"Manure isn't a problem for us anymore," says Ken Gebhart, Hanover, Penn., builder of a huge 7,000 gal. manure tank that will haul as much as 100,000 gal. a day out of his 1 million gal. lagoon.

The king-size spreader is actually an old aluminum oil tanker converted to haul manure with a Calumet Slinger on the back and a pump on top to fill it. The manure tanker is pulled by a 5th wheel that Gebhart installed on the back of his Massey Ferguson 1805 tractor.

"It'll empty its load in 10 to 15 min., covering one to two acres per load, and fills up almost as fast," he says.

The fill hole on top of the tanker is big enough so a man can get inside but Gebhart says that so far the big spreader has emptied 100% of every load. Mounted on the 1805, the spreader is pulled along at an upward slant that pulls well even through muddy ground. To mount the 5th wheel on the Massey, he welded a piece of flat steel across the frame and attached the 5th wheel to that. He notes, however, that a two-wheel dolly could be built to pull the tanker. It takes a minimum of 135 hp to pull the tanker when full.

Gebhart, who raises pullets and hogs, doesn't do any other fertilizing to acres he covered with slurry. "Manure always used to be a bother and a worry but now we look at it as an asset and even sell it to neighbors. We also plan to do custom work with this unit," he says.

Gebhart recently purchased another aluminum tanker and plans to convert it to manure handling, too. The first conversion took him about a week to complete.