Liquid Manure Hauling Capacity of Custom Applicators Using Tank Spreader Systems

Abstract

In the last several years livestock farms in the Great Lakes Region have expanded and increased in size. With more livestock comes more manure handling and a greater transport distance to reach the expanding land base needed for land application. Because hauling and spreading large volumes of manure can greatly impact peak labor demand and the timeliness of tillage and planting, many farm managers are using custom hire of manure hauling and land application. A time-and-motion study of 13 liquid manure hauling systems on 10 farms using custom hauling services in Michigan, Ohio, and Ontario, Canada was done in 2006-2008. Representative time and material flow rates were used to model the hauling capacity of tank spreader systems as a function of spreader tank volume and transport distance. Simulated hauling rates were fit to a general model to develop machinery system-specific coefficients to predict an effective hauling capacity of tractor-drawn and truck-drawn spreader tanks, and hauling systems using truck-drawn nurse tanks for over-the-road transport to tractor-drawn spreader tanks for field spreading. The machinery-system specific coefficients are presented in a convenient reference table and can be used to estimate liquid manure hauling capacity over a range of tank volume and travel distance. Compared to standard tractor-drawn tank spreaders, spreaders drawn with high-speed tractors and truck-drawn spreaders had an advantage with longer hauls. Compared to injection with a 6-shank injector a broadcast application with a 26495-L (7000-gal) high-speed tractor-drawn spreader increased the hauling rate 25% near storage and 17% with a 3.2-km (2-mile) haul. The hauling rate of tank spreader systems was most sensitive to an increase in tank volume and travel speed. A 20% increase in tank volume increased the effective hauling rate about 8% with a 0.16-km (0.1-mile) haul and more than 16% with a 16-km (10-mile) haul. A 20% increase in travel speed had little effect when hauling near storage, but increased the hauling rate more than 7% with a 3.2-km (2-mile) haul, and more than 14% with a 16-km (10-mile) haul.