High-Lift Dump Cart Loads Fertilizer

High-Lift Dump Cart Loads Fertilizer FERTILIZER APPLICATION Fertilizer Application (58f) 19-5-2 A Minnesota farmer who grew tired of having to drive his dry fertilizer spreader back and forth from field to yard for refills built a high-lift 2-wheeled dump cart that allows him to load the spreader right in the field. Mark Spielman patterned the 4 1/2-ton capacity cart after a Richardton forage box. A local fabricating shop made the box which Spielman mounted on the axle off an old Deere pull-type combine. The hinged box is raised or lowered by a pair of 4-ft. hydraulic cylinders. Spielman stores fertilizer in a shed with a concrete floor. He uses a skid steer loader to load fertilizer into the cart. He uses a pickup to tow the cart to the field. Quick couplers mounted on the cart allow him to use the tractor on the spreader to power the cart. "It's a fast, efficient way to handle fertilizer," says Spielman. "I have some fields that are 9 miles away. If I think I'm going to run out of fertilizer I can call my wife on the mobile phone and have her bring the cart to me so I can finish the field. I pull the spinner spreader behind a field cultivator pulled by my Challenger 75C tractor." Spielman used channel iron to make the cart frame. The 13 by 16.1 wheels are off an old Massey combine. He used the wrist pins (bushings) from an old engine to make the hinges. To reduce spills when dumping fertilizer he added steel corner guards to the cart and wooden splash boards to the spreader. Spielman spent about $3,000 to build the cart. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Mark Spielman, Rt. 1, Box 142, Twin Valley, Minn. 56584 (ph 218 567-8510).

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