Lime Question

I am looking at lime prices right now and they seem pretty steep. Has anyone ever used paper mill lime? The land I hunt on is in the swamp and we need a lot of lime...

Bulk lime at the co-op or Ag store is usually pretty cheap. Never used any from paper mill, but don’t see how it could be cheaper.

We got basic slag one year in a pinch. It was very inexpensive but the results didn’t last long either. It washed out or off the soil rapidly.

Don't use paper mill "slag." Ag lime hasn't gone up to my knowledge. Delivered rate may have gone up, but not the lime itself. Least expensive, but still good, way to do it if you have a lot to cover is: (1) have ___ tons (the amount you need) delivered and (2) dumped in an area you can easily load a buggy, but you aren't worried about growing anything, (3) get the buggy from whomever delivered it; (4) Use tractor with large bucket to load buggy; (5) drag buggy with tractor.

Mash Here

Just has this question myself

We just had 100 tons delivered at our farm. $35 a ton. ALFisher pretty well summed it up.

gmterry- what is steep?

My questions here are (1) how do you know what's in the "lime mud" unless you do what they did and test exactly what you are getting, and (2) how are you going to move it to "x" number of patches? And if you can't do (1), are you really going to trust whoever is selling/giving this stuff to you?

I've been quoted from $40-$60/ton delivered and that includes a buggy.

$50/ton here delivered and spread

Did they spread it? If so, who?
I have a club down the road from Sylacauga at Hanover

$30 a ton delivered to my place from Tuscaloosa Co Op

The delivered or delivered and spread price is all going to vary depending on how close or far you are away from the source of the lime. Sylacauga is close, so far less transportation costs. South Alabama is not, so will cost much more. Really no way around it.

I just wish I could get it spread on my place. They won’t come for two tons and don’t think my 30hp tractor could pull the buggy.

You can get the pelletized lime in a bag just like fertilizer it just takes a little longer for it to start working a lot of people have to go this route. I’ve done it before and had good luck with it

Stoney- I'd guess we are within a mile of you, and the last time we had lime spread, the Co-Op said never again. 6 or 8 small fields, scattered around 5-600 acres, with a fairly poor road system. We'll probably just scatter pelletized with the tractor going forward. Honestly, while the cost/lb is far steeper, in the quantities we use, every 3-4 years, it's easier to just do it ourselves. I do know our soil needs it regularly.

I guess they won't drop off a buggy and only will deliver in a spreader truck? In the past we have had a buggy full delivered from the co-op and then we get another 6-8 tons in bulk tote bags and put them on a gooseneck. Then we transfer the totes to pickups and refill the buggy in each plot. The biggest pain is unhooking the tractor each time to load.

That’s what I’ve done at the house just really expensive compared to bulk powder.

Pelleted lime melts when it rains and actually starts working very quickly.

If you get desperate do what I did.I had 10 tons delivered, hooked up my trailer to the Polaris, shoveled lime on back of trailer and blew it off with a backpack blower while driving slowly.

You were DESPERATE!!!

Pelletized lime is actually not a bad idea at all if it's not a big area. AND, you generally need less pelletized lime than ag lime. You need to compare the CCE in each.

I let the hired help blow off the lime, I drove the Ranger, so it wasn’t to bad.The hardest part was loading the trailer with a shovel.Now I have a tractor with a front end loader.

Paper mill lime mud is used a bunch in the ag fields in Escambia County due to the availability from the GP mill in Brewton. You can see huge white piles in the edge of the fields where it has been delivered. There are quite a few guys who make good money this time of year hauling lime from GP. We had 30 tons delivered to the hunting club for $210. It’s hard as hell to spread as it starts getting damp pretty quick after delivery but it’s a fraction of the cost of pelletized lime. I finally found a 3 pt PTO spreader that WILL spread it whether it’s wet or dry. I bought a Sides Spread All spreader and when he says it will spread anything, he ain’t lying. I paid a premium price for the spreader but like most of you, I could not find anybody that would spread lime with a truck on our hunting club. Roads are too rough and the risk of getting the truck stuck all but eliminated that option. And pulling a spreader buggy down uneven washed out roads is a chance I’m not willing to take.

Low wall -- I got a 500 lb spreader from the Auburn Extension center in Rockford for no cost. If you are spreading in Coosa County it is free. I kelp it for 2 days. Had lime brought in and dumped and then filled spreader with shovels.

One more question. Had anyone used liquid lime and sprayed in on your fields. It appears to be a good option for me since the land I am needing to lime is under water currently and will be too wet for the next 1-2 months to lime.

Waste of money.

Snake oil

That Sides new or used ? How many Benjamin's did it kill ?

I bought it brand spanking new and it was $7K by the time I got it to Florida. I figure that I can make my money back by spreading lime on nearby clubs that have the same problem I had of not having any other option. It is a really unique design as you can put fertilizer and seed in it with the PTO going and it will mix it all together with the auger that’s in it. It also has a Reese type hitch on the back to pull a drag or cultipacker so you can plant/fertilize/cover in one pass with only one tractor. I got the biggest one they make so if you aren’t after a 2500 lb capacity, they are a lot cheaper.

Thanks for the info