Fall Manure Season Prep
Preparation is key for handling a rigorous busy season. Although it can seem a little early to be thinking about fall manure season prep in the spring, it’s important to start before it’s too late. We know that come September your time is measured in gallons rather than minutes, making every gallon critical. We strive to be prepared to meet increased demands for service and equipment on our end, and too, help you get ready for the season before it hits.
New Manure Equipment Purchases
To say the past few years have been a whirlwind for the supply chain might be an understatement. With demand for equipment being high and labor issues limiting manufacturing ability, it wasn’t that long ago that we were seeing one-and-a-half-year lead times on equipment. However, we have finally reached the light at the end of the tunnel and are starting to see a normalization in lead times making new equipment arrivals quicker. We now expect most manure equipment, including dry manure spreaders, to take around three months to come in after ordering. We are still observing a little bit longer lead times (around seven to eight months) on tanks.
So, what has changed? As we’ve entered a softer market for equipment, manufacturers have been able to catch up on orders and are not seeing as many bottlenecks as before. New equipment price increases have stabilized but not stopped, so we will remain in a soft market for the time being.
If you want to order new equipment to have in hand by September, we recommend having your orders in no later than the beginning of June for everything except for tanks. We also currently have favorable pricing on new stock items in our manure equipment lot if we already have something on your hit list.
Manure Equipment Maintenance and Repairs
On the flip side, another vital component of being prepared for fall is performing any routine maintenance and repairs. If you need us to perform pre-season maintenance or repairs on your manure equipment, we recommend having appointments scheduled for April through May.
For the do-it-yourselfers, we have put together a guide for performing maintenance on all manure equipment and Artex manure spreaders. We also encourage you to visit your trusty operator’s manual (yes, that thing you probably tossed in a compartment somewhere) to get a full list of specific maintenance for your equipment.
Even though fall might seem far away for many, it will inevitably be here before we know it. To stay ahead of the rush and ensure you get to enjoy this summer rather than fret about the fall, now is the perfect time to think about needed purchases, maintenance and repairs.
