My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally falling
apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a new walk
behind spreader that will last a few years and better quality. The
Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess that is what
sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store. My local choices
are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have comments on this one
for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303 (sale
$118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally falling
apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a new walk
behind spreader that will last a few years and better quality. The
Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess that is what
sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store. My local choices
are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have comments on this one
for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303 (sale
$118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

If it gave good service for two years it cost you $20/year, not
unreasonable.

There are commercial spreaders that _may_ last like 20 years (and still need
maintenence/parts) but can easily cost $400 and up... will still cost
minimally $20/year... Lesco comes to mind.

Were it me, with this type of product I would accept that a $40 spreader
will serve me so long and then I'd rather replace that with the same than
lay out $400 for a spreader that is supposed to last long but may not... or
may outlast me, or how long I live where I can care for an acre of lawn.
That's the kind of logic I employ when replacing expendable tools, calculate
price per year and estimate the number of years of service... and I never
expect such products to last beyond the manufactureres warranty, any extra
is a gift. That said I still have my old walk behind Scotts rotary spreader
that I used for like 10 years but haven't for the last seven years except
once when I spread a 100 pound bag of grass seed. The neighbor where I
lived last bought the same spreader when I did but his lasted only two
years, he rarely cleaned his, if ever, I washed mine very throughly right
after each use; lawn fertilizer is very caustic. And no matter which
spreader, if you leave chemical in the hopper between uses all you'll get is
like two years service, hardly justifiable for a $400 investment. I think
Scotts sellss a pretty decent homeowner product for the price.

Scotts sells various spreaders, which did you have?
http://www.scotts.com/smg/catalog/pr... 2&id=cat50016

On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:17:53 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
.. .
My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally falling
apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a new walk
behind spreader that will last a few years and better quality. The
Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess that is what
sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store. My local choices
are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have comments on this one
for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303 (sale
$118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

I used it 4 or 5 times.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:17:53 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
. ..
My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally falling
apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a new walk
behind spreader that will last a few years and better quality. The
Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess that is what
sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store. My local choices
are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have comments on this one
for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303 (sale
$118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

I used it 4 or 5 times.

Should have lasted a lot longer than that with no care... what specifically
became damaged.

On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:27:55 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:17:53 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally falling
apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a new walk
behind spreader that will last a few years and better quality. The
Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess that is what
sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store. My local choices
are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have comments on this one
for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303 (sale
$118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

I used it 4 or 5 times.

Should have lasted a lot longer than that with no care... what specifically
became damaged.



The plastic parts failed, feed locking mechanism, cracks around the
hopper rivets. More importantly, it is not broadcasting product
evenly (drop spreaders are worse on sloped lawn). Not damaged, but
the wheels are just too small, the spreader itself has trouble holding
a single 40# bag of pellitized lime. Turns a 30 minute job into an
hour. A larger swath would be better. Have not found other spreaders
as shown in the link, and would appreciate feedback on that one.

"Phisherman" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:

My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally falling
apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a new walk
behind spreader that will last a few years and better quality. The
Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess that is what
sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store. My local choices
are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have comments on this one
for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303 (sale
$118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

I used it 4 or 5 times.

Should have lasted a lot longer than that with no care... what
specifically
became damaged.


The plastic parts failed, feed locking mechanism, cracks around the
hopper rivets. More importantly, it is not broadcasting product
evenly (drop spreaders are worse on sloped lawn). Not damaged, but
the wheels are just too small, the spreader itself has trouble holding
a single 40# bag of pellitized lime. Turns a 30 minute job into an
hour. A larger swath would be better. Have not found other spreaders
as shown in the link, and would appreciate feedback on that one.

An acre is kind of borderline between using a push spreader or towing one
behind a garden tractor, I'd opt for towing, I wouldn't want to spend all my
spare time pushing a spreader, or even a lawnmower, especially not on
slopped land. Now that I've thought about it, and since your land is
slopped, you'd be better off with a commercial spreader that's towed. I'd
think a $40 spreader is not appropriate for an acre... and with an acre you
really need a garden tractor anyway.

That's odd that the plastic would fail, usually it's the metal parts that
corrode from contact with fertilizers. But it's very possible it was a bad
batch of plastic or the molding machines were set incorrectly for that lot.
Obviously if you used it 4-5 times you only had the spreader a very short
time, should still be under warranty, and Home Depot/Lowes are very good
about exchanges/refunds, especially with items costing relatively little,
and most especially with national brand items (they have agreements to make
exchanges/refunds no questions asked), they don't even require a receipt for
any items they sell... I'd have brought it back at the first sign of
failure... you can still bring it back. To see the different spreaders go
to scotts.com and search spreaders... if it barely holds 40lbs of
pelletized lime yours must be one of the low capacity models, for an acre
I'd opt for the largest capacity Scotts spreader. I've found that drop
spreaders are more apt to corrode as they contain more metal parts. And
drop spreaders really don't work well on large lawns, they tend to
"stripe"... drop spreaders are intended for very small lawns with narrow
convoluted areas, especially for curbside lawn strips so that one doesn't
wste chemical by treating walk/roadways... with drop spreaders it's best to
cut the application amount to half (or less) and two days later make a
second application, crosswise to the first whee possible. When I treated my
small lawn with the broadcast spreader I cut the application way down too
and a few days later made a second pass crosswise... I always made the total
application amount less by about 1/3 of the recommended amount... multiple
light applicationss work better than one heavy application. Of course then
I was only treating about 1/4 acre so I didn't mind the extra work. Also
the commercial spreader wheels are much larger, and usually pneumatic, so
they roll effortlessly... with homeowner models with small wheels the job
goes much easier if you only fill the hopper half way (for less weight), and
be sure the lawn is freshly mowed, it's more easily traversed with short
grass... it's silly to treat a lawn and then mow it the next day anyway, but
I've seen people do that very often.

Check out the spreaders here, they have a large collection, read the owner's
comments:
http://www.northerntool.com

I've always been very pleased with Agrifab products:
http://www.agri-fab.com/type/spreaders.aspx

On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:28:17 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:

My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally falling
apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a new walk
behind spreader that will last a few years and better quality. The
Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess that is what
sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store. My local choices
are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have comments on this one
for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303 (sale
$118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

I used it 4 or 5 times.

Should have lasted a lot longer than that with no care... what
specifically
became damaged.


The plastic parts failed, feed locking mechanism, cracks around the
hopper rivets. More importantly, it is not broadcasting product
evenly (drop spreaders are worse on sloped lawn). Not damaged, but
the wheels are just too small, the spreader itself has trouble holding
a single 40# bag of pellitized lime. Turns a 30 minute job into an
hour. A larger swath would be better. Have not found other spreaders
as shown in the link, and would appreciate feedback on that one.

An acre is kind of borderline between using a push spreader or towing one
behind a garden tractor, I'd opt for towing, I wouldn't want to spend all my
....
Check out the spreaders here, they have a large collection, read the owner's
comments:
http://www.northerntool.com

I've always been very pleased with Agrifab products:
http://www.agri-fab.com/type/spreaders.aspx




I forgot about NorthernTool. Some of the lawn is just too steep for a
garden tractor (e.TN mountains here). Found a walk-behind Agrifab, a
spreader, for only $419.99 +9.75% tax. A comment left on this
specific product stated "economical." lol

Thanks for the links.

"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 13:28:17 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:
"brooklyn1" wrote:
"Phisherman" wrote:

My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally falling
apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a new walk
behind spreader that will last a few years and better quality. The
Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess that is what
sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store. My local
choices
are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have comments on this
one
for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303 (sale
$118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

I used it 4 or 5 times.

Should have lasted a lot longer than that with no care... what
specifically
became damaged.


The plastic parts failed, feed locking mechanism, cracks around the
hopper rivets. More importantly, it is not broadcasting product
evenly (drop spreaders are worse on sloped lawn). Not damaged, but
the wheels are just too small, the spreader itself has trouble holding
a single 40# bag of pellitized lime. Turns a 30 minute job into an
hour. A larger swath would be better. Have not found other spreaders
as shown in the link, and would appreciate feedback on that one.

An acre is kind of borderline between using a push spreader or towing one
behind a garden tractor, I'd opt for towing, I wouldn't want to spend all
my
...
Check out the spreaders here, they have a large collection, read the
owner's
comments:
http://www.northerntool.com

I've always been very pleased with Agrifab products:
http://www.agri-fab.com/type/spreaders.aspx




I forgot about NorthernTool. Some of the lawn is just too steep for a
garden tractor (e.TN mountains here). Found a walk-behind Agrifab, a
spreader, for only $419.99 +9.75% tax. A comment left on this
specific product stated "economical." lol

Thanks for the links.

You're welcome. Good luck!

Phisherman wrote:
On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:27:55 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:17:53 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally
falling apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a
new walk behind spreader that will last a few years and better
quality. The Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess
that is what sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store.
My local choices are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have
comments on this one for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303
(sale $118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

I used it 4 or 5 times.

Should have lasted a lot longer than that with no care... what
specifically became damaged.



The plastic parts failed, feed locking mechanism, cracks around the
hopper rivets. More importantly, it is not broadcasting product
evenly (drop spreaders are worse on sloped lawn). Not damaged, but
the wheels are just too small, the spreader itself has trouble holding
a single 40# bag of pellitized lime. Turns a 30 minute job into an
hour. A larger swath would be better. Have not found other spreaders
as shown in the link, and would appreciate feedback on that one.

Was this spreader left outside - exposed to the sun? Cracks in the plastic
strongly suggests damage from the sun.

Lime seems to be the biggest killer of my broadcast spreaders. It is abrasive to
the gears if they are not well sealed, and the stirrer drive gears get
overloaded trying to stir through the lime.

On Mon, 28 Sep 2009 14:44:48 -0700, "Bob F"
wrote:

Phisherman wrote:
On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 03:27:55 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 06 Sep 2009 00:17:53 GMT, "brooklyn1"
wrote:


"Phisherman" wrote in message
...
My $40 Scotts broadcast spreader is going to the trash heap, never
again will buy a Scotts product. This spreader is literally
falling apart and I have kept good care of it. I'm looking for a
new walk behind spreader that will last a few years and better
quality. The Lowes and Home Depot sell cheap spreaders (I guess
that is what sells), but we have a new Tracter Supply Co. store.
My local choices are limited as I am in a small town, anyone have
comments on this one for use on one acre of fescue lawn?

Pro Broadcast Spreader with rain cover 100# capacity 4404303
(sale $118)

http://tinyurl.com/lwd3r7

I think this brand is "Harvest" but not sure. Any comments?

How many years did your $40 spreader last?

I used it 4 or 5 times.

Should have lasted a lot longer than that with no care... what
specifically became damaged.



The plastic parts failed, feed locking mechanism, cracks around the
hopper rivets. More importantly, it is not broadcasting product
evenly (drop spreaders are worse on sloped lawn). Not damaged, but
the wheels are just too small, the spreader itself has trouble holding
a single 40# bag of pellitized lime. Turns a 30 minute job into an
hour. A larger swath would be better. Have not found other spreaders
as shown in the link, and would appreciate feedback on that one.

Was this spreader left outside - exposed to the sun? Cracks in the plastic
strongly suggests damage from the sun.

I do not keep any tools outdoors. And, I know the importance of
washing a spreader immediately after each use.


Lime seems to be the biggest killer of my broadcast spreaders. It is abrasive to
the gears if they are not well sealed, and the stirrer drive gears get
overloaded trying to stir through the lime.


I bought the spreader mentioned above and used it last week. Worked
like a charm and the large pneumatic wheels had no problems over
uneven ground. This spreader has three openings and the clear
rain-guard cover kept the leaves/debris out of the hopper. Hopefully
this one will last longer than the $40 cheapos.