Monroe Tuflin Spreader

[LEWinMI]

I am thinking of buying a Monroe Tufline ATV Spreader for spreading bulk lime and fertilizer. Does anyone own one of these spreaders and can you give me some comments on how it has worked for you. Thanks Lew

[jfwalker]

I haven't had good luck using bulk lime with an ATV spreader, it tends to clump up if any moisture at all gets into it.

Rather than spend $600 on a spreader (if I looked at the right model on the Internet) consider having it done.I pay $3/ton for lime at the quarry, add 10 cents per ton per mile to have it hauled to the farm, then $5/acre for application.

Consider 2tons lime/acre on 20 acres. If you have to use pelletized lime at $80/ton bulk, $140/ton in bags, it is going to cost you $3,200bulk $5,600bags and you are going to have to manhandle 40 tons of lime.If the quarry is 30 miles from the property, your costs would be $120 for lime, $120 transportation and $100 application for a total of $340. The custom applicator will have it done in a couple of hours. Instead of breaking your back, you simply write a check and watch somebody else work while saving around $3,000 to $5,000, compared to pelletized lime.

If on the other hand, your equipment can spread bulk lime, you would only save the $5/acre application cost. You would be spending $600 for the spreader and breaking your back with 40 tons of lime to save $100....hummmm.I see few farmers spreading their own lime anymore. It is so much easier to have it done. The savings in equipment more than offsets the application costs.

I still spread pelletized lime from my ATV spreader, but it is limited to smaller special areas that need lime, that the bigger equipment cannot get to.

[LEWinMI]

jfwalker, Thanks for the reply. A little more information on my situation. My land is in the UP of Michigan a wilderness area. There is a source of bulk lime that will deliver to my property, but no one in the business of spreading lime. Therefore, I am on my own to get the job done. From soil test I need about 4-5 tons of lime per acre to bring my pH up to a level for clover etc. Right now I have 4 acres cleared and ready to farm, so I need to spread 16-20 tons of lime. I have access to a tractor with a front end loader and need a spreader to attach to my ATV to spread the lime. A backup solution is to rent a farm spreader and haul it 100 miles and use the tractor to load and pull the spreader. It can be done, but every time I need to spread lime I would need to repeat the process. In addition, I still need a spreader to use for fertilizer. Therefore, if I can find an ATV spreader that will spread lime and fertilizer then I will be set for years to come. Putting in my food plots has been a fun project, but getting the lime spread has been the toughest part by far. Thanks for the help. Lew

[4x4man514]

good luck in finding an atv spreader that will spread powder lime.almost all of them will spread pelletized lime but as jfwalker said its gonna cost you alot more dearly.

[BMason]

Lime application is by far the most diffucult aspect of a good food plot program here in my area. We have wet sandy soils over about 95% of our property with pH on native woods typically 4.3 to 4.5. Not only is alot of lime needed, but it is needed alot more often that in clay or loam type soils. Couple this with the fact that foodplots are usually about 1.5 acres in size and are distributed across the property (about 1:450 acres) and you can have a hard time finding someone who is willing to drive his spreader truck around all day or even a half a day to lime 20 to 25 acres. Especially when they can go across the road to improved pasture where its clean with no stumps to pop tires and spread lime on 5-10 times more area in the same ammount of time (they are usually paid by the acre or ton not by the hour). What clubs usually end up doing (and it works well) is purchasing their own 3 ton spreader which they pull behind there tractor and having the lime delivered to there lease in a transport. These spreaders are pretty expensive when bought new but used ones in working condition can usually be picked up for about$1500-2000.

[4x4man514]

ive heard that even the pull behind tractor spreaders dont really work all that well.but i guess you do what you can do.