No lime spreader.... my make shift plan

A

alldaysit

Member
Well, I've been looking for a lime spreader for a year now and I can't find one. The ones I find are either expensive or 10' wide and I'm not modifying one with no extra time to fit down the trails. I passed on a 5'er for $1000, now I'm kicking myself for that decision. My plots are remote so the spreader truck won't make it to them, but I can get a delivery of lime.

My make shift plan if I can't find a spreader.

I have a single axle 5'x8' tilt bed utility trailer with a 3500lb axle. I will order my ag lime and have it delivered, load my trailer with my FEL on my tractor, haul the trailer with the tractor to the plot, dump trailer load and scrape it all out. Spread lime around with the back blade and drag. Then till it in.

I think I need roughly 4-tons per acre (got roughly 4 acres) my soul ph is 5.8.

AG lime cost: 16x$40 per ton =$640+$40 for a delivery fee per trip(2 maybe 3). Total $720

Pelletized Lime cost: 32,000lbs/50lb bags = 640 bags * $6 per bag? = $3840 + delivery or my fuel for pickup. I've got a 10k rated trailer.

Pelletized ($3840) - AG lime ($720) = $3120 more expensive for Pelletized lime.

Let me know what you think and thanks.
 
I was planning to try using a leaf blower to spread from my truck. Read about it, but I've yet to try it myself.
 
Pay high school kid to throw the lime out of the trailer as you move it around...better coverage and worth every dime!

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I was thinking about tilting that trailer up and just dragging across the ground with the lime I it. Cut some holes in my 2x12 for it to "drain" out.

I could just put the drag behind the trailer to flatten it out also.

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You might watch a video of a lime truck and how it spreads the lime when they deliver it. Getting it spread anywhere close to evenly is the challenge you will face. Without doing so, I suspect you'll be somewhat frustrated with the results.
 
Last year I spread 10 tons over about 4 acres by shoveling it onto a trailer hitched to my Ranger. I VERY slowly drove while the hired help blew it off the trailer with the highest powered blower Stihl makes. Got very even coverage once we got the kinks worked out.
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alldaysit said:
Well, I've been looking for a lime spreader for a year now and I can't find one. The ones I find are either expensive or 10' wide and I'm not modifying one with no extra time to fit down the trails. I passed on a 5'er for $1000, now I'm kicking myself for that decision. My plots are remote so the spreader truck won't make it to them, but I can get a delivery of lime.

My make shift plan if I can't find a spreader.

I have a single axle 5'x8' tilt bed utility trailer with a 3500lb axle. I will order my ag lime and have it delivered, load my trailer with my FEL on my tractor, haul the trailer with the tractor to the plot, dump trailer load and scrape it all out. Spread lime around with the back blade and drag. Then till it in.

I think I need roughly 4-tons per acre (got roughly 4 acres) my soul ph is 5.8.

AG lime cost: 16x$40 per ton =$640+$40 for a delivery fee per trip(2 maybe 3). Total $720

Pelletized Lime cost: 32,000lbs/50lb bags = 640 bags * $6 per bag? = $3840 + delivery or my fuel for pickup. I've got a 10k rated trailer.

Pelletized ($3840) - AG lime ($720) = $3120 more expensive for Pelletized lime.

Let me know what you think and thanks.
Click to expand...
$6 a bag for pelletized is about twice what I give for it at tractor supply...
 
Local farm store (Rural King) drops the pelletized lime price to around $2.50-$3.00 for a 40# bag about this time of year so that's when I buy for the year.
 
Updated math:

4 acres at ~4 Pelletized ton per acre (1720lbs recommended) = 27520lbs needed/40 lb bags = 688 bags
688 bags * TSC sale price of $2.99 = $2064 plus fuel for my two - 3 hour round trips to pick it all up. Total $2164

$2164 (Pelletized) - $720 (AG lime) = $1,444 more expensive for Pelletized lime. Plus I have to hand lift all those bags....



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Allday, I admire your effort. But for 700$ and paying that delivery fee, and time involved, and sweat, you should check on letting them spread it. They do a great job and done in minutes. Get it in the off farmer season and fee will be less. I've done it a lot of ways, and their truck is the bomb and wouldn't even consider any other way anymore.. Good luck whatever you do. Wish I could remember what I paid but been 7 years. Also, you could limit lime to 3 tons/ac and see how it changes. If planting proper crops, you might be surprised how the soil respounds. I went from 5.5 to 6.5-7 by applying midsummer with no tillage. Has remained at that level since '09.
 
dogghr said:
Allday, I admire your effort. But for 700$ and paying that delivery fee, and time involved, and sweat, you should check on letting them spread it. They do a great job and done in minutes. Get it in the off farmer season and fee will be less. I've done it a lot of ways, and their truck is the bomb and wouldn't even consider any other way anymore.. Good luck whatever you do. Wish I could remember what I paid but been 7 years. Also, you could limit lime to 3 tons/ac and see how it changes. If planting proper crops, you might be surprised how the soil respounds. I went from 5.5 to 6.5-7 by applying midsummer with no tillage. Has remained at that level since '09.
Click to expand...

Thanks dogghr. I would LOVE to have them bring there trucks in, but there is no way there going to fit down my trails. My 8' cultipaker will fit, but I'm taking bark off trees and dragging it sideways sometimes lol.


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I buy from the local quarry. For my smaller areas,I pull my tandem axle 16 foot trailer and the loader has a 6 yard bucket and they will load it till you say uncle for $15.00 dollars. It works out to about 3 tons give or take.That should do an acre. It squats pretty good. I broadcast of the back with a shovel. Tuff to get to spots , off load to a small trailer and broadcast by shovel. Where there's a will ,there's a way. Good luck.
 
OkieKubota said:
$6 a bag for pelletized is about twice what I give for it at tractor supply...
Click to expand...

Totally agree. Find a different supplier of pelletized lime.

My local co-op will sell it to me for $2.89 a bag if I order by the full pallet and they don't have to handle it. I had to do a little negotiating and pay cash to get this price, but so what.

Paying a kid to shovel it is a close second if you can find the cheap labor.

Grouse
 
Updated math at $2.89 per bag..... you need to get to $0.93 per bag to be the same price of my local AG lime price per ton:

Pelletized Lime:
1720lbs/40lbs = 43 bags
43 bags x $2.89 = $124.27
1lb of Pelletized lime= $0.07225

AG Lime:
2000lbs of ag lime = $40
1lb of ag lime = $0.02

Is this math correct?


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Right. Pellet lime is much more expensive but, way more convenient in some applications and sometimes the trade off is worth it. I have heavy clay soils and lime stays for a long time. If I can't get a lime spreader to an area I will bite the bullet and put down the pellets because I won't have to do it again for many years. If all of your areas are inaccessible and you need frequent lime, then maybe you bite the bullet once and build roads to make them accessible.
 
alldaysit said:
Is this math correct?
Click to expand...

Yes, but only in the sense that these are prices to have it sitting there waiting to be spread.

Your "on the plot" costs depend on what you need to pay, rent, or hire to get the ag lime spread.

That's another reason why I like pelletized. The cost is the cost because I already own the broadcaster. Also for me time is very valuable. Spending a day spreading lime by shovel is time taken away from other things I could be doing. To each his own of course.

Grouse
 
I'd analyze the cost of widening your trail enough to get the spreader truck in there. Even if the cost is still high, you've got a brand new wider clover trail.
 
Last year I tried spreading lime with my hopper. It didn't work. Eventually I bought pellet iced lime and mixed it 50/50. It worked but took a lot of time. Look into solu-cal. Supposedly you only need a quarter of what you would need with bulk lime.
 
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