Facts Concerning A Lime Spreader

By Paul Turner


A spreader refers to a farm equipment used commonly to spread lime on a piece of land. Besides spreading lime, the device may also be used to spread other substances such as seed, sand, fertilizer, or ice melt among others. A lime spreader usually acts as an alternative to drop spreader in that, instead of dropping its contents, it spreads them over a piece of land. Other names that may be used to refer to the equipment are broadcast or centrifugal fertilizer spreader.

There is a lot of variance in different aspects of these devices. Sizes vary a lot. There are small units which can be carried in hand when working, which others are very large that they need a tractor to tow them. Those that are towed are used for commercial purposes. They can spread material on large pieces of land within a short time. Hand-held versions work best on small pieces of land like lawns and private gardens.

Hand-held devices incorporate a hopper that can contain up to several liters of lime. They operate via hand cranking. Another slightly larger version is the push unit. Push units have spinning disks that are powered by gearing to the wheels. The largest units are commercial spreaders, which are designed to fit on utility farm tractors. These models get mounted to a three point hitch of a tractor and get powered by its power take-off shaft.

Spreaders have a similar functioning mechanism regardless of their size. They contain a material hopper placed over the horizontal spinning disk. Spinning disks have 3-4 fins that are attached to them. The hopper drops material onto the disk, which spreads them away with the help of the fins. This mechanism of working is used more commonly in small devices used on residential applications.

Mid-sized commercial spreaders work in a slightly different manner. They rely on pendulum spreading mechanism. This mechanism supports improved consistency in the spreading of material. Hence it is more preferable. Directional fins on the disk also allow material to be spread in a particular direction according to the preference of the user. Users have controls for regulating direction.

The disk in the equipment requires a source of power for spinning it. In hand-held models, the disk is turned by a hand crank, which spins gears. In tow-behind models, the wheels of the device spin a shaft which turns gears. The gears in turn spin the disk to spread the contents in the hopper.

In tractor-mounted models, the driver operates the spinning of disk because of a mechanical power take-off shaft that is linked to the tractor. In some cases, a 12-volt motor may be incorporated in the spreader. The motor spins the disk, which disperses the contents of the hopper. More modern working mechanisms are being incorporated in modern models to improve efficiency.

The hopper is for holding material and it is made from various materials. Among the most commonly used materials are plastic, stainless steel, and painted steel. The strength of stainless steel makes it preferable for use on hoppers on commercial models. Besides strength, stainless steel is also resistant to corrosion from granular fertilizer.




About the Author:



Popular Posts