4WD Liquid Manure Spreader Mounted On Mack Truck

4WD liquid manure spreader mounted on mack truck MANURE HANDLING Equipment 15-4-9 Mike Laframboise, New Haven, Vt., needed a high capacity self-propelled liquid manure spreader that wouldn't compact the heavy clay soils in his area. He built his own articulated steering, 4-WD rig using parts from an industrial Trojan 2000 payloader and a 1972 Mack cab-over truck, mounting an 18-ft. long, 3,800-gal. tank on big low-pressure tires designed for log skidders. "The 66 by 43 tires exert only 20 psi which is far less than the 100 psi tires found on conventional truck spreaders," says Laframboise, who built the rig last fall. "I had been running a dairy farm, but my home-built spreader allowed me to custom spread manure on a full-time basis. I can't go faster than 25 mph on the highway or the tires will start bouncing. However, that's no problem because this area has so many dairy farms that I don't have to go far. I paid $3,000 each for the four tires. Total cost to build the spreader was about $60,000 whereas a new one of comparable size would cost at least $150,000. I had the tank custom-built extremely long and low in order to keep the top loading spout as close to the ground as possible. It's 12 ft. high and spreads in a 60-ft. wide pattern. The 318 hp Detroit diesel engine has plenty of power. I've never been stuck. "The spreader uses the truck's original 13-speed Fuller transmission. I use an air cylinder to shift the transfer case (re-moved from a 4-WD snowplow truck) into 4-WD. I can shift from 2 to 4-WD in the field. However, I have to shift out of 4-WD on the highway. The articulated steering assembly is mounted ahead of the frame's midpoint so the rear wheels don't follow the front ones exactly on sharp turns." Laframboise stripped the truck down to the engine, transmission, and frame, cutting off the fifth wheel trailer hitch but leaving the cab. He removed the truck's front and rear axles and replaced them with the payloader's rear planetary axle and front axle. He cut 2 ft. from each side of the payloader's articulated steering assembly and welded it into the frame. He then welded on an 18-ft. length of frame behind the steering assembly to match the length of the tank. He mounted two 75-gal. tanks behind the cab, one for hydraulic oil and the other for diesel fuel. He mounted a hydraulic steering motor on the end of the steering shaft. A recirculation valve mounted inside the tank keeps sediment moving so that it can't settle in front of the tank. The tank has a flared opening in back similar to a conventional liquid manure spreader. The gate is opened and closed by an air cylinder and a45 gpm hydraulic pump runs the impellor. Manure is pumped out by a pto-operated hydraulic pump. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Follow up, Mike Laframboise, RR 1, Box 1, New Haven, Vt. 05472 (ph 802 453-5005).

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