Economical Lime

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
For the field here at the house, I had ag-lime delivered and spread last fall, but for our woods food plots, I have to use the cone spreader on the tractor. So, I had planned to get bagged pelletized lime, like I usually do. Then a neighbor said I should go down to the co-op and get ag-lime and it would spread. I hauled the trailer down to the co-op and the guy there said no it won't spread out of the cone spreader. He said I would be wasting my time, especially since their lime stays outside and is a little damp. Back to the store to get 40 bags of lime (1 ton).

So I got 1 ton of lime spread on the plots yesterday afternoon, but it cost me $200. In addition, one of the guys tried to convince me to buy the "concentrated lime", which I think was solucal. Supposedly cost 4 times as much but goes 4 times as far. I guess it works faster too, but my understanding was the duration was much shorter. I've always been leery of high-cost shortcuts.

So what's the most economical way to lime plots with the tractor - regular pelletized lime, concentrated lime, or some special way to spread ag-lime?
 

justwin24

Six Pointer
Stick with regular pelletized lime in those situations.

That being said I have shovel spread ag lime out the back of a truck and wagon. We then ran over the area many many times with discs more so trying to spread the dirt around than trying to cut too deep. This actually worked pretty good other than wearing and breathing the dust.
 

SharpShooter

Ten Pointer
You might be able to rent a pull behind lime spreader from the co op. Or you might be able to buy pelletized lime from the co op cheaper than lowes.
 

Eric Revo

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Depending on the amount of area, sometimes it's more economical to have Southern States or your local co-op spread it for you. I had 3 acres done for just over $300.00 a couple of years ago, and laid it down thickly since it was over an old oak ridge that had never seen lime before.
I've also used a trailer and had someone in the back slinging it out with a shovel while driving slowly through the plot, if you have an established plot this is best done when it's mostly dormant, but if you plan to work the plot with a disc it can be done anytime.
There's no difference in the dolomite lime, whichever form you use works the same length of time, the powdered gets into the ground a little faster, but also leaches faster in sandy soil. The Solucal is great for lawns, but not economical for food plots, unless they are small and you want to get the ph down a little quicker. JMTC
 

sky hawk

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Unfortunately our local co-op quit selling any bagged lime or fertilizer a few years ago. I had to buy it from the hardware store in town. I called around to 5 different places and most of them were around $1 per 10 lbs. One was cheaper but it was a bit of a drive. Does anyone know if I could order a pallet wholesale from a distributor somewhere? I don't need it now, but next time, it would be nice to get a break on the cost.

With the "concentrated lime" it was explained to me that the cost would be the same. 4X the cost but use 4X less. Basically it would work the same, but with only handling 1/4 of the number of bags. The duration was what I was concerned about. I guess a lot of commercial lawn guys use it to cut down on the number of bags they haul.
 

Combine_corn

Guest
Theres got to be a southern States or CPS close by, Bag lime is $135 per T..
 

Deerherder

Ten Pointer
I had a really hard time getting the ag line to spread well out of my cone spreader yesterday. I will buy pelletized lime next time.
 
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