Millcreek or ABI….New Holland….any thoughts on these.
Pulled by a 37 HP Kabota tractor. Only 4 horses max in the barn so would get an outing about twice a week.
Anyone have any advice…or any brands that you would particularly avoid?
Cheers and thanks.
I have one of these
http://www.countrymfg.com/m_1200.htm
and I love it. Trouble free and SIMPLE.
Used daily to clean eight stalls. I’ve had it for over a decade. Reliable and low-maintenance.
Thanks for the reply…appreciate it. That one looks just dandy. I like simple and trouble free…the less fancy dooo daaads on things the better. 
I just bought a used Millcreek ( ground driven - not PTO). It is medium sized and I pull it with a 23 HP tractor. I was having problems pulling it up the hill until I discovered the throttle on the tractor ( Duh - just got tractor a little while ago). Anyway it works great with hay, poop and shavings.
A friend of a friend has an ABI that she raves about. Too pricey for me, especially since my Craigslist one is doing such a good job.
I have the one by country manfg and it does not handle hay well IMO…look on craigslist for one—i use my neighbors old HUGE New Idea and love it…and I would stay with ground driven
Picked up a very lightly used millcreek earlier in the year. The 37P, I think? Works great, no complaints. Very happy with it! Pull it with a JD2320, which is 25hp.
Have both New Holland and Mill Creek
[B]
New Holland is superior to the Mill Creek ~
IMHO
in regards to performance and quality and durability !
[/B]
[QUOTE=Zu Zu;8758553]
[B]
New Holland is superior to the Mill Creek ~
IMHO
in regards to performance and quality and durability !
[/B][/QUOTE]
Apples and oranges. I looked around and couldn’t find a single SMALL New Holland. One that could be pulled with a small compact tractor. They seem to make FARMING equipment, not specially horse equipment.
The small spreaders I was able to find were Millcreek, ABI, Pequea, Wallenstein, the Country Pride ones, and for VERY small stuff, the Newer spreader.
The smallest New Holland I’ve seen online is 125 bushels, which is just a whole different piece of equipment than these specially small spreader brands. I don’t think a 37 hp tractor is enough to pull the smallest New Holland, either, but could certainly be wrong.
The only problem with ground driven is: if you want to create a compost pile away from the barn, the ground driven does not offer that option.
[B]
I have a large New Holland that fits for all my large and small needs.
My two Mill Creek spreaders (purchased brand new) have not been as dependable in the areas of performance, quality nor durability !
[/B]
This is IMHO given the last ten years using the above mentioned equipment [B]in two different locations.
Again this is just IMHO ~ nothing more nothing less.[/B]
[QUOTE=Simkie;8758694]
Apples and oranges. I looked around and couldn’t find a single SMALL New Holland. One that could be pulled with a small compact tractor. They seem to make FARMING equipment, not specially horse equipment.
The small spreaders I was able to find were Millcreek, ABI, Pequea, Wallenstein, the Country Pride ones, and for VERY small stuff, the Newer spreader.
The smallest New Holland I’ve seen online is 125 bushels, which is just a whole different piece of equipment than these specially small spreader brands. I don’t think a 37 hp tractor is enough to pull the smallest New Holland, either, but could certainly be wrong.[/QUOTE]
If you want small, the NS (Newer Spreader) is golden. It is equal to 3 large wheelbarrows. Ground driven and pulls with a 4-wheeler. My little Honda Foreman and the NS are an unbeatable team.
I have a smallish millcreek that I have used for the last twelve years after buying it lightly used. Very dependable. Have used big New Holland and ABI PTO driven that also worked very well. The wooden floor in the NH didn’t last but I think that it was because of the way the BO wanted us to dump the water everyday into it and then drench the stall pickings before we emptied it.
We have a early-2000’s 75cf (NOT 75 bushel) Mill Creek… that was manufactured by Pequae.
Check prices, Mill Creek often has a higher price because it is a well known name in the equestrian world, and is marketed primarily to equestrians who might not know other brands exist of the same quality but MUCH lowered priced than Mill Creek.
For a “big” spreader, I prefer PTO driven over ground driven. More control over where you can spread. As others have said, ground drive only works when you are MOVING which makes it pretty useless in certain situations.
I also have a Newer Spreader, which of course is ground driven, but I LOVE IT because it is so little and fits anywhere, including right into the stalls. I can zip it around in small spaces that a bigger spreader simply won’t fit. However, it is not the right spreader for big barns, unless you want to dedicate A LOT of time to unloading it constantly.
super info…thank you everybody.
Gotta get one in the next couple of weeks as things are piling up.
Really appreciate the replies.
We have purchased older used spreaders, made for farming, not horses. Both are moderately sized, not huge, but not tiny. They get emptied daily, even if not full. That keeps the chains and floor from rotting or rusting away. Have to say putting in a new floor or having the chain or bars break when half unloaded is NO FUN at all. Better to keep the chains and floor dry with daily unloading.
We had a John Deere 40, which did a good job for us for years. We wore out chains, bars, put in new floors over the probably 20 years of owning it, and we got it well used. Eventually the big gear for the chain was too worn to fix, other cast parts were equally worn. The big gear alone cost $900, so we decided to get another spreader. Then I SOLD the JD spreader, still got a few hundred for the parts to be used on another spreader just like it!
Present spreader is a Massey Ferguson 160, which had been just buried under stuff in a barn the last 25 years. Husband found it parked beside the road with a For Sale sign on it. Paint was a bit rusty, but everything worked, tires were OK, so we bought it. Husband put a couple coats of paint on it, greased everything, and it has been a nice machine for us. Same physical size as the JD spreader, is real farm equipment tough. This new one does come with a chain gear setting, which allows you to spread fast with LOTS of manure flying even at slow speeds or lower setting will just dribble the load out on the long side of the field for light application.
Both spreaders are PTO, I wouldn’t have a ground drive spreader now. They can take ACREAGE to get emptied if you pile it in there. I used a ground drive Millcreek back when they first came out, liked the spreader, but it took forever to dump the load for 5 horses. Son got hit by a truck with the spreader behind, which wrecked the spreader, messed up the tractor transmission. BUT Son was fine thank the good Lord!! Tractor stayed upright, he held on and didn’t get thrown. Spreader got broken off the tractor hitch, was tossed into the ditch, twisted like a pretzel, so we wrecked it out, made the parts into other things. That was when we found the JD spreader.
I can’t recommend any spreader that you plan to leave manure sitting in, to last as well as one emptied daily. That load with urine will also rot metal or wood sidewalls in many cases, so you cause other problems. We let a load sit in the ground drive spreader WAY back, it froze solid, couldn’t empty the load with ground drive. Had to chop that load out. But even PTO will have problems, break, if you let the big load freeze hard in the spreader.
Just saying that at times, getting an old spreader in fair shape, might be a bit of a savings, be a tougher machine, than the “Hobby Farm” models sold in magazines. Get good sized chain links, decent sized spreader bars to push the load out, not cute little tiny stuff. Bedding and manure make a fairly heavy load to move, needs suitable sized parts to do that with. Big beaters to spread that load, not just little bars or tiny paddles that actually do nothing in helping break up the load. My MF spreader can totally dump itself in a cloud of flying sawdust in a very short distance when I have that gear ratio up higher than notch 3 setting. I was quite amazed at how wide and nice of a layer it put down while experimenting with settings. I prefer a slightly thinner layer so I stay down on that notch 3 about 99% of the time.
[QUOTE=Zu Zu;8758759]
[B]
I have a large New Holland that fits for all my large and small needs.
My two Mill Creek spreaders (purchased brand new) have not been as dependable in the areas of performance, quality nor durability !
[/B]
This is IMHO given the last ten years using the above mentioned equipment [B]in two different locations.
Again this is just IMHO ~ nothing more nothing less.[/B][/QUOTE]
As expected with “hobby” versus “professional” equipment.
Hi, OP. A few comments and facts about manure spreaders:
If you want only want to spread a couple times a week, Goodhors and others are correct: you will have a very hard time getting most manure spreaders on the market to last more than a year or two. This particularly applies to those made from wood such as Country Manufacturing, Newer Spreader, etc. Urine, manure and bedding are simply too corrosive. The only compact spreaders built specifically for manure storage over several days are Millcreek SS models in stainless steel, which have a Lifetime Warranty against rust-through. Their Rhino-lined Deluxe models are also very durable (and people often do use them to store manure for a day or two as well ;)).
If you are having difficulty deciding on Ground Drive v. PTO (a common dilemma!), here’s a great video that presents the pros and cons of both types: http://bit.ly/2a6y1w8 There are also other videos in the series that will help you decide on size, options and type of spreader depending on your needs.
Manure can certainly be spread if it’s cold out, but it’s never a good idea to let it freeze in the spreader regardless of what brand or type. You’re asking for broken chains or bars. If that could be a problem you might want to go up in size to a PTO model where you’d be able to easily pile the manure during winter.
Regarding price and quality, do your homework. Read reviews and see how long the manure spreader manufacturer has been in business. Have they constantly upgraded the machines for ease of use and maintenance, like not having to grease bearings? Do they stock parts if something does go wrong? (Or if you’re buying used, can you get parts for an older model?) Can the machine handle hay or straw so you’re not hand-separating it while cleaning stalls? How high are the sides and can it be moved by hand in the barn if necessary? Is shipping - which can run hundreds of dollars - included in the price if you’re buying new?
Hope this information is helpful and good luck!
(Duplicate post - sorry!)
“This particularly applies to those made from wood such as Country Manufacturing, Newer Spreader, etc. Urine, manure and bedding are simply too corrosive. The only compact spreaders built specifically for manure storage over several days are Millcreek SS models in stainless steel, which have a Lifetime Warranty against rust-through.”
Country Manufacturing does offer a 25-year replacement warranty on the wood parts. BUT I do dump mine daily year-round and certainly recommend doing so.
A brand which is rarely mentioned is H&S, a Wisconsin farm implements company. They make spreaders all the way from ~35 bushel ground driven ones to huge things used in 1000 cow barns. I have seen a few small ones on Craigslist but I do live in Wisconsin. Their products are very solid and made to last. I don’t have their spreader but do have one of their hay wagons; if I needed a spreader, I would look for theirs before a Millcreek or similar.
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