Paddock Cleaners-any good?

[dozzie]

Are they worth it or are they a pain in the neck?

There's one for sale locally just a few months old (but still a lot of money) and i was wondering whether it is worth thinking about? Realistically how much time or effort do they save? What shortcomings are there?

Any recommendations or ones to avoid?

Cheers!

 

[kerilli]

i had the sweeping one, can't think what it was called, with tines on the front, petrol motor, tip-up muck-holder at the back. it was red, umm, tbh it was hopeless. when it was demo'd i told the guy i had a bad back, he assured me it was really easy to empty. i'm 5'10" and very strong but it really did me in, to the point where it sat in a stable for about a year, wasn't worth the effort of getting out, attaching to tractor, using it, and then being laid up unable to ride for a few days, etc...
it did an okay job, as long as the poos weren't too heavy and wet, or too solid, but it needed emptying so often, and was such a total pain to empty, that eventually i sold it, and went back to poo-picking with no qualms at all.
the guy eventually sent me some stronger springs that were supposed to make it much easier to tip up but i couldn't tell any difference.
i'd try a vaccuum one next i think, rather than a sweeping one.

 

[MillionDollar]

I've heard mixed reviews. Some say they (the vaccum ones) are absolutely fab! And then others say they are god awful, waste of time and money. And one of my lecturers owned a huge riding school (120 horses), he bought one used it for 2 weeks and never used it again. So it's probably each to their own. He did say it was fine if the grass was very very short and the manure wasn't too heavy.

Have to say I'm very interested in getting one though.

 

[iconique]

We have a Predator Cub Pro. I wouldn't be without it. My dad actually bought it for me for Christmas/Birthday pressie a couple of years ago. (Strange but true!)

We have Six horses that do their large elephant size piles 12-16x a day and when you have a small acreage this causes a huge problem. The vac is a hand one and does clear every last bit up, I haven't used it in the stable but can confirm that it will also suck up water. The chopped up poo is great as it rots down quicker and gardeners seem to like it more.

The bad bit however is that to get the best out of it you need 2 of you, one to drive and the other to suck. If you don't pick up the poo early enough and it rains on it to make it glue consistency it can block the tube. The sucking isn't the easiest of work and the emptying certainly isn't if you can't just dump it out in piles. Its also a bit daunting if you get behind in your vaccing, because doing a couple of loads in a day is enough (for me anyway)

Our paddocks do really benefit and I am glad we went for a sucker not a sweeper as the sweepers I looked at didn't seem to do as thorough job and I can do the areas round the trees and where the bunnies have been, plus we can get into odd areas. It really has made the paddocks more useable and we don't get sour areas due to not picking up muck.

So "Thanks" to my Dad for his great idea and for getting me one, it works really well. Would recommend but make sure that you see how it works and can manage it before you buy, not eveyone can manage it.

 

[WFL]

The 1 we have at our yard seems to d the job. YM takes it out towed behind the quad bike and 15 mins later she is back at the muck heap to empty it out.