Soil sample & analysis

[Drycreek]

I got lucky and picked up a 10' John Deere lime drop spreader for $175 at an auction. I paid it off in savings the first time I bought a ton of powdered lime instead of pelletized. But I agree with you, someone with no way of spreading except by hand is better of to spend the money for pelletized than to eat the dust.

On large plots I get to borrow a lime buggy from my local feed store when I buy bulk lime, but on small plots I just put out bagged lime with my three point cyclone type spreader. I put it out at low rpm so the dust is kept to a minimum but I have a cabbed tractor so dust isn't really a problem.

As to Mark's point about barn lime, I read somewhere this morning that barn lime took a long time to break down due to the size of the particles. Any opinions on that ?

 

[X-farmerdan]

Barn lime has no neutralizing capability. It's crushed, not pulverized, limestone. I'm going to work without a safety net. One critical factor of lime's neutralizing capability is particle size. Particle size is measured by amount of the product passing thru a sieve of different sizes. Barn lime needs to be very granular to prevent slippage. Most of it will not pass thru a 60 mesh screen. Generally, ag lime needs to be fine enough to pass thru an 80 mesh or larger screen.

 

[Drycreek]

View attachment 15055 Barn lime has no neutralizing capability. It's crushed, not pulverized, limestone. I'm going to work without a safety net. One critical factor of lime's neutralizing capability is particle size. Particle size is measured by amount of the product passing thru a sieve of different sizes. Barn lime needs to be very granular to prevent slippage. Most of it will not pass thru a 60 mesh screen. Generally, ag lime needs to be fine enough to pass thru an 80 mesh or larger screen.

Thanks, that goes along with what I read this morning. I've never used it, but I saw it advertised and didn't really know anything about it.

 

[MarkDarvin]

View attachment 15055 Barn lime has no neutralizing capability. It's crushed, not pulverized, limestone. I'm going to work without a safety net. One critical factor of lime's neutralizing capability is particle size. Particle size is measured by amount of the product passing thru a sieve of different sizes. Barn lime needs to be very granular to prevent slippage. Most of it will not pass thru a 60 mesh screen. Generally, ag lime needs to be fine enough to pass thru an 80 mesh or larger screen.

I'm gonna sound like a Tractor Supply shareholder here pretty soon, but in this case, they shine again. On all the waukesha brands (the crushed barn lime) they state their particle size and mesh passing percentages. The cheapest of the waukesha passes most through a 50-59 mesh I believe. It is coarse, but I've gotten the job done with it without making an adjustments for particle size. It was a simple pounds calculation and apply.

I'd still go for the pell because it's extra finely ground. But I still use the coarse stuff for quick and dirty small pounds applications.

 

[coolbrze0]

Thanks guys. The 1st test (2 pics) was done by Whitetail Institutes & the 2nd (1 pic) was done by the VA Tech state lab here in VA. I use Solu-Cal which I purchase from our commercial landscape supply store. It's small granules, FAST acting, & takes waaay less lb/1k than the other limes. My plots are small enough that I can now use a Lesco push/broadcast spreader w/ Solu-Cal now that I've finally gotten the pH up some. Last year was a bear putting down tons of lime.