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C. U. Stoltzfus, 33-year-old Morgantown, Pa., farmer and grist mill operator, invented the modern spreader in 1945 with a truck-mounted machine that minimized dust clouds surrounding him as he applied lime to his fields. Shown here with one of his earliest prototypes, he followed up with three more industry firsts: the wet lime spreader; a bulk material spreader that distributed lighter, bulky materials, and a ground-driven spreader with fertilizer accuracy and lime breakout strength.
Bernard Hershberger, owner of Stoltzfus Spreaders and grandnephew of C. U., with recently introduced Stoltzfus RC-1520 high-capacity lime and fertilizer spreader with welded unibody construction and axle settings adjustable up to 152 inches, widest on the market.
C. U.'s spreaders came with 15-foot horizontal booms that applied lime and crushed nutrients close to the ground. Updated and refined over the next 70 years, the boom-style design endures as the benchmark process for applying dry-flowing materials.
In 1976 C. U. invented the wet lime spreader allowing farmers to backhaul truckloads of inexpensive lime and stockpile it in corners of their fields for use when conditions allowed. Subsequent improvements achieved accurate fertilizer spreading with rates as low as 125 pounds per acre
In 1986 C. U. developed a bulk material spreader that applied lighter, bulky materials such as chicken litter, biosolids and compost while maintaining fertilizer precision, the first on the market to bring these capabilities together in a single machine.
In 1991 C. U. led a design team that developed the Stoltzfus Redhawk, incorporating an industry first dual-contact press wheel that married load breakout strength of his WLS with the accuracy of ground-driven fertilizer spreaders.
C. U. never retired, staying active in development of new models and enhancements to existing equipment until he passed away in 2000 at age 88. Shown here in his eighties, he inspects one of his boom spreader designs. His inventions served as prototypes for virtually every lime spreader to follow, including those emulated by other manufacturers. Bernard Hershberger (right), owner of Stoltzfus Spreaders and grandnephew of C. U., inspects welded walking beam suspension supports with shop foreman Dave Nolt.