Newer Spreader owners/users:

[ayrabz]

I’m titling it that way, so from the get go, I’m not after comments about not using a Newer Spreader, as that is what will be here for this tiny cross fenced property. What my interest is to those in the know: since we’ll be composting the manure in compost bins----do any of you at overseeding time, put seed? into the spreader along with the manure and do it all in one step? or, should I mow low evenly, pull a harrow, spread seed with a grass seed spreader and then use manure spreader for a topping? And knowing its a small garden tractor, can you suggest both a small pull harrow and a good pull spreader if I need those as well?

thanks so much!

[2DogsFarm]

I covet your Newer Spreader, but don’t own one, so take my $,02 FWIW:

I’d think trying to use the spreader to broadcast seed might result in clumps of seed not an even distribution,
Seed spreaders have a fanning sort of motion - much like you’d use spreading seed manually.
Manure spreaders I’ve seen have a horizontal blade (with one notable exception that works like a tumbler < open metal cage that spins as you tow it) designed to chew up & spit out matter.
Grass seed is so lightweight it would probably stick in random clumps to manure & get “broadcast” that way.

You can use a length of chainlink fencing - even a gate section - as a harrow. Attach with lengths of chain & weight with cinderblock so it doesn’t bounce.

Big Box yard stores - Home Depot, Lowes, Menards - all carry lightweight spreaders designed to be towed behind a riding mower.

[gypsymare]

Agrifab makes a nice 130lb spreader for seed and fertilizer that is rebranded to Husqvarna and John Deere. Unless your property is super flat, get a larger one than you need because they get tippy and spill when you hit a bump if you fill them to the top. Chances are that you’re going to want to spread something else on the ground other than seed at times.

Look up chain harrows. You can also use a section of chain link fence as mentioned. I have one that needs gone if you are in my area!

[Jarpur]

I’ve never used our Newer spreader for spreading seed and, looking at it, I don’t think it would work well for that purpose. I have one of those flexible tine harrows from TSC and have been quite satisfied with it.

How large an area are you seeding, since you mentioned a tiny property? I used to use a broadcast spreader in our small pastures (say, 1/2 acre up), but find it less trouble and faster to overseed by hand scattering. For warm season grasses, I overseed with a native mix; for cool season, I use perennial rye (which is annual in our climate), but not every year for either.

[DMK]

I’m with the others, I can’t see any good reason to use a newer spreader to broadcast seed. Also unless you have a tow behind good broadca$t spreader, it will probably be just as easy to cast by hand

[ayrabz]

thanks all ! no, I totally intend the newer spreader for compost, I was asking if ‘when’ using it for that purpose in the same season I’d be overseeding, if adding it TO the compost is something anyone does vs. the two steps. thanks so much for the info of the separate spreaders and harrow ideas.

[Jarpur]

@ayrabz

thanks all ! no, I totally intend the newer spreader for compost, I was asking if ‘when’ using it for that purpose in the same season I’d be overseeding, if adding it TO the compost is something anyone does vs. the two steps. . . .

Okay, now I get it.

Personally, I would not try the one-step procedure and here is why: the Agronomist where I purchase seed has emphasized to me that it needs to be in contact with the bare ground, and at not too great a depth in the ground. So, I prepare my pastures for over-seeding by mowing relatively closely, followed by dragging the flexible tine harrow (tines down), then hand scattering the seed (walking makes it easy to see the more bare areas, too, that need relatively more seed). This has worked satisfactorily for me for years, in my situation; I’m looking for a balance of value, effectiveness, and effort/time.

I would be concerned that I might potentially cover up the seed to a greater depth than it should be, by attempting to seed as I’m also spreading other materials; I couldn’t fine-tune the seed application if I did both at once, either. But, perhaps your local Agronomist will have a suggestion for your situation.

[Simkie]

Thanks for asking the question, ayrabz. My husband asked the same thing about our spreader (we have a mid sized Millcreek) and I wasn’t really sure what to tell him. Good information to have

[stb]

I do have s friend that adds a scoop of rye seed to her newer spreader contents before putting it on her pastures. She says it works fine. I’ve never tried it.

[DMK]

that approach with rye seed may not be such a bad idea, it’s a seasonal grass and fairly cheap, not to mention how worn down the pastures get in winter months. But I’d probably still want to go with a more tried and true method with the fescue $eed! (although, IF I have seed left over after regular overseeding, that might be a good way to apply the balance)

[Libby2563]

I had never heard of a Newer Spreader but since I’m thinking about starting to compost instead of having manure hauled off, I googled it. It sounds like people use it to clean stalls into and immediately spread fresh manure–is that right?

[stb]

Libby, you are right. I usually compost during the winter and I use my newer spreader during the hotter months.

[Flash44]

@Libby2563

I had never heard of a Newer Spreader but since I’m thinking about starting to compost instead of having manure hauled off, I googled it. It sounds like people use it to clean stalls into and immediately spread fresh manure–is that right?

Agree. My Newer Spreader could not handle my compost, which was on the wet side. It completely clogged the spreader. Your compost will need to be dry dry dry. So I muck stalls directly into the spreader and spread it when it is full. I add nitrogen fertilizer after cleaning each stall, and also some lime. Read this link if you are spreading fresh soiled bedding on your pasture:

http://ohioline.osu.edu/factsheet/AGF-212

But I do like my spreader - I can drag it around by hand until it’s really full, and my 4 wheeler can pull it. So can my garden mower, but it struggles a bit.

[ciscolark]

I agree with the others. My Newer spreader cannot handle compost at all or even manure that is very wet. While I was super excited about it, it has been a big flop for me… and an expensive one at that. I was hoping to use it to spread piles of manure picked up daily from paddocks, but if they are wet it just clumps and does not come out. Anything that is composted is even worse. Perhaps if you were using it to clean stalls… I really researched it and read reviews before buying it, but it does not work for my purpose at all.

As far as using it to spread seeds…also no. It lets things out too quickly (when it actually releases as it should) and would not be effective at all. Much better to just get a small seed spreader from a home improvement store.

Sorry to be a downer. I hope it works much better for you!

[Badger]

We muck into muck buckets which we cover with a trash can lid. They sit until we have 5-6 buckets (several days’ accumulation as horses are out 24/7 and stalls used minimally for separation at feed time, and it’s mostly manure with a bit of pelleted bedding).

The bucketed/covered manure starts the compost process pretty quickly, especially in hot weather. It can be wet and heavy when we dump . We never have an issue loading this stuff into the spreader and spreading it immediately. Friends who have mucked directly into the spreader and let it sit for a few days until the spreader was full have had problems with the Newer Spreader working, i think its the manure sitting too long in the spreader that is the problem clogging the spreader mechanism.

As as far as adding seeds? The spreader drops the manure in a narrow path that isn’t particularly long. It’s not going to give good coverage to an area unless you are talking a 3’ x 300’ stretch, roughly, at a time. We put out winter rye across our pastures through conventional broadcast. It grows best in the exact swaths where we later spread manure with the Newer Soreader, because the manure is fertilizing the grass seed. That may account for the results seen by people who add seed to the spreader. I don’t think it’s going to hurt, but it’s not going to be an efficient way to get seed coverage to your pasture.

[Libby2563]

So, I have always heard two things: 1) Don’t spread fresh manure on pastures (I assume because of parasites). 2) When you rotate horses off a field, drag to break up the manure (which will keep it from killing the grass and will kill the parasites if it’s hot enough). Those things seem like a contradiction to me. Why is dragged manure okay but spreaded manure not okay? I went to a seminar put on by the local ag extension yesterday, and they recommended dragging but a handout on composting said to never spread fresh manure. What is the difference?

I have been getting my manure hauled away for the past 3 years but my service provider will no longer do it and the alternatives require overly large dumpsters and are very expensive, so I’m trying to figure out an alternative…

[Simkie]

@Libby2563

So, I have always heard two things: 1) Don’t spread fresh manure on pastures (I assume because of parasites). 2) When you rotate horses off a field, drag to break up the manure (which will keep it from killing the grass and will kill the parasites if it’s hot enough). Those things seem like a contradiction to me. Why is dragged manure okay but spreaded manure not okay? I went to a seminar put on by the local ag extension yesterday, and they recommended dragging but a handout on composting said to never spread fresh manure. What is the difference?

I have been getting my manure hauled away for the past 3 years but my service provider will no longer do it and the alternatives require overly large dumpsters and are very expensive, so I’m trying to figure out an alternative…

I think it’s a matter of scale, right?

Horses wandering around a field that is properly sized for them, depositing manure as they graze? Yup, no problems, just drag periodically.

Dumping large swaths of fresh manure on a field? That’s a LOT of poop in one area.

[DMK]

hmmm, my newer spreader handles wet manure from the paddock (not composted) pretty well, but it is a newer newer spreader and has that steel spindle above the two rotating drums. It’s kind of a pain with long stemmy hay, but if I do a loop, back up 40 feet or so, do a loop, it eventually clears. It’s just not as fast as no hay.

Interesting enough, at a seminar we attended down here in the deep south with our epic strongyles resistance, they are starting to lightly recommend against dragging actively grazed pasture (rested pastures are a different matter). The theory being that if you drag the manure, you spread around the worm population while horses are actively grazing (until the heat kills the population) but left to their own devices horses do a pretty good job of not grazing near untouched manure piles. So drag if you are resting, but not if you are actively grazing.

[ayrabz]

lots of info here! thank you all!!! my property is so small. the Newer is something I can handle. Never? expected compost to be ‘harder’? for it to spread vs. wet manure and hay and bedding not broken down. well, I guess I’ll learn as I go. I wonder if ? some of that learning curve will be how much to load it up with at a time. I just don’t know yet, obviously.