The best manure spreaders in the USA and Canada provide your farm and crops with the kind of fertilizer spread that they need. However, these tools may run down over time and need to be repaired. And since any sort of farm equipment investment is critical to consider, it is crucial to replace your spreader only when necessary. The following four circumstances are among the most important to consider before getting a new manure spreader.
Manure Management is More Challenging
When your manure spreaders are working correctly, you should find it very easy to adjust your output and control how much manure you use. For example, you’ll have a variety of measurement tools that can be used to enhance your flow of fertilizer, keep it focused and productive, and decrease the monetary investment that you must make when trying to apply a large amount of manure on a field.
However, there comes a time when your spreader may start operating poorly. For example, you may find that your lowest level of manure spread lets out more than you want and causes a high level of waste. Or you may find that your spreaders don’t move as efficiently as they did in the past and cause complications or concentrations of manure on your fields that aren’t as efficient or as beneficial to your crops.
In this situation, you need to start investigating new spreaders to use for your farm or home. The type that you get will vary depending on your needs. Some want a drivable spreader because they enjoy this type of control, while others may want a field-wide spreader that provides high-quality manure spread more quickly. If your spreader can be driven, you also need to make sure that there are no troubles with its control mechanisms, either.
Driving Troubles are Apparent
When you own driving-style manure spreaders, you have a high-quality machine that can spread manure over a vast area. However, you also may find that these spreaders can be more challenging to keep secure and operative. That’s because they also need to be upgraded in ways that ensure that they are strong, capable, and able to drive as vehicles, not just fertilizing equipment.
For example, if your steering is out or keeps becoming harder to handle, there may be more widespread problems with your spreader. These issues often spread in unpredictable ways and can be hard to control with the help of an upgrade. In some cases, you may even just want to get an entirely new manure spreader to ensure that you can handle the fertilizing needs of your yard more efficiently.
You may also start to notice other complications with your driving that make your spreader less effective. For example, your tires may begin wearing out more quickly and cost you a lot of money. And problems with the alignment may make your spreader harder to keep straight and on the right path. These issues may require you to give up on the spreader and just invest in a new one instead.
Mechanical Wear and Tear is Apparent
Beyond the driving equipment on your manure spreaders, there are going to many different gears, moving parts, and other elements that must be appropriately maintained. Thankfully, regular repairs and maintenance checkups can keep them running smoothly and avoid many complications. Just as importantly, these checkups can help you know if it is time to get rid of that spreader.
For example, you may find that the manure-spreading elements don’t operate as smoothly as they did in the past. As a result, they struggle with heavier fertilizer loads and often fail to operate at all. This situation is particularly frustrating because it can leave your yard dry when it needs manure the most and force you to either go over these spots again with the machine or seek out a new one.
And you may also notice that gears are starting to slip, belts are wearing down, and other types of regular maintenance issues occur much more often. You may want to try to work around this concern by repairing problems as they occur. However, this approach will nickel-and-dime you out of a lot of cash. Instead, take the time to buy a new spreader, and you can save yourself good money.
Crop Yields are Decreasing
Lastly, it may be time to consider getting a new manure spreader if your crop yields keep going down with each growing season. Now, manure and fertilizer isn’t the only thing that affects the health of your crops. Any farmer knows that pest invasions, reduced rainfall, weaker soil, and much more can all affect how many plants they produce every year. However, they also understand that a poor manure application method can even start decreasing their yields and costing them cash.
For example, a lousy spreader may not give a field the full amount of fertilizer that it needs to keep secure during the cold winter months. As a result, the nutrient levels of the ground may not be high enough to provide a good yield. This problem often has a domino effect that can cause a widespread lack of vitamins and minerals in your crops. And this can trigger more substantial decreases in crop yields, year after year, in a way that is very upsetting and which can be costly for you and other farmers in your area as well. As a result, new spreaders may be needed to avoid this problem.
And when you decide what kind of spreading tool you want for your farm, make sure that you work with the manufacturers to find one that suits your needs. Often, there are many brands available, each of which has different models. Typically, it is best to stick with brands and models that you know. And if you want to change things up, try to find options that are at least similar to what you’ve used in the past. Doing so will help to make the transition easier and will also make it simpler for you to decide when you need to get new spreaders and when you can wait for a while and get repairs and maintenance instead.
Don’t Neglect Your Spreaders
As you can see, buying a new manure spreader anywhere in the USA and Canada is something that you must take very seriously if you decide it is time for an upgrade. Therefore, we suggest contacting us at VTI right away if you need this kind of help. Our experts are skilled at providing the kind of high-quality assistance that you need to ensure that you get the spreader that is right for your needs.