small load of very wet high mag lime this spring) A few places rent them, depending on your location.
Video from guy who I got the idea from. (This is a 3GP file, so it might only play on your phone)
It helped, but didn't work great BECAUSE the lime we had was VERY WET. I don't think any spreader would have done well with the lime being that wet. I'm pretty confident it will work well with lime that's not as wet.
We have the fertilizer bottom plate. It works well, but we prefer to use a different spreader for fertilizer. (Front UTV mounted electric spreader) We don't fertilize a lot.
You can probably get away with spreading fertilizer with it, but I'd take the fertilizer bottom plate off after each use to make sure you're getting it completely clean. Having swapped the bottom plates, it does take some time to swap, not super quick.
swat1018
Well-Known Member
Yea? Good luck...
In an ideal world, having a dedicated piece of equipment for each task is the goal. Not all guys have big budgets so some equipment does double duty. Some folks have to trailer to and from their plots, so space is limited. Some of us have water/pressure washers to clean equipment where gear is stored. The situation always matters. Lime usually gets spread every 3ish years. Having a dedicated tool used every third year is a luxury for most.
