Liquid Manure Spreader Made From Milk Tank

Liquid Manure Spreader Made From Milk Tank MANURE HANDLING Equipment 8-4-29 "It's virtually corrosion-proof," says Marcus Detring, Farmington, Mo., who's come up with a design for a liquid manure spreader made from a stainless steel milk tank. It uses gravity to unload and is designed so that all parts that come in contact with manure are made from non-corroding stainless steel. Detring began working on the new spreader when he got fed up with maintenance required on the flail spreader he was using to haul manure out of his uncle's poultry houses. "The flails have to be replaced every 2¢ years or so and the tank is almost completely corroded from contact with manure. This new spreader has no moving parts inside," says Detring. It consists of a 2,000 gal. stainless steel milk tank mounted with a 4-in. rear-sloping grade on a wagon gear from an old spreader. The tank is filled through a manhole in the top and manure runs out a 12-in. square hole in the back that's fitted with a hydraulically-operated slide-gate. Manure flows out this hole and onto a fan-type spreader, also made of stainless steel, and similar in design to a spreader on a dry fertilizer spreader. The spreader fan broadcasts the manure in a 40 to 50-ft. wide swath behind the spreader. The spreader fan spins at 1,500 rpm's and is pto driven. "It'll dump it's load in 1/2 to 1/3 the time of our 1,500 gal. flail spreader using less fuel and causing less wear and tear to our tractor. It requires much less power than either a flail spreader or a vacuum spreader. When you begin spreading, you hardly notice the difference in power," says Detring. The wagon gear is fitted with dual wheels in back. Detring pulls the spreader with an 85-hp. Deere 4020 tractor. He says that, when spreading the last 100 gal. or so, he tries to run up a slope to get all the manure to run out quickly. However, the spreader will empty completely on level ground due to the rearward slope of the tank. Detring has begun building the spreaders on order and says the costdepends on whether he uses an old or new milk tank, and whether used running gears are available. For more information, contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Marcus Detring, 109 W. 6th, Farmington, Mo. 63640 (ph 314 756-3119).

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