What Are The Options For My Manure Spreader?

Can You Spread Compost Manure or Chicken Litter with a Conestoga Manure Spreader?

Options are helpful when you are looking to outfit a spreader for a specific application, for example, shaving horse manure, composted manure, and goat/sheep/chicken manure tend to be more broken down and ready to sift. It doesn’t take much to spread, it can even fall out the back which could require an endgate option to hold it in place while loading. When spreading these softer materials, they tend to slip down between the beater as they exit the spreader, simply dropping out the back. This isn’t an issue and still spreads thin, but our beaters are well designed to chew and throw material as it breaks it up. When spreading manure, the spread comes much smoother for a better, more consistent spread.

This is where a fines pan (known as a fine spread pan, or litter tray) would assist. The option mounts beneath the back beater and holds “droppings” in place until the beater itself rotates and throws all particles of manure out on the spreading surface. This can be helpful when spreading composted manure on a nice, well surfaced pasture vs spreading on a forgotten field where it may not matter. Any decent surface should be spread thin, especially to take care and not cover or burn the grass. With Conestoga’s manure spreaders, you can also choose 1 of 3 variable speeds to spread, meaning you can slow the apron chain (conveyor) for thinner coverage, or speed it up to get the job done faster.

Can You Spread Pen Pack Cow Manure with Straw & Hay through a Conestoga Compact Spreader?

Continuing to understand options, we’re frequently asked about pen pack, or tough, hard and straw stuffed manure. Will our spreaders handle this material, and what do you need to know? Yes, even the toughest manure will go through a Conestoga spreader without an issue, no need to worry about your stainless steel apron chain or other components. There’s an option, and a feature that will help in this situation. Top beaters are a secondary beater bar on all PTO powered spreaders, the smaller, ground drive models come standard for a simple reason, they need more kicking power to shred manure as the pulling vehicle speeds up or slows down to turn etc.

PTO manure spreaders have consistent power to spread from the tractor itself, meaning they never slow down unless the operator controls it to do so. When spreading tough manure, the main beater will work well, however the secondary beater adds assistance by taking on the top of the heaped pile as well as hitting the manure twice. The upper beater works in sync with the bottom beater to feed each other large chunks to be hit 2-3 times instead of just once, breaking them down into smaller bits that dissolve into grassy surfaces faster.

Spreading hard manure may require the use of the speed control as mentioned above. Conestoga Spreaders are equipped with 3 speed controls to allow quick or slow dispensing of manure. Slowing the apron chain or conveyor simply feeds the beaters slower, providing more time to chew and shred manure for the ideal broken down bits. Simply slowing the spreader to pulverize manure is key as well as utilizing a top beater where necessary. Each system is heavy duty and setup to take on tough piles, so the long answer is: yes, our spreaders will handle tough pen pack manure.

So What have we learned?

Do you need options on your spreader? No, but they may be a good fit to make sure your spread pattern and breakdown is beneficial for your fields and meadows. We are also asked frequently: are the options ever bad if you don’t actually need them? Again, the answer is no, but it can be important to start with what you do need before evaluating what you don’t need. Finally, if you’re looking and still unsure what options best take care of your manure pile, contact our team to see what may fit your needs best. We’re used to unique barn, loading, pulling, and spreading scenarios and don’t mind discussing the best fit for your operation.