Big-Wheeled Liquid Manure Spreader

Big-Wheeled Liquid Manure Spreader MANURE HANDLING Equipment 17-6-10 Keith Miller, New Paris, Ind., designed this liquid manure spreader and then built it from the ground up with the help of a local metal shop. "I had them build the tank out of 1/4 and 3/16-in. steel and then I painted, plumbed, and finished the unit myself. The tank holds 3,000 gal. plus but is just 12 ft. long due to the flared-out square sides that extend out over the wheels. Overall width is just 8 ft. It's mounted on an axle from a Ford 630 combine. The 23 by 26-in. flotation tires require just 27 lbs. of air. "The short length limits `pitching' back and forth and the large tires make the unit easy to pull. I can handle it with an 80 hp. tractor. "There are 8 holes on 30-in. centers drilled into the rear folding boom, which has telescoping wings made out of PVC pipe, giving a uniform spread with less smell than a solid cover of manure. "There's a hydraulic cylinder on each boom and a cylinder on each of two slide gates on either side of the back end of the tank. All cylinders are activated at once by a single set of hoses from the tractor that run to a `distributor' mounted on back of the tank. "Total cost, including labor, steel, paint (epoxy inside), cylinders, hoses, etc., was just $5,100, or about half the cost of a similar size commercial-built unit. I could make blueprints available if there's enough interest." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Keith Miller, 21919 CR 46, New Paris, Ind. 46553 (ph 219 831-2860).

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