How Small Compost Spreaders Can Help The Environment
Using organic materials in a compost spreader has several benefits that can help the environment. Using a spreader to recycle organic wastes and materials back into the growing process can be both economical and helpful to your small operation. This article will seek to explain some of the advantages of using small compost spreaders.
How a Compost Spreader Works
Spreaders are usually very similar in design to their larger cousins, the heavy-duty commercial manure spreaders. The main difference is normally in size, weight, drive method and durability of the spreader mechanism.
The first working manure spreader was developed in 1891 and was designed to help farm hands automate the manual spread of fertilizers using machinery. This “new idea” in spreading compost became so popular that by the 1920s every farm in North America boosted some kind of new idea manure spreader.
Solid waste spreaders are still very popular with smaller farms, horse stables, professional plants men and serious organic gardeners. These small compost spreaders can be easily towed behind an ATV (all-terrain-vehicle), a compact tractor or mounted in the bed of a 4-wheel drive truck.
Most of these spreaders can use a conventional rear-discharge bins or wagons. The actual spreader mechanism comes in two options: ground driven or PTO (power-take-off). Ground-driven spreaders use a beater-shedder that uses the motion of the tires rolling across the surface of the ground to distribute the dried or partially dried manure. Another common type of ground-driven spreader is made with a large mesh barrel or drum hung between two forks.
These rotary spreaders use the momentum of the rolling diamond mesh to tumble, crumble and break down the manure into smaller pieces that eventually fall through the screens. PTO units are often large in size and designed for mid-size to large scale commercial operations. PTO units are used with a tractor that has a special drive-shaft that runs the shredder-spreader. A tractor with a power-take-off unit uses the mechanical force from its drive-shaft to power an attachment such as compost spreader.
Benefits of Owning a Compost Spreader
Benefit # 1
Compost binds heavy metals and other pollutes and prevents them from leaking to the local water resources. It also can prevent excessive storm water run off into city sewers and drains.
Benefit # 2
Composting aids in the cleanup and reclamation of contaminated soils. Composting is shown to effectively absorb and neutralize certain heating fuels and hydrocarbons. Even explosives!
Benefit # 3
Using a compost spreader with the right organic matter has the ability to help improve and enrich even the poorest of soils. This in turn decreases the amount of chemicals fertilizers used and also increases the yield of food crops.
Now that you understand more of the benefits that can come from using a compost spreader, you can easily see why buying a spreader can be one of the best investments you can make to help the environment.
