Decker Mfg. Manure Spreader

[oldfarmall]

Hello-

A few months ago I posted about info for a Badger manure spreader I bought. It was identified as a Badger Liquid Saver manure spreader that had a depressed or concave floor to hold the liquid manure in the spreader until you got to the field. It also has a unique feature where it pivots in the middle to tilt up when the load moved to the back of the spreader.


Long story short, I found a Facebook Marketplace ad for a guy who was selling parts off a manure spreader to make a wood hauler. The one he had was made by Decker Mfg. In Janesville, WI. It caught my eye because it looked just like mine. This Decker

spreader looks almost identical to the Badger Liquid Saver. Same frame, pivots in middle, has depressed concave floor, gearboxes identical. They were made in the early 1960's, same time as the Badger Liquid Saver.

I was just curious, did Decker make the spreader for Badger or the other way around? The apron gearbox has "Decker" cast into it, while the Badger spreader gearbox is blank. My Badger manure spreader has green paint, the Decker had red paint.

Thanks for any future comments!

-Jesse

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

The Badger brand has a place in my heart. Not a warm place, mind you. A very, very cold place...

There was/is a lot of "give and take" among short line equipment manufacturers. Badger made some equipment for other short lines, and even some full line manufacturers. They also had other short lines making equipment for them.

One example is forage wagons. Badger made forage wagons for themselves and Massey Ferguson in the 1970s for sure. Possibly others. Eventually they supplied the same wagons to New Holland. We have a Massey wagon bought new on the farm that has Badger green paint under the red.

Going by the evidence presented, that being the presence of the "Decker" name/logo on the gearbox casting of the Decker spreader, I would say that Decker was the original manufacturer of the spreader, and they made them for Badger.