How do you clean stalls? I need to find a better way...

[SugarCubes]

[QUOTE=Bluey;8801221]
Great, if it works for you, why not?

You must not have a FEL bucket on your tractor, or you could dump the wheelbarrow into it, several of them and make a few less trips to dump?[/QUOTE]

I do, but I have a small Kubota BX and the bucket only holds two muck tubs full. My wheelbarrow holds way more than my bucket

Flash - I swore I’d buy a Newer Spreader as soon as possible after building my barn, but I keep going back and forth on if it’s worth the cost. Our land (as in the soil) could use some major improvement, and spreading organics would probably really help. But, then as easy as it is to maintain my manure pile, I just don’t know…

[Simkie]

What do you do with your manure pile when it’s done cooking?

We pile manure here, but then spread once it’s done. Has worked nicely

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=SugarCubes;8801302]
I do, but I have a small Kubota BX and the bucket only holds two muck tubs full. My wheelbarrow holds way more than my bucket

Flash - I swore I’d buy a Newer Spreader as soon as possible after building my barn, but I keep going back and forth on if it’s worth the cost. Our land (as in the soil) could use some major improvement, and spreading organics would probably really help. But, then as easy as it is to maintain my manure pile, I just don’t know…[/QUOTE]

Some swear by Newer spreaders, some hate them, because they are very touchy.
If the manure is too wet or has straw or hay in it or bigger shavings, or is half frozen, you have to dig it out by hand, is what they say, it won’t go thru.

So, think what you have in your manure, if it is small, light stuff, fine, if not, better to directly to a real spreader if that is what you want to do.

Here, many barns have one spreader between them and keep a pile and take turns getting it spread, to again build a composting pile, etc.

The smaller spreaders are light enough to pull into and fit in horse trailers to haul them around from barn to barn.

[S1969]

[QUOTE=SugarCubes;8800351]
Maybe for winter, I’ll have someone pour a concrete manure bin right by my barn, and just move the pile with the FEL when it gets big?[/QUOTE]

This is what I have; my manure bin is 3 sided with a concrete floor. I have a hill to work with, so I’m lucky - I dump in from above, and scoop out with the FEL from below, and take to a pile further from the barn. Usually I can go 1-2 months or so before it needs to be emptied, and by then it’s partially composted.

Although, if it’s a bad winter, I can’t always depend on getting from the bin to the pile, so it can be a problem. Rule of thumb - if you have the opportunity to empty it, do it! (E.g. when the ground is frozen, when it is dry and not muddy, when you have free time, etc.)

[allons-y]

I bought a Gorilla dump cart, recommended by COTH. I love it. DH and I put it together in about an hour. I only have two stalls to clean (so far, lol) and it handles that easily. I then pull by hand to compost pile, slight uphill, easily. I use it for everything, plants, construction stuff, raked up grass clippings, feed bags and sawdust bags when its too wet for anything else to trek from driveway at house to barn (No driveway, I know, I know) I swear I’ll never use a wheelbarrow again. I could pull it with the Gator, but just havent needed to yet.

[red_mares]

[QUOTE=SuckerForHorses;8799973]
And does this method work reasonably well? Downfalls?[/QUOTE]

Works for them. They work horses in the aisle around the stalls in the center, so if there’s bedding that doesn’t get picked up it’s not the end of the world. The aisle is where they keep the clean bedding, banked up against the outside wall. A random road apple just gets tossed back into a stall until the next cleaning.

[SugarCubes]

[QUOTE=Simkie;8801317]
What do you do with your manure pile when it’s done cooking?

We pile manure here, but then spread once it’s done. Has worked nicely :)[/QUOTE]

We used some for the garden this spring, but the rest has just kept breaking down. The horses haven’t quite been home a year yet, so the pile is still surprisingly small, but I do need to decide on spreader/no spreader before it gets too big! There is a local guy who will come haul it away also, so that’s another option.

Bluey - I’ve read the same thing about the newer spreaders so I also checked out millcreek spreaders. Any opinion on those versus the newer spreaders?

S1969 - I do like that idea, I’ll have to see how much that would cost to build. Do you remember ball park what your cost? What size did you make yours?

Allons - I’ll have to check that out, thanks

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=SugarCubes;8801773]
We used some for the garden this spring, but the rest has just kept breaking down. The horses haven’t quite been home a year yet, so the pile is still surprisingly small, but I do need to decide on spreader/no spreader before it gets too big! There is a local guy who will come haul it away also, so that’s another option.

Bluey - I’ve read the same thing about the newer spreaders so I also checked out millcreek spreaders. Any opinion on those versus the newer spreaders?

S1969 - I do like that idea, I’ll have to see how much that would cost to build. Do you remember ball park what your cost? What size did you make yours?

Allons - I’ll have to check that out, thanks :)[/QUOTE]

Millcreek is what several have here and are very happy with them.
I had one a friend borrowed and then insisted in buying from me, since I was not using it hardly any and she and two neighbors use it and are very happy with it.

Later I needed one again and tried an ABI and it is a heavier, stronger spreader, will last longer, is, well, heavier, so harder to handle around by hand to move it, I have to hook it to something for that now.

I have not even seen a Newel, just read what others say over the years, so knew it would not be what we want here, but may just fit your barn.

Most here have plenty of acres to spread daily if we want to, many also have compost piles they dump onto and spread two or three times a year.

I know one barn that just dumps the manure in the middle of the big lot in front of the stalls and runs and has a landfill dump truck business come by once a month or two to load and haul it off to their “green” recycling, where they shred tree limbs, etc. to be part of their compost piles.

Their horses love to use that for a bathroom, rarely go anywhere else if they can get to that pile themselves and like to play kind of the mountain on it too.

Then we don’t get that much rain here, so that stays fairly dry.
I don’t know how that would work where that would be a wet mess if it rained much.

There are so many ways to handle manure, see what would fit best for you.