I am looking for recommendations for a quality, light weight manure spreader. I need the opening to be at least 54" long to be able to accommodate loading from the compost pile with my tractor shovel. There is typically very little hay in my stall muck, but I do use mini pine shavings. I have used a New Spreader but the bin on the largest model is only 40 wide".
We have a millcreek and itâs pretty stellar. No complaints!
We have a Pequea 50G. It was only a bit over $3k in 2018, including a fines pan and delivery. Itâs just the right size to be nimble in smaller areas, and has chewed thru and flung everything we have put in it, including LOTS of packed down wet poopy hay from around the feeders. We pull it with a 23hp John Deere or the Gator. If I dump the FEL just right I can fit 6 FULL buckets of composted manure/hay/bedding before it spills over the sides.
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I have a Millcreek that I have used and abused for the last 18 years. Itâs starting to wear out but I would definitely buy a Millcreek again. And they come in many sizes.
Love my Millcreek spreader⊠tough, durable, high quality
I know what you mean about the Newer Spreaders. I have a new one and LOVE it, but I also have manure bins for compost and no big tractor/ front end loader âŠI wish there was a 'mini FEL/shovel thingy I could buy. Closest I can find is very small skid steer type stuff and those are NOT cheap! thus Iâve been using my bins until theyâre filled, and then have it removed and hauled away. 
ATV with a loader?
https://www.wildharemfg.com/atv-equipment/atv-front-end-loader/
You can get a FEL for little tiny âgarden tractorsâ AKA mowers, too:
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Thanks all! Good to have recommendations about Mill Creek and Pequea - will start there. Newer Spreader gave me a 15% discount code when I inquired, and itâs great option for a woman to handle on her own IF you have an automated way to load - they sit pretty high off the ground. We are on a small farm with 3 horses and manure removal is hard to find in the area, so I need to be strategic!
@Simkie: yes! I have looked at the items out thereâŠthe JD tractor: its just too much for this tiny farmettes needs, honestly. I like my garden tractor for mowing and pulling spreader, and would ONLY be buying an upgrade just to get the FEL and just for loading the tiny spreader. (I DID / may still consider the ATV onesâbut still a $$$ and, have been warned from the weight concern for heavy manure/compost.) I just wish there really was an automated small FELâŠor something!! like it. with no tractor needed.)
Well they have those, too. You could rent a couple times a year if you donât want to buy/store/maintain for when you need it.
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Ha! You find all the expensive toys I found! YeahâŠthink of a Newer SpreaderâŠits size. Can you imagine me using this high power ride on toy to simply scoop out manure and fill the tiny newer spreader? I donât need it for âone days workâ ârentalâ kinda thing either. cheaper for me to once a year have it hauled away⊠maybe someday there would be an easy on the back way to simply get the spreader filled for repeated runsâŠi realized it was really designed to fill into from stalls and drive and drop. or even drive around a paddock and pick and then spread that.
This is how I use my Newer Spreader. It is great for light duty clean up, but not suited to spreading compost. I actually tried hand loading my Newer Spreader to spread compost once, and found that the compost was too dense and heavy for the Newer Spreader to handle. I have considered buying a PTO driven spreader for spreading my compost, but that seems ridiculous, since I would only use it a few times a year.
exactly, STB. but I WOULD use it if I had an easy loading way . I have really nice 3 bin manure area set up. easy approach ramp to dump into. tops and back gates on a poured cement pad to extract. but RE lifting the compost by hand is just too time consuming and back breaking (Because it is heavy, and it would be so many multiple trips) I just donât need big tractors and spreaders, etc. for this property. too difficult to manuvere in my small turnouts.
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Lol, there are a ton of ways to fill it, you just donât like any of them 
Hereâs another. I see these little things for sale pretty frequently, and theyâre not very expensive.
https://simpletractors.com/forums/topic/39724-simplicity-738-garden-tractor-front-end-loader/
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ok! lets just let it ride that youâre right. I donât want a 1970s product to attempt to affix to my garden tractor for hydraulics I donât have. anyway. share away. Iâm happy to look at anything I can afford that will work for me! (but youâre assuming I havenât already checked out everything I could!) which is fine as well.
I have a Mill Creek 27+ for my three horses and I love it!
Nothing Iâve linked is âa 1970âs product to attempt to affixâ to your garden tractor.
This: https://www.littlebuckloader.com/
Is a brand new product.
This: https://simpletractors.com/forums/topic/39724-simplicity-738-garden-tractor-front-end-loader/
Is a complete unit.
And yeah, there are a lot of âeasy on the back ways to fill the spreader.â LikeâŠloads of them, at a lot of different price points. You are saying there arenât? 
Iâm sure you donât remember, but several years ago, there were a few of us that were bringing horses home at the same time and working through a lot of the same questions, so we wound up on the same threads a lot. I remember your posts and hearing about your cool setup. Are you okay now? Because you sound reallyâŠangry and unhappy in most of your posts. And I donât know you, but I feel like we kind of hung out in the same space for awhile, and ⊠wow, this just doesnât sound like you? Anyway, I hope things get better.
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SimkieâŠthis is the write up of the unit on the page your link took me : quote: [HR][/HR]Up for auction is a early 70âs 738 Simplicity with front loader, has a later model 12 horse power briggs & Straton. Has 3 speeds forward with reverse.Front & rear tires are in good condition, donât leak. Hydraulic pump is mounted under the tractor, hydraulic tank is under the hood & the battery was moved under the seat. Tractor is completely serviced and ready to use, will pick up easy 200 lbs, loader drifts very slightly does not effect operation, doesnât have down pressure. replaced 2 hoses on the right hand side of the tractor after I took these pictures. Only leak on the the loader is the front tilt cylinder, the first 3" of the cylinder rod is pitted, when parked I just park it with the bucket on its nose, no leaks, didnât leak enough to fix, my opinion. Tractor starts and runs great, does not smoke. Spare set of tires & chains. Great for moving dirt, gravel, mulch, snow. No mower deck. This is a nice unit for a collector or some one doing some light landscaping. If you want to see and operate it send me a email and set up appointment. If you donât like it when you come to pick it up, you donât have to take it. Tractor is sold as is with no warrenty. If paid for can hold for couple months free of charge. This Is a small tractor, 36" tall, bucket is 30.5" wide, loader lift from ground to bottom of bucket 5â. Feel free to ask questions. Thanks for looking
Iâm sorry if that isnât the info on the item you meantâbut thatâs literally copied and pasted from the link
------Iâm also sorry your âyou just donât like any of themâ made me frustrated since Iâd been oohing and aweing at all the nice expensive toys you shared, but have admitted I cannot justify the cost for them not at ALL because I didnât LIKE any of them .
my life is indeed worlds different than it was when my farmette was just a dream. but I donât want to get into any of it, thanks anyway.
Where do you see in there that theyâre selling the loader separately, to attach to your own little garden tractor?
The whole thing is for sale. Itâs a single unitâa wee little tractor with a loader. They show up for sale with fair regularity, although they donât last long. I see a lot made by Simplicity, but also Case and others. People seem to really like themâŠtheyâre little workhorses. Sounds like youâve not seen these before? Maybe watch your local CL or FB, because it would probably be a great fit for what you need. Theyâre not terribly costly.
my life is indeed worlds different than it was when my farmette was just a dream. but I donât want to get into any of it, thanks anyway.
I hope things get better for you. People here are just trying to help.
I hope things get better for you too. And I thanked everyone and was appreciative of all of the help. My comment on this thread began in agreement with OP that the newer spreader is just not one to use an FEL to load. Its more designed to pull thru the barn, use as a wheelbarrow and go right out and spread fresh stall pickings or fresh paddock pickings. We were in complete agreement. I mentioned I wished there was something easy to scoop and load with that wasnât another tractor/expensive item, but there was not, so I have mine hauled out once a year or as needed. that was all.
