Spreading lime???

[Casey in Ky]

I've got some ground that's needing lime pretty bad. I've tried for 2 years to get 3 or 4 different "lime haulers" to come out and spread it for me but they all say its' either to wet and to call back later(which the never answer) or they just say they'll call me back and never do. I don't have a drop spreader and I don't really have the budget for one right now either. Now I would imagine trying to spread powerded lime with my funnel/cone type 3 point spreader would be near impossible, but I thought maybe if I mixed in some pellettized, maybe 3 to 1 powerded to pellets, that it might spread decent enough. Any thoughts or other ideas? Maybe just shoveling it out the back of pickup, but I don;t much relish the thought of spreading a 3 or 4 tons by hand. Thanks.

Casey

 

[kyhayman]

Check some of the farm supply stores and see it they have a lime spreader for rent. Our county Farm Bureau has one, a 5 ton BBI unit we rent for 50.00 a day. Pulls with a tractor just like a fertilier buggy. Get the lime dropped with a dump truck and you are good to go.

 

[Tim(nj)]

most bulk lime is damp. Neither cone spreaders nor drop spreaders like it. As hayman said, might be able to rent a lime buggy from a supplier, Co-Op here does that. I've actually spread a dump truck load of damp stuff with my pto manure spreader. I have a litter pan which helps put it on more evenly. I wouldn't want to do a large acreage that way but it was the only way these particular small, odd-shaped fields were ever going to get done. Co-op's buggy was out of service and big rain was on the way . . . .

 

[Anonymous-0]

If the only choice is to do it yourself with the 3pt spreader, just use the pelletized lime. A lot more expensive than standard ag lime, but it will work with your spreader. They might use trucks that needed to be converted from fertilizer to lime spreading and your timing hasn't been very good. We wanted some spread after wheat in the July/August time frame and because they needed to convert a truck, it didn't get it done until November.

 

[Casey in Ky]

I should have added that no place local has anything for rent either. I've called every place in the county and all the surrounding as well. Winchester or Flemingsburg, Ky might have something, but those are both upwards of 2 hours away. Local feed dealer has bagged lime in the dry for $85 a ton. Maybe its damp in the package, but I'm not for sure as I've never used any of it. I thought mixing the the pellet in with the bagged powerded might help it feed thru better...but it was just a thought.

 

[kyhayman]

The bagged lime should be powder dry. Mixing it should help. When I was working as an ag agent we did some field trials on using different sources and rates to see what was most economical on rented ground. Specifically looking at low CEC river bottom soils with a sandstone origion in northeastern KY. What we found was there was no significant difference the first year in yield response from using full rate of quarried ag lime, half rate of bagged lime, third rate of bagged lime, or quarter rate of pelleted lime.

 

[Casey in Ky]

Wow...thats good information. It"s a 600lb spreader, I think I"m gonna try 400lb powder with 200lb of pellets. Hopefully the dust won"t choke me out. The bags of pellets are about $4 a bag for a 40lb bag....quite a bit more expensive. But, if its applied at a 1/4 rate, maybe it would be cheaper to just go with the pellets. Though I seem to recall reading somewhere, maybe in some of UK"s stuff, that it was suppose to take pellets longer to take effect and that for some reason the benefits didn"t last as long. But maybe I"m confused on that.

 

[showcrop]

Around here they spread lime in the fall only. Too much truck retrieval expense in the spring.

 

[David G]

The lime needs time to break down into the proper components and be effective. The fall is really the right time to put it on.

 

[Tim(nj)]

Check to see if anybody in your area has AgroSil.

 

[Tim(nj)]

Sorry, should be Agrow-Sil. Made by Harsco.

 

[hayray]

I have always had the same problem getting lime spread so several years ago I started using my apron chain manure spreader to do it. You need to fill the spreader first with about a third full of manure. I am not spreading the dolomitic but the marl type lime so it is easy to spread in this manner.

 

[Finn Md]

Rent a buggy spreader from local Southern States or ag co op where you buy bulk lime. I rent buggies from my local Southern States for $35. All you need is clevis hitch for your truck to tow. Can't beat that.