Donate a manure spreader, cleaned out and honest

Where donated spreaders come from

Dairies and livestock operations that sold the herd, usually alongside a mixer and a chopper in the same dispersal.

Horse properties and small farms that stopped keeping animals, and estates.

Operations that moved to a liquid system or a custom hauler and no longer need a box spreader.

On a trailer, and cleaned out first

A box spreader goes on a tilt-deck or drop-deck. A large vertical-beater or truck-mounted unit needs a step-deck. Giving Center arranges and covers it.

It must be emptied and hosed out before pickup. That is the requirement here: a loaded spreader is a hazard on the road, a health issue in a yard and an unpleasant and expensive problem for whoever handles it next, and that cost comes out of what the cause receives.

Tell us whether the wheels roll, whether the apron chain turns and whether the PTO driveline and shield are present. Access is the first question on any farm pickup. Tell us where it sits, what the ground is like and what is between it and a road a trailer can use.

What decides what a spreader brings

• Type. Box with rear beaters, vertical beater, side-discharge or liquid tank. Vertical beater spreaders are the current standard and worth the most.
• Capacity. Bushels or cubic feet, and it needs to match a buyer's operation size.
• Apron chain and beater condition. The main wear items. A chain that turns and beaters with intact flails carry the sale.
• Box and floor condition. Spreaders corrode from the inside. Floor rust-through and rotted side rails are the faults that end them.
• Running gear. Tires, bearings and the hitch. On a tandem unit, whether both axles are sound.

Makes we accept

Buyers name brand and capacity.

• Vertical beater: Kuhn Knight ProTwin and SLC, Meyer V-Force, Artsway, Jamesway, Penta, Hagedorn, Millcreek, Pik Rite.
• Box and rear beater: New Idea 3600 and 200 series, John Deere 450 and 780, Gehl Scavenger, Badger, Oswalt, Knight, Nuhn.
• Liquid and tanker: Nuhn, Houle, Balzer, Better-Bilt, Calumet, Jamesway.

Manufacturer names appear here so you can find your own machine. No manufacturer sponsors, endorses or is affiliated with this program.

The paperwork, and what you can deduct

Farm equipment is not titled. Ownership is established with the purchase invoice, a bill of sale, a farm asset record, or a lien release if it was financed. Find the serial plate and photograph it. If the machine is part of an estate or a farm partnership, whoever signs needs authority to sign for it.

Giving Center sells the spreader and your deduction is the gross sale proceeds on Form 1098-C. A modern vertical beater spreader clears $5,000 fairly often, which brings the qualified appraisal requirement and Form 8283 Section B at your expense. Implements in this class commonly sell between $500 and $5,000, where Form 8283 Section A applies and no appraisal is required. Older or heavily worn examples fall under $500, where the deduction is the lesser of fair market value or $500 and we send a written acknowledgment rather than a Form 1098-C. If you donate several items together each is itemized, and similar items are grouped for the IRS reporting thresholds.

An older box spreader with a rusted floor commonly falls under $500, which is the honest expectation for that item. It is still worth donating as part of a dispersal. Most farm equipment is a depreciated business asset, which makes a conversation with your accountant worth having before the pickup. Farm business property follows different rules than a personal donation.