How do I....

[farmideas]

Not many Practical Farm Ideas readers here ? This last edition had a 6 wheel trailer with two hangman brackets on the back of the trailer with two feet that go down to stabilise the trailer, maybe @farmideas could post a pic, I know a bit of an overkill for 6 bags a year though.
@hillman s Idea simple and strong, and if the fert spreader isn't big enough for a full bag, make an upside down T shaped slot on the side of the bag, and once the spreader is full use a wedge made out of plywood to stop the flow, still have the one my Grandad made when the 500kg bags came out in the 80s, and the new vicon would only hold 1.5 bags, handy if I just need a couple of hundered kg to finish a field.

Happy to post some pics from the issue here. He has land 6 miles from the farm and the trailer means it's a single trip job. With a telescopic drawbar it goes behind the tractor and fore loader which has the fert spreader mounted. Moves the bags from trailer bed to the gantry on the back, and gets the spreader hopper underneath. Idea has worked well for some years. Some good welding and engineering! Clever farmer.

 

[farmideas]

here's another pic from the issue

 

[Red Fred]

For small paddocks and orchards where I can't get the tractor through the trees than I use my slug pelleter. Surprising how quick you can spread a bag of Fert. View attachment 518732

I do Mrs Fred's horse paddocks with a little land drive spreader which fits in the back of the Disco for transport. I pull it with the Disco and it only takes a short while to do her 3 paddocks (10acres). It has a slide regulator.

 

[Oat]

By buying the fertiliser in 50kg sacks? Ah, the good old days.

You can get a bag lifter that fits between the tractor and the spinner, if it's going to be a regular occurrence. Or lift the sack up and tie it onto a (strong) beam, then turn round and back under?

+1, it makes life so much easier. The only downside is that it adds extra weight to the back of the tractor and means the spreader is further back (=extra weight). Also ideally you need a loader to lift the bag lifter into place to mount it on your tractor or spreader. When I got one, it came flat on a pallet; I managed to get the tractor lower link arms mounted onto the frame, but then had to extend the jib to get it to push itself towards upright. The top link was just about long enough to then fit on. I then had to tighten the top link to pull it the final bit into position. I then fitted the fert spreader. I leave the bag lifter fitted to the spreader now.

Not very easy to attach a spreader that's full I'd have said?

+1. I once made the mistake (before I had a bag lifter) of trying to fill a spreader which wasn't attached to a tractor. As the front filled, it was OK, but once the back started to fill, it soon tipped over

It's just really awkward - there's no space to get in between the tractor and spreader to connect everything.

I used to keep some smaller machine on pallets, and then use a pallet truck to manoeuvre it into place, instead of having to keep moving the tractor slightly or push the machine straight. Being on a pallet also meant the machine could be manoeuvred into tight spaces for storage.

For small paddocks and orchards where I can't get the tractor through the trees than I use my slug pelleter. Surprising how quick you can spread a bag of Fert. View attachment 518732

I once tried to spread 34.5%N with a slug pelleter. After a while the fertiliser had absorbed too much moisture from the air and made the motor assisted open/close plate stick.

 

[ajcc]

The transfer of the bag off pallet fork onto gantry or hook is not as simple as one would think in practice without losing height or tipping and creating shock loading at changeover.
Sure every tractor driver in parish will fall over themselves to help ....if you offer an evening guided canoe paddle..(mid -summer.) as recompense.
(Sorry someone had to say it!)

 

[Henarar]

A farmer I know fixed a strong beam between two shed posts and had a chain round it that he hooked on the bag then backed the spreader under, seemed safe enough to me

 

[Red Fred]

Uncle Hubert of the Air Ministry used to use these shear-legs all the time. They seem to have been safe up to 1000kg

 

[cvx175]

For 6 bags a year just get fertiliser delivered to a neighbour and use their loader to load it would be the simplest way won't it?

 

[Steevo]

Seeing some of the suggestions in this thread, it's no wonder HSE have agriculture on their hit list.

For something like this there's no sense in cutting corners to save a few quid.

A. Bag lifter
B. Borrow tractor/handler
C. Contractor/neighbour to do it for you

Saving pennies can soon cost pounds....or lives!

 

[nowtofajob]

helicopter

 

[GTB]

I'm surprised that no one has come up with the most obvious answer, go organic! sh!t! I just remembered, organic farmers use ferts too (but they tend to spread it after dark).

 

[DaveJ]

I'm surprised that no one has come up with the most obvious answer, go organic! sh!t! I just remembered, organic farmers use ferts too (but they tend to spread it after dark).

What a scurrilous suggestion.

They tip urea in the slurry store and stir thoroughly.

 

[michael N123]

If your only putting half a dozen bags on a year id rather use a bucket than pee about with some of these ideas if you have a decent sized bucket it doesnt take long or just make friends with a neighbour

 

[nails]

If your only putting half a dozen bags on a year id rather use a bucket than pee about with some of these ideas if you have a decent sized bucket it doesnt take long or just make friends with a neighbour

Spot on, Some folk want to complicate a simple issue.

 

[Happy at it]

It honestly just takes a few mins to scoop a bag out with a bucket. If your really wanting to go fancy, set a pallet on two old lorry tyres and set the bag on it for a bit of height when your scooping it across.

 

[FonterraFarmer]

helicopter

That was suggested back in post #26

 

[manhill]

Second tractor and loader.Old type. No fancy electronics. Always handy

 

[Still Farming]

Has the 1 tractor got a loader ?
If so easy.
Just load onto a higher trailer and back upto or under and fill .
Other option -2 hard roundbales -lay steel rails or ramps across -fert on top -back under spreader.

These are my ideas only and all hse risk accessments under taken first .

 

[Sussex Martin]

I don't use much at all - maybe half a dozen bags a year...

Well that's your problem then, get more stock, use more fertiliser, justify a telehandler and a full time shepherd, have more grief earn less profit, get into debt, sell farm, move to warmer climes, enjoy the money . Simples .

 

[Red Fred]

- I asked this same question a year ago and effectively was told to man-up and get bucketing, and the advice was quite right. Having the bag sitting on something, either a flat trailer or the ground, is much safer than having it dangling from a spike, especially someone else's spike when you are hovering about wanting to cut the bag. I have a dread of being near other people on loaders when doing jobs like this or unloading lorries.
I had to do 6 bags the other day and had the option of bucketing off the trailer, getting sister's old 584 loader started with a new battery or asking the neighbour a couple of miles away, and I had the spreader fillled up quicker by hand than either of the other options would have taken and at no cost. I think we have all got soft if we can't safely shift the contents of a couple of bags by hand in a few minutes. The spreading took longer than the filling.