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Air-Powered Spreader Blows Slurry Out Back
"It's built much heavier than any liquid spreader on the market," say three Illinois farmers who made their own slurry spreader that works like commercial-built "honey wagons", using air pressure to spread manure on fields and vacuum to suck slurry back into the tank for refills.
Leslie Johnston and sons, Danny a
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Air-Powered Spreader Blows Slurry Out Back MANURE HANDLING Equipment 18-1-4 "It's built much heavier than any liquid spreader on the market," say three Illinois farmers who made their own slurry spreader that works like commercial-built "honey wagons", using air pressure to spread manure on fields and vacuum to suck slurry back into the tank for refills.
Leslie Johnston and sons, Danny and Doyle, Mason, Ill., made the spreader out of an old propane tank made out of high-grade steel. The main barrel is 7/16-in. thick steel while the rounded ends are 3/8-in. thick.
"It cost only about 1/4 as much to build as a commercial liquid spreader but, because it's built so heavy, it should last much longer. Except for the propane tank and the chassis under it, we used all new components," says Leslie.
He cautions that extreme care must be taken when cutting into a propane tank. `The gas company filled it with water and, while it was 100 percent full, they cut a 6 in. dia. hole in the bottom and a 13-in. hole in the top. After draining out the water, we let it sit and `breathe' for a day or so."
An Maro air vane pump (commonly used on liquid spreaders) mounts up front on the tongue of the trailer, which the men built using two semi axles. To spread a tankful of manure, it pressurizes the tank through a port on top, blowing the liquid slurry out a 5 1/2-in. dia. "snorkle" at the back of the tank. Manure blasts out of the tank against a hinged plate covering the end of the "snorkle" and is spread in a pattern 40 ft. wide.
To fill the tank, a hose is hooked up to an inlet port on the lower left side of the tank. As vacuum is created inside the tank, the flap over the rear snorkle pipe clamps shut, creating an air-tight seal.
It takes just 3 to 4 min. to fill the 2,800 gal. tank and 5 to 8 min.. to empty it.
Air hoses at the front of the tank are plumbed into a "moisture trap" that catches liquid carried out of the tank when the compressor is being used to fill the tank. It's a commercial-built unit commonly used on liquid spreaders.
Because the spreading snorkle comes out of the bottom of the tank, it's easy to completely clean out the tank after spreading.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Leslie Johnston, Rt. 1, Box 16, Mason, Ill. 62443 (ph 618 238-4318).
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