I am looking into ground driven spreaders that have a deck and beater bars. I know of Millcreek ($$) and ABI ($$$). Any other brands to look at?
Does anyone have one of these they’d share their opinions on? I’m personally not interested in a drop type spreader (newer spreader, etc.) I prefer the type with beater bars because I don’t want it to be so fussy about hay etc.
I have an ancient Millcreek spreader. It is over 30 years old. I bought it used after it sat in a barn unused for many years. I can still get parts for it from Millcreek even though they do not make this spreader anymore. I did have to replace the rusted out chain and some sprockets and my farrier welded some new metal for the front piece. For the age it is I am very happy with it. It does a good job with hay and manure. Until your chain breaks but that has only happened once with me and I think it was the original chain.
I have a friend with an ABI and I think she is very happy with it. She started out with a Newer Spreader and had a problem with hay clogging it up. Despite telling a farm sitter NOT to put hay in the spreader. this person put hay in it, clogged it up and destroyed the spreader. I don’t know exactly what happened but my friend said it was not fixable and bought the ABI.
I like that the ABI has shredders and beaters, and speed control if you want to spread fine, or fast. But that sucker was quoted at 5 grand. That’s a lot of money for a non-pto spreader!!
Eta: That said, if it’s the one it’s the one. I’m just wanting first hand experiences with each. Do you feel like your Millcreek does a good job? Do you wish it did anything better?
We’ve got a Millcreek, although PTO driven, and it’s been stellar. Does everything it’s supposed to, hasn’t ever complained. Just does the job.
They do show up for sale used from time to time, so keep an eye on craiglist and FB marketplace and whatever other used equipment sites might be active in your area. The price is certainly more palatable.
A brand new Millcreek was around 3k for one with 5 cuyd more capacity without being too big - much more palatable. I’ve got a list of things I search for every day on FB marketplace, and spreaders are on there.
Thanks for sharing your take!
I found my Millcreek 75 Cu feet spreader for $1200 on CL. Now I have put about $1500 in repairs but I am still ahead of the game. I don’t care how the manure spreads. When I am out spreading I just want that job done and back to the barn.
You might add search tempest to your daily routine. It lets you search all Craigslist within a range. I usually have better luck with CL, but find some stuff on FB.
We have a Mill Creek 50. (I think that’s it.) I pull it with a Honda Rancher ATV. Everything it throws out is chopped pretty fine. Got it used for a steal from Facebook marketplace. We have had to replace both wheel bearings in the past few years (not at the same time). It sits outside 100% of the time.
Speed control depends on how slow or fast I’m driving - which generally depends on how cold it is 
Overall it is one of my best buys from Facebook!
We had a medium sized ground driven Millcreek first, a friend borrowed it one summer when we were not using it and kept it, was exactly what she needed.
A few years later we needed one again and bought the ground driven ABI we still have and it works just fine, is stronger materials, will last longer, we think, but is a bit heavier to move around by hand if you need to do so.
Both were fine to do the job, either brand will work for you.
I have a 75 bushel spreader from Country Manufacturing in Ohio. It’s been faithfully doing its job for around 20 years now. Unconditionally recommended in part because it is such a simple beast. I have personally completed all repairs (not many) using parts and guidance from the sensible folks at the manufacturer.
Worth a look.
I just bought an ABI spreader last year. I priced out the Mill Creek and the ABI at the same time and went with the ABI because while it was slightly more expensive, the warranty on all the parts was twice as good. I bought the 50 cu. ft. version with the manual lift gate and it was just over $6K delivered. But the warranty was for something like 10 years on the box, frame, and chain. The comparable Mill Creek spreader was a little smaller (37 cu. ft.) and had a 5 year warranty.
I’ll admit that my arena drag is from ABI and I bought it used several years ago and we LOVE it. The thing is a BEAST. The spreader has been working super so far and I am very happy with it. I also was able to finance it for 0% for 24 months which helped me swallow the price.
I also have an arena drag from ABI - the Rascal - and recently got the 3 point upgrade for it. It’s nice, for sure!
I’m going to keep my eyes peeled for a used one, but if nothing comes up by late spring I’m going to have my hand forced into getting a new one from someone. The speed control/gear ratio thing on the ABI is what piques my interest the most, it would be nice to be able to spread a heavy line, or be able to drive around and around to get a light layer all over.
Do you use the speed control for various circumstances much?
Well, color me stupid - the Millcreek is actually MORE expensive than the ABI. I don’t know if I had an old quote or what, but I just got an updated one and it’s 5500. Yowza.
I don’t really, but it is nice if I needed to. I found the speed that works for where I spread and pretty much just use that.
Do you not have a PTO or tractor, that you want ground drive?
We had a Millcreek ground drive for a while, back when they first got into business. It worked very well, though it needs emptying daily in cold weather to prevent the load freezing SOLID. Chunking out the frozen stuff is a miserable job!! Tires will not drive the chain to dump a frozen load! Just will break the chain somewhere.
My only complaint was needing to drive and drive, to get it fully emptied. No pieces left in the box to freeze down. At times the ground was too wet, slippery, to be covering the distance needed to get fully empty.
That spreader was wrecked when a speeding truck hit it when son was driving across the road going to the hayfield. Nothing salvagable except the axle and tires, twisted lIke a discarded candy wrapper!. Spreader hitch broke loose from tractor, was flung across the road into our ditch. Son stayed on tractor, which got shoved, did a 180 degree turn as it went into ditch on other side ditch. Thank God tractor (8N) stayed upright and son was strong enough to hold on.
Our next spreader was PTO powered, which allows fast or slow spreading, dumping entire load in one place if needed or running the chain only, to get everything cleaned off the floor to help prevent freezing chains down. I do turn chain on for a few seconds to make sure things are working right on very cold days, before loading the spreader. Better to break things unloaded, than needing to shovel out the load, THEN fix the chain!! Bars and chains wear on any spreader, get rusty, need repair as time passes.
I would always buy a PTO powered spreader after owning the ground driven one. Just more versitile for me, in dumping options when my ground is bad.
I hear you. I’ve only used PTO driven ones in the past. That said - the 3 point on the tractor is occupied with the arena drag, and I don’t want to screw around with hooking and unhooking it to get to the spreader. I want to be able to pull it with the 455 (hefty) garden tractor.
I have an ABI small (25 bushel) spreader that I empty with my JD X350 lawn tractor. LOVE IT. I didn’t want a larger, PTO-driven one, although I have a 50HP JD, but removing and replacing the shredder each time is a big NO. And I only have 1-3 horses, so no need for a larger one. Apparently they are more expensive than when I bought mine but SO much better than a manure pile that I somehow have to spread with a front-end loader.
So far, I have had luck with our spreading not freezing up - even last week when temps were in the single digits overnight. My method: a layer of straw in the bottom of the empty spreader and a piece of plywood that lies flat across the top. I do not leave it uncovered when it’s below freezing. Before spreading after it’s been super cold, I poke around with a pitchfork just to make sure I don’t hit frozen chunks. I generally don’t put large amounts of wet bedding into the spreader either as that’s not helpful for the fields anyway (it goes in the dumpster) - so that may be part of my success as well.
Man, I’m just having a hard time stomaching these prices, with all the other stuff I still have “pending” on my list. I think I’m going to go with the one @Huntin_Pony recommended, at around 2k shipped. They don’t have a 75 bushel one anymore, just a 25, but that should be plenty for my needs.
I’ll keep everyone posted with what I think! It’s going to live outside (but probably under a tarp).
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