Fertilizer spreader

[Jeff122]

I'm thinking about getting a fertilizer spreader for a few different purposes. My first concern is a wide wheel base to prevent the tip-overs I read about. Then, just heavy duty over all. Any suggestions? Any bad experiences to steer me away from a particular brand? I know some of the higher end ones have steel gearboxes. Not sure if I can warrant that type of expense.

[J-Mech]

What application? Yard, garden, golf coarse? What type of fertilizer? How large of an area are you looking at covering? How often will you use it? Once a year, once a month..... All things that make a difference on type you need.

[Jeff122]

Mainly fertilizer and lime, I have maybe an acre of residential yard and I take care of a few family members as well. I'm going to reseed a rental property after I get a few loads of top. I'll use it a few times a year in the warm weather and in winter, depends on mother nature. I am a fan of quality and durability, regardless of frequency of use. I keep my equipment well maintained so I have them for a long time. I've been doing some research, but value the information I get here.

[J-Mech]

Here's my

Fan style:
After running Big A's and other large farm spreaders is tough to be happy with most all the small ones for yards. If you look at the spreader style ones that are meant more for farm use behind 4 wheelers and such you will get a lot of life, and be much happier. I have not been satisfied when using ground driven fan spreaders as they don't cast an even spread if you don't maintain ground speed. That said, for heavy fertilizers such as lime, the electric driven ones tend to load the little motor so hard that the spread pattern gets very narrow. My personal preference is a PTO driven fan style. Now, I am assuming that your 122 doesn't have a rear PTO, but for this application you could mount a litter gear box and simply turn the box on the mount to run the spreader fan. Most of them just use a smooth bore shaft with a pin or set screw to hold them to the PTO. They are just a flex cable drive. With this style, you always throw the same width, regardless of speed or application rate. You could even build your own. Either way, if you build one, or buy, look at the ability to adjust the drop point of the material to the fan. Drop position is important to get an even spread. See pic below. This is what I use, but the pic is one from the internet.


spreader.jpg



On the flip side, just about anything made by Agri-Fab is well built for what it is. They do have a ground driven spreader that seems to be made decent.


Drop style applicators:
If you want an even application, the drop spreader is the way to go for small areas. Even rate, just requires more passes as you are limited to the width of the implement. Can't go wrong with Agi-Fab. There are other manufacturers that make much larger units. I was at an auction the other day and missed a drop spreader sell that was about 6' wide. Would have been a good purchase.


You decide how much you want to spend and what type is best for you.

[Sam Mac]

Pic of my ultra high tech spreader with the optional anti tip wheels.

[darkminion_17]

here is mine 30" wide.

[Shotgun Wedding]

I use an Agri Fab 100lb one that I've had for 12 years now. Not too hard keeping tractor ground speed constant. I put an extension on the gate opening lever so it's closer to tractor and some screen mesh around the applicator fan to stop fertilizer from getting on tractor. Works great and was pretty cheap.

Would like to have an electric motor drive with an electric actuator for the gate too, but I'd also like to be a porn star. Same chance for both.

[J-Mech]

Originally Posted by Shotgun Wedding

Would like to have an electric motor drive with an electric actuator for the gate too, but I'd also like to be a porn star. Same chance for both.

[dirtcowboy]

Here's my fertilizer spreader I use in my field to spread fertilizer. It's a Wheel Horse fertilizer spreader with the serial tag. It does a great job spreading evey. It's ground driven. It has a lever that regulates flow out the back and a big chain inside that drags fertilizer to rear of spreader. It holds a lot of fertilizer. I've also used my Agri fab drop seeder for lime, it works great too.

[Cub Cadet 123]

You mentioned something about using it in the winter. The drop spreader could also be used for salt applications in the winter without broadcasting your salt out to the yard, if you are doing sidewalks. I know that depends on the width of your sidewalk, too. In my area they vary in size from about 24" to about 36". Of course, salt can take its toll on metal, but that is a moot point since you stated that you maintain your equipment well and a lot of the spreaders are mostly plastic.

Cub Cadet 123