Manure Spreader Converted To Hydraulic Drive

Manure Spreader Converted To Hydraulic Drive MANURE HANDLING Equipment 18-3-9 A hydraulic motor mounted on a 10-ton manure spreader lets John Conway spread manure without worrying about breaking the unloading apron. The hydraulic motor mounts directly on the gearbox that was used to be ptodriven. The motor is powered by the tractor's remote outlets and is bolted to a steel plate that's welded over an access hole in the shield covering the gearbox. He had a shop make up a small driveshaft that slips over the gearbox's input shaft. The motor mounts on the other end. The spreader's beater is still chain-driven off the pto shaft, and the gate still raises or lowers hydraulically. "Operating the apron hydraulically lets us start to unload the spreader gradually without putting the unloading chains under immediate stress," says Conway, who feeds beef cattle. "We haul our own manure and also a lot of turkey manure from a neighbor's farm. Turkey growers use sawdust for bedding so the manure can be hard to spread. It takes a lot of torque to get a big load started. There was no way to ease into unloading with the pto so the unloading chain often broke and we had to shovel out the manure. We ran our hydraulically-operated spreader all last fall and this spring without a single breakdown." Conway also added heavier chain links, doubled the number of bars on the apron to reduce the torque on each bar, and installed a sheet of slick plastic over the wooden floor to reduce drag. He paid $600 for the motor and spent a total of about $2,000 to modify the spreader. Contact FARM SHOW Followup, John Conway, 12811155th St., Wellman, Iowa 52356 (ph 515 636-3777).

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