PTO or ground driven ?

[mississippi mud]

i am looking to purchase a manure spreader. there are 2 basic drives, PTO or ground driven. small volume or large, both(drive options) are available for any size. any input on durability issues ? there is quite a price difference between the 2

 

[Farmwithjunk]

A ground driven model could even be pulled with a pick-up truck. (BTDT) PTO driven USUALLY works better. Ground driven will slide the wheels in slick conditions (wet grass) with a pto driven spreader, ground conditions don't matter much. Pick your spots when using a ground driven and they'll get the job done. No gaurantee's though. Even John Deere wouldn't stand behind his manure spreader.

 

[Glowplug]

Even John Deere wouldn't stand behind his manure spreader.

LOL. Took me a second though. Very good "tongue in cheek".
If I were getting one I'd get PTO-driven for reasons mentioned above. If I can put something on the 3-pt hitch and/or power it with the PTO it makes a bad day turn into a good one.

 

[BigMccorm]

PTO driven is the way I would go. When you get to the end of the row and barely have anything left in the spreader, your going to want the PTO powered spreader. You can keep it running while your not moving for the last little bit of cleanout. Also, you can vary the application thickness of the manure. With the PTO you can move in a lower gear but with higher RPM's will give you more coverage where the ground driven will only work at the speed you are moving. By no means am I an expert on manure spreaders. This is just what I would consider if I was buying a manure spreader.

 

[drssg]

As far as size, I think it depends on how you use it. If you spread manure daily, then you only need one big enough to hold one day's manure. If you accumulate it and spread periodically, then I'd recommend the biggest spreader that your tractor can handle and you're willing to buy. I think mine is 125 bushels, and it takes a bunch of trips to spread 6-8 months of manure. Our area is too wet to permit daily spreading year round. I also like to let it decompose before spreading.

I prefer the PTO-driven spreaders for reasons already mentioned. I also know people who use the spreader to haul manure to the pile and then run it in place to unload the manure. The only downside is that it's one more thing to connect and disconnect if you are making a lot of trips.

I wrote a song while spreading manure one weekend. It goes like this…

Hook up the spreader.
Spread the manure.
Unhook the spreader.
Load the spreader.

This single verse repeats infinitely.

 

[mississippi mud]

this forum has saved me alot of time and aggrevation. i know exactly what i need now. thanks to all who responded.

 

[Kubotasrking]

this forum has saved me alot of time and aggrevation. i know exactly what i need now. thanks to all who responded.

I picked up a 1960's vintage IH(?) ground driven spreader for $500 about 6 months ago. I've pulled it w/ my big tractor and lawn tractor with good results. I noticed the post about sliding tires in wet conditions..well, the conditions don't get much more wet than the Pacific NW...I've never had the tires slide. I've used it every-other-day all winter long.

Mine is a pretty good little spreader, and the price was right.

I agree w/ the group that a PTO driven spreader does a better job though..used one growing up. They are great.

 

[vallyfarm]

Any NEW grownd driven speader will be POOR at best. Any OLD ground driven (1950's or older) will work GOOD at worst. The older ones can adjust their unload speed to a point that the spread will almost cover the ground totally. If you only have a few critters oone of these older ground drives would work well, but if you have more critters get a bigger PTO type. Also- here in NY the ground drive does slip sometimes in the winter. Ice or very heavy snow can do it, but just put a tire chain on the spreader and you'll never have a problem. I have a newer (80's) PTO spreader and an old (40's) ground driven spreader. The old one has 5 times more use than the new one, just since I've had them, and that old girl has never, never let me down once! The newer one I've had to replace chains, bearings, ratchet locks, etc on. Both are New Idea, as good as were ever made. That old girl i got for $100. More than that was put into the newer one just last year. Mike

 

[schmism]

this seemed like the perfect thing for behind a CUT.

Iowa Farm Equipment -- Wallenstein Manure Spreaders

 

[BigMccorm]

I wrote a song while spreading manure one weekend. It goes like this…

Hook up the spreader.
Spread the manure.
Unhook the spreader.
Load the spreader.

This single verse repeats infinitely.

Wow I must really be spoiled. I don't have to unhook the spreader each time I want to load it. But then again, we've got more than one machine. One being a John Deere 320 Skid Loader. I don't think there's an easier thing to load manure with than a skid loader. And dang it, they're just so darn fun to drive.