Effect of Material Metering on the Performance of a Spinner-Type Spreader Broadcasting Poultry Litter

The effect of material metering on the performance of a spinner-type spreader broadcasting poultry litter was investigated. Various combinations of gate height and conveyor speed were used for controlling material flow onto the spreader spinners. Hydraulic pressure acting on one of the two driving motors of the spinners was measured to examine the variation of material flow in controlled spreading tests. The relationships between variation of material flow and both gate height and conveyor speed were analyzed. For the least variation, the lowest gate opening and the highest conveyor speed should be used.