# Lime spreader



## 1gr8bldr (May 17, 2011)

My lime spreading problems are over. I just bought a Gandy 10ft drop spreader. No more wasteing money sligging it in the woods with a high priced spreader truck and no more by the bag expenses.


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## Bushhog Bob (May 17, 2011)

Post a picture.  Did you find it at an auction.


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## deerdander (May 18, 2011)

1gr8bldr said:


> My lime spreading problems are over. I just bought a Gandy 10ft drop spreader. No more wasteing money sligging it in the woods with a high priced spreader truck and no more by the bag expenses.



Glad for you, but I'm curious if that Gandy work with pulverized lime or is it for pelletized lime only ?


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## Kawaliga (May 18, 2011)

I bought a funnel type seed/fertilizer spreader, and it takes all the work out of food plots. The tractor does all the work, and for $428.00 for the spreader it was a good investment.


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## Jim Boyd (May 19, 2011)

tetgunner, 

thanks for your service. 

do you put out ag lime with your spreader and if so, how does it work?

jim


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## Killdee (May 19, 2011)

tetgunner said:


> I bought a funnel type seed/fertilizer spreader, and it takes all the work out of food plots. The tractor does all the work, and for $428.00 for the spreader it was a good investment.



These work great for seed and fertilizer, but they are not for powdered ag type lime.


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## 1gr8bldr (May 19, 2011)

Well, things have changed. I was hesitant about this. Here's the story. My best friend who's land adjoins mine, who I let stay at my clubhouse, has a 10 ft drop spreader. He uses it to put out powdered lime and fertilizer. He laughs at me cause I have been using a spreader truck, of which puts a portion in the surrounding woods. He has been trying to get me to use his. Craigs list has had one for 4 months now. Like new. The guy wanted $1200 at first but over the months, he came down to $800. I called him a couple of times to inquire about it. Tuesday I called and offered him $450, of which he said if I would make it $500, I could have it. So, wanting to go get it right then, he said he would prefer to wait because it was raining hard. He was about 30 minutes away. So the next time we could meet up would be thursday evening. I was worried about waiting. He called yesterday and said that someone had called after all this time and offered $1000. I did not pressure him to stick with our original deal. He said that if he did not show that he would call me back. No call, so I guess it's gone. But, what the heck, I did not need it anyway. It was just to good a deal to pass up. Oh well, I will just have to pull my friends down the road a 1/4 mile. I can use that $500 on some other implement to add to my collection.


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## elfiii (May 19, 2011)

Go with the funnel spreader like tetgunner mentioned. Pelletized lime works just as good as Ag lime. You just have to put it down earlier so it has time to dissolve and do its' thang.


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## 1gr8bldr (May 19, 2011)

Pelletized is much higher priced than bulk lime. Southern States is higher than I can remember, $45 per ton. If my math is correct, the same amount of pelletized would cost $250


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## Killdee (May 19, 2011)

1gr8bldr said:


> Pelletized is much higher priced than bulk lime. Southern States is higher than I can remember, $45 per ton. If my math is correct, the same amount of pelletized would cost $250



What he said...liming small food plots is tough, too small for a spreader truck and very costly to make a difference with bagged pelletized stuff.


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## Kawaliga (May 19, 2011)

*Lime Spreader*



Jim Boyd said:


> tetgunner,
> 
> thanks for your service.
> 
> ...



Jim, Thanks for your service also. BTW, my father was in the 82nd Airborne Div. in WWII, and made three of their combat jumps, was wounded in the Holland jump.
I have used pelletized bag lime with my spreader, but I believe it will do fine with bulk lime. According to the instructions, it will spread some really small seeds, so bulk lime should be OK. The beauty of it is you can get it in some really tight places if you have food plots in the woods. Good luck, and good hunting.


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## pasinthrough (May 20, 2011)

Gunner,

It's not the size of the seed it will spread, but the powder lime will cake up and not fall out the holes in the bottom.

You might be able to mix some  ag lime and pellets to get it to flow, but my experience has been that it will cake up and not flow right.  

This leads to verbal abuse towards the spreader by the tractor operator!


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## Canuck5 (May 20, 2011)

What pasinthrough said .... I have one of those 10 foot lime spreaders (that I cut down to 6 feet) and even with one of those, if the moisture content of the lime is too high, it needs encouragement to spread pure AG lime.


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## deerdander (May 20, 2011)

Canuck5 said:


> What pasinthrough said .... I have one of those 10 foot lime spreaders (that I cut down to 6 feet) and even with one of those, if the moisture content of the lime is too high, it needs encouragement to spread pure AG lime.



Precisely the reason I asked him if that spreader was going to work with pulverized lime. I didn't want him to get into equipment that he might be disappointed in. 
There are some drop spreaders on the market that will work well w/ pulverized lime if the lime is dry and clean and can be pulled behind ATV or small tractors.
Partner, I hope you find a good solution that fits your need.
There are a lot of challenges to food plotting for sure.
We have borrowed pull type spreaders from a nearby farmer so we didn't have to depend on the lime/fert dealer's schedule to get their truck to come spread our plots. Our plots take low priority to the farmers that they serve.
Right now we could use some rain.


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## Kawaliga (May 20, 2011)

OK, if the bulk lime will cake up, what if you mixed lime and fertilizer together in a funnel type spreader? Would the fertilizer granules help with a better flow? Would this work?


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## Canuck5 (May 20, 2011)

Yes, and people do, do it and they may even have a mix of AG lime, Pelletized lime and Fertilizer.  The only problem comes when you need to put down 2000 lbs of lime and only 200 lbs of fertilizer.  I think a ratio of 60/40 might be required to do well.  Some others on here can probably tells us what the ratio was they used.  If the lime is wet, then you might have to increase the ratio.

You generally will have to use a lot more lime, than fertilizer.


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## Killdee (May 20, 2011)

I have heard of people burning up their gear box trying to run powder ag lime thru their funnel type spreader. At best you will have a hopper full of lime that you would have to dig back out( what my buddy had to do). Lime trucks and spreaders are built especially for that purpose so be careful with your new equipment. Good luck and as others said thanks for your service.


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## wildlifepro (May 23, 2011)

The funnel type spreaders are for spreading granular or pelletized materials. Powdered material will not work in them or flow well in them and like Killdee said ,I have also seen a gearbox shutdown because of trying to put out powedered material. Note instead of lime try using a product called Solu-Cal .Its alot better, no dust and corrects your soil in a few weeks as opposed to 6 months with ag lime.You can mix it with fertilizer in a funnel spreader at the same time as well if you want. Only about 1/2 of what you would need for ag lime.


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## Gadestroyer74 (May 23, 2011)

i have never used solu-cal ? how does it work meaning like how do you mix it does alittle go along way any info is appreciated wildilifepro any known prices thanks brian


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## Vernon Holt (May 24, 2011)

This may not help much with your lime spreading problem, but if heeded will help you obtain the greatest return for your investment.

It should be obvious to all that if liquid liming agents were indeed "a lot better", powdered Agricultural limestone would long ago have passed into oblivion.

Here is a quotation from one of the most respected Consultants and practicing Wildlife Biologists in the Southeast.  It is interesting how he views this material:

"A word of caution: there is a product out there called liquid lime, often sold in 2½ gallon jugs. There are some extravagant, exaggerated testimonials out there claiming that this product is so concentrated that it is the equivalent of thousands of pounds of powdered agricultural lime. Itâ€™s not true! Donâ€™t waste your money on liquid lime; itâ€™s cost prohibitive to apply enough to correct soil pH over the long haul like agricultural lime does".

There is an old saying; "All that glitters is not gold".  Most of the people who promote liquid lime products are those who find themselves in position to profit from the sale thereof.  Buyer beware!!


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## C.Killmaster (May 24, 2011)

You can spread powdered lime in a funnel spreader easily with the right agitator.

http://mower-blades.agrisupply.com/...eFVYcCDl3Vp8&method=and&isort=score&view=grid


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## Sugar Creek Camp (May 24, 2011)

I thought I was smart and ran hydrated (builders) lime in my tow behind funnel type fertilizer spreader.  It is a fine powder, spread great, and did good for the ph.  However, even after spraying it out with a hose it rusted my rig by the next year.  Costly mistake!


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## 1gr8bldr (May 24, 2011)

bhearn92574 said:


> i have never used solu-cal ? how does it work meaning like how do you mix it does alittle go along way any info is appreciated wildilifepro any known prices thanks brian


 Solucal is expensive. I can't recall, but is almost instant. Landscapers use it with flowers and bushes. I have used it.


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## 1gr8bldr (May 24, 2011)

1gr8bldr said:


> Well, things have changed. I was hesitant about this. Here's the story. My best friend who's land adjoins mine, who I let stay at my clubhouse, has a 10 ft drop spreader. He uses it to put out powdered lime and fertilizer. He laughs at me cause I have been using a spreader truck, of which puts a portion in the surrounding woods. He has been trying to get me to use his. Craigs list has had one for 4 months now. Like new. The guy wanted $1200 at first but over the months, he came down to $800. I called him a couple of times to inquire about it. Tuesday I called and offered him $450, of which he said if I would make it $500, I could have it. So, wanting to go get it right then, he said he would prefer to wait because it was raining hard. He was about 30 minutes away. So the next time we could meet up would be thursday evening. I was worried about waiting. He called yesterday and said that someone had called after all this time and offered $1000. I did not pressure him to stick with our original deal. He said that if he did not show that he would call me back. No call, so I guess it's gone. But, what the heck, I did not need it anyway. It was just to good a deal to pass up. Oh well, I will just have to pull my friends down the road a 1/4 mile. I can use that $500 on some other implement to add to my collection.


 That drop spreader is still on craigslist. Maybe I should call back.


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## 23wilkerson (Dec 28, 2011)

Can you spread solu-cal in a funnel spreader without mixing in fert. I want to put solu-cal out about 6-8 weeks before planting but not the fert that early.thanks


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## wildlifepro (Dec 28, 2011)

*RE spreading solu cal*



23wilkerson said:


> Can you spread solu-cal in a funnel spreader without mixing in fert. I want to put solu-cal out about 6-8 weeks before planting but not the fert that early.thanks


Yes you can spread solu-cal in a funnel type spreader without any problems. I do it all the time.  Spreads great. No dust !!! and getting it in your soil about 5/6 weeks before planting works great.


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## 23wilkerson (Dec 28, 2011)

Ok thanks thats what im planning on doing


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## redlevel (Dec 28, 2011)

http://kentcoopextension.blogspot.com/2007/11/turf-liming-material-comparisons.html

http://www.penningtonseed.com/KnowledgeCenterDetails.aspx?id=67

Y'all can do what you want to, but when a noted  wildlife biologist and at least one state extension service tell me that I'm throwing money away trying to raise soil ph over an extended period by using a certain product, then I'm going to stick with the real thing.

C.Killmaster, I have one of those agitators on my spreader.  With wet lime, it just hollows out a spot and stops spreading.


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## wildlifepro (Dec 29, 2011)

*RE solu cal study*



redlevel said:


> http://kentcoopextension.blogspot.com/2007/11/turf-liming-material-comparisons.html
> 
> http://www.penningtonseed.com/KnowledgeCenterDetails.aspx?id=67
> 
> ...



I think your refering to the old bare sand study done a few years ago and also there is an old rutgers study still floating around. Contact 803-370-3745 in SC and ask for Chad and he will give you the real facts on the product. Now try the same approach on a bare root study and you will see a complete and different result. Commercial AG lime will not come close to what Solu-Cal can do. It stays in the soil longer than ag lime and corrects ph in 4 to 6 weeks on average not 6 to 12 monts like ag lime does.I would not use it if it did not work. I also hate to waste money and time or have someone else also. 
PS have your local extension agent contact me if you want, I would like to hear there reason why says your wasting your money. And yea not to many wet products will flow through a spreader.


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## Bushhog Bob (Jan 1, 2012)

This is what I used this spring to spread dry ag lime. Then I cut it in with the cutting harrow. The drop spreader puts the lime right down without the wind blowing it everywhere. It has lock-in hubs that turn an agitater in the bottom of the spreader to keep the lime from packing. Here is a picture of it. It is the 6 ft. one on the left. I sold the 8 ft. one on the right.


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## Hardknox (Jan 1, 2012)

*You can spread powdered lime in a funnel spreader easily with the right agitator.  ht*

Tried this exact one. Sorry to say it didn't work.


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## wildlifepro (Jan 1, 2012)

Bushhog Bob said:


> This is what I used this spring to spread dry ag lime. Then I cut it in with the cutting harrow. The drop spreader puts the lime right down without the wind blowing it everywhere. It has lock-in hubs that turn an agitater in the bottom of the spreader to keep the lime from packing. Here is a picture of it. It is the 6 ft. one on the left. I sold the 8 ft. one on the right.



Hey Bushog,If you ever run across a good old 6ft model for sale let me know .I would love to find one.Thanks


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## Canuck5 (Jan 2, 2012)

Bushog .... you did a great job on your spreaders!  Mine spread all the fertilizer and seed this year.  They are rugged!


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## Bushhog Bob (Jan 3, 2012)

Hey Wildlife Pro:  Found 4 drop spreaders and all of them were 8 foot.  I had one of them cut down to 6 ft. to keep and sold the other three 8 footers after I had them restored.  I was real pleased how good it did putting down the powdered lime this fall.  The EZ Flow drop spreaders are hard to find but you can check with a place in Kentucky called Sweet Tractor. They run across some ever so often. I also believe Canuck has sold some before.


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## wildlifepro (Jan 3, 2012)

Thanks Bushhog,Ill hit canuk up sometime and check out the place in Ky,I found a place just outside Waltersborro SC that gets them every now and then.But I will try to find a good 8ft model and cut it down,Also looking gor a 6ft pull behind grain drill I know,JD made them some years back and would love to run across one.Thanks and have a great evening.


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## deerdander (Jan 5, 2012)

Hey JC, Happy and blessed new year to you.
Any news update on that developing fertilizer/lime product someone was working on last year that was going to be available this spring?
Byron in Augusta


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## wildlifepro (Jan 5, 2012)

*RE solu cal plot fertilizer update*



deerdander said:


> Hey JC, Happy and blessed new year to you.
> Any news update on that developing fertilizer/lime product someone was working on last year that was going to be available this spring?
> Byron in Augusta



Hey Double D , Yes we are hoping to have this put together by April of this year. I have had good success with the blend and have a guy in middle Ga that used it on 108 acres of plots on his place and its done great. Check with me or pm me around March and I will have some info for you. Thanks bud and a blessed new year to you also my friend.


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