Thread: Spreading Lime?
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Old 12-17-2017, 09:01 PM
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john hall john hall is offline
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Location: Durham, NC
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Well, this is going to vary by region. It is my understanding that all areas of the US do not require liming. Where I am does. For agricultural purposes we generally spread 1 ton to the acre. The 2 guys I use can only haul 8 tons on their spreader trucks. It cost about $43 per ton for them to spread it. When applying this volume we generally work off a soil sample to verify rate of application. Modern spreader trucks are running GPS and can vary the rate per acre with just punching a couple buttons.

Now if you only want to put out a low rate, you have 2 options. You can buy pelletized lime and spread just fine with a conventional spreader, its a little dustier than putting out fertilizer, but not much. I have used powdered lime in a spreader but it was a pain. First let me clear I am talking about a 3pt spreader behind a farm tractor, not a lawn mower. For those you there is a arm with cross bars and a rubber wheel that hooks into the standard agitator. This extra arm serves to agitate the powder well enough that it will fall thru. I do NOT recommend this method as it is really messy and both you and the tractor engine will suck up way too much dust.

There is a third option. The same places that spread lime on a for hire basis generally rent small tow behind spreaders that hold 5-6 tons. Now its going to take at least a 45hp tractor to pull it, and your ground better not be soft. Also, you have to tow it down the highway and most likely it doesn't have brakes, so you'll need something ample to handle it.

Grain buying stations or farm seed/fertilizer dealers are the folks you talk to about getting lime spread or renting equipment. Even if you only need a low rate, price them for your materials as opposed to a garden center of big box store.

Hope this helps. As for me, I just hire the spreader trucks, fast, efficient--and a wild ride if you get in the cab with them--not for those with bad backs!
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