Arne Eissner, Souris, Man., added an extra beater to his single-beater Deere 680 manure spreader and beefed up the drive components at the same time.

"It works much better than the original model because it spreads lumps more evenly. It's also a lot stronger now so I don't have to worry about breakdowns," says Eissner.

The new beater mounts above and slightly ahead of the original one. He made it by welding 5-in. long angle irons in a spiral pattern onto a length of 7-in. dia. steel pipe, 1/4-in. thick. The pipe is supported on each end by a 1 1/4-in. dia. steel shaft that mounts inside a round steel plate.

He replaced the original 1-in. dia. shaft that came out of the gearbox to drive the bottom beater with a heavier 1 1/4-in. dia. shaft. The heavier shaft is fitted with a sprocket that chain-drives the top beater. He bolted a heavy piece of L-shaped steel plate onto each side of the spreader to support both beater shafts. He also bolted 1-ft. high extensions onto the sides of the spreader, allowing him to increase capacity from 350 to 400 bu.

"It really spreads nice and is built stronger than anything on the market," says Eissner. "The single beater didn't spread manure lumps very well so we often had to come back with a field cultivator and spread them out. The double beaters break up the lumps and spread evenly so we never have to make an extra tillage trip. I paid for the pipe and the angle irons. The rest was scrap we had on hand."