Planning to buy small PTO driven manure/compost spreader. Am considering ABI’s 50 cu ft and Pequea’s slightly bigger 62.5 cu ft which is being offered by my John Deere dealer. Anyone have experience with these? ABI seems to be more robustly built with a 2nd beater (shredder) and Cor-Ten Steele. But John Deere supports my tractor and would presumably handle the spreader. With ABI we’d be relying on their phone support and fast shipment of parts – no local repair/service office (I’m in Massachusetts). Also, are there better brands in this size and price range ($8500-$8600 delivered). Thank you.
I have a Pequea and it’s a workhorse. I did pay to have the shredder blade installed. I’m not sure it makes that much difference to be worth the money.
Thank you. I sometimes have not yet composted straw or hay or vines mixed in with compost or may want to spread them before it’s composted. Does one need the shredder to prevent the long pieces from getting tangled in the beater/etc. and gumming up the works or do things work well without the shredder?
I had a 125 Pequa, decided it was too big, traded for a smaller Pequa, and realized I really did need the larger size so bought another 125 ( feel free to think “how stupid!” - I do). The first two did not have the shredders and I had no trouble. I don’t notice an improvement w the shredder blades. We bed on shavings.
1 Like
Thank you. Shavings probably wouldn’t tangle. But I have sheep and the fiber mills won’t take a fleece that has any wood fibers in it. So I use straw when I have to provide bedding which is mostly during lambing and at shearing. I would like to get a somewhat larger capacity spreader. The John Deere salesman said my 2320 could handle the next larger size Pequea (72 cu ft) but the ABI person said the 2320 probably would have trouble with the next larger ABI (85 cu ft). He said the actual horsepower of the 2320 at the PTO/atttachment end was less than as measured at the engine. So this favors the Pequea. But the ABI looks a lot more rugged. We’re probably going to have to make a lot of trips if we spread manure just once or twice a year. I figure I should first see how much work it is with the smaller spreaders. I estimate my sheep are producing something like 500-800 cu ft a year but I could be wrong and it could be more like 1000-1600 cu ft. So I too may end up going back for another larger spreader and maybe a bigger tractor (sigh). Thanks again for your help.
1 Like
So we have a JD 2320, too, and use a Millcreek 57P. It’s a great size. Does fine with the tractor. Never gives us any grief, always just works. No complaints!
There might be a little room to go up on spreader size, but not much, imo.
We got the spreader used (barely used) for not a lot of $$$. A site that allows you to search all Craigslist (like search tempest) might turn up something like that for you!
2 Likes
Thank you for the info re: not being much room to go up. Also, I’d never heard of search tempest. This is great! Thanks again.
1 Like
Search tempest is great! I found our spreader with it–it was only a couple hours away, but not a Craigslist that was part of my usual rotation and just far enough away that it wasn’t coming up on the “nearby” listings.
Best of luck! I hope you’re able to find a sweet deal. New prices on these sure are 
1 Like
I don’t think that one is PTO?
Sorry I missed that part. It’s ground driven.
1 Like
LOVE my Newer Spreader!
@Breton-meadow, I thought I’d add I did look at the ABI spreader at one point. It was just going to be too small for me. I think a lot of the ruggedness might come from the color. My neighbor bought one and has had a fair bit of trouble w it. I did not ask why. The only reason I know is because he called to ask about my Pequa.
I took a look at my notes from when we were shopping, and there is one more brand that makes a PTO spreader this size:
1 Like
Simkie – thank you. I followed up and the Wallenstein spreaders seem to be ground drive not PTO also they use corrosion-resistant carbon steel which I think (but could be wrong) is less strong than the Core-Ten used by ABI and Conestoga.
Thank you all. So far, I like the ABI for the CORE-TEN, 2nd paddle (shredder), multiple speeds, and relatively good warranties. The weight, etc. seems to mean my 2320 can’t handle the next larger size (per the salesman) :-(. My tractor can handle the Pequea’s next larger size but it has only one padde ( you can pay for a 2nd one), one speed, and uses ordinary 12 gauge steel. So far I haven’t seen feedback here or elsewhere from actual users of the ABI except the one above. Feedback from 5-10 years ago is very good on the ABI. We’re generating at least 500-800 cu ft of compost. A bigger unit would mean fewer trips. So, I’m dithering…
NaturallyHappy – Any chance you could find out what the issues were with the ABI and what model was involved? Thank you
1 Like
The Wallenstein spreader I linked is definitely PTO driven. 
I’ll try… but I think he’s no longer there. It’s been several years.
@Breton-meadow, he said it held much less than they expected and the next size up required a significantly larger tractor than was in the budget or would fit down the aisle comfortably. They have to take it out multiple times a day and feel it’s more wear and tear on the tractor and wastes time.
