Agri-Fab, Inc. 175 lb. Drop Spreader

The Agri-Fab 45-0288 175-pound max tow behind drop spreader is an excellent addition to my lawn and garden assets. You can easily attach the drop spreader to a zero turn, ATV, or lawn tractor/mower with a tow bracket and cut your lawn while fertilizing or over seeding with grass simultaneously. Using my Kubota zero turn, I am unable to reach the flow control arm, however, using an ATV or lawn tractor I was able open and close the drop spreader. In addition to enabling me to maintain my one-acre lot of Kentucky blue grass and fescue mix, I’ve used the drop spreader to spread fertilizer and perennial rye, Kentucky blue, and Kentucky 31 grass seed mix for two of my neighbors. I am not sure if the drop spreader can hold 175 pounds of granular fertilizer as I only used 100 pounds and that nearly maxed the hopper’s capacity to the brim. The assembly instructions were simple and straight forward. It is important to note that that during the installation steps, my instructions stated that in order to initially calibrate the opening of the spreader on both sides, you are required to measure the two ferrules to one-half-inch. I recommend to simply move the flow control arm back to the off position and then screw the rod into the ferrule at the bottom of the hopper at both ends into the rod aligns with the hole in the end of the low control arm. I counted threads to try and ensure both ferrules were the same thread count, but also ensured the flow plate was closed against the hopper’s backstops. Once this was done, the flow control arm and flow plate were calibrated to the flow rate setting of my choice. Moreover, if the flow control arm does not stay in place or can easily move, simply loosen the self-locking nut or remove it and tighten the first self-locking note installed a bit tighter until the flow control arm is snug at any flow rate setting. Reinstall the backup self-locking nut and you are good to go. Some reviewers stated they used a bungee cord to hold it in place when all that is needed is a bit more torque on the first nut to give the flow control arm more resistance. For most applications involving fertilizer or grass seed, the 1 or 2 flow rate setting works just fine. You will always have to according to your task make adjustments to suit your particular drop rate. The Agri-fab 175-pound drop spreader works great and enables me to fertilize or over seed without worrying about fertilizer being broadcasted on my driveway. Maintain your 3 mph and according to my neighbor’s view of spreading seed, the hopper and flow plate opens and drops those babies right where you want it. Since our properties are right next to each other, I used the drop spreader particularly on our properties boundary lines as I have my luscious Kentucky Blue grass rocking at 3.5 inches height and we didn’t want any cross contamination from that pretty perennial rye, Kentucky Blue, and Kentucky 31 tall fescue hardy mix he was throwing down on his yard. It is imperative to pay attention to ensuring the flow control arm is completely closed and the flow control plate is closed tightly against the hopper’s backstops and adjust the ferrules on both sides until you can insert them into the bracket holes and you should have a well calibrated drop spreader to handle many of your lawn and garden needs.

Agra fab, wake up and smell the coffee. The fertilizer spreader works perfectly for dropping salt in snowy climates. You have to cut out every third tooth, because salt crystals are a little larger. But after that, you have a secondary use for your machine. F y I i've been through ten spreaders of different kinds and sorts, and this is the only one that works for dropping salt on my driveway. Ps clean and oil it really good at the end of the year otherwise it'll rust.

I got this to spread Ortho Bug B Gone and it worked great on the number 2 setting to spread about 8 Lbs per 1000 sqft for fleas. This is a bit more than what I see suggested on the net, but I wanted to be sure it did the job since the fleas are out in force this season. I covered my 1/4 acre back yard with 120 lbs of this stuff and the spreader didn't miss a beat over smooth and rough ground as it towed behind while I mowed the grass. The 42 inch drop width is a good match for my riding mower cut width to provide even coverage. I had this same spreader years ago and it had the bald-looking tires as is shown on Amazon. This new one has tires with more tread, typical of what you see on most lawn mowers. The old ones worked fine and I the new ones do too. They do, after all, just tag along for the ride, so....who cares! The overall quality is pretty good except for the really sharp knife edges on just about every metal piece....I guess the phrase "break all sharp edges" is a thing of the past on manufacturing drawings. All the metal is painted black but it does not appear to be baked on and is certainly not anodized. Left in the open, it would probably start to rust within a few months. A shed is the best place to keep one of these little animals. All the parts were in the box and assembly, which took about 2 hours, went well except for a couple of minor things: 1. The tongue braces were not bent quite enough, so, on each side, I had to first get the nut started on the screw farthest to the rear on the hopper and then pry the brace into position on the tongue. I did not have to remove the wheels for access to the ends of the hopper. 2. The flow control rod was not bent quite enough, so I had to bend it in a bit so the ends aligned with the flow plate brackets. 3. Step 14, Adjust for Correct Opening of Hopper Flow Plates, says to check this and check that. Well OK, but I think it would be clearer stated this way: NOTE: The hopper has slotted holes all along the bottom. Since the tines inside the hopper cover these holes, you will have to turn the hopper upside sown and open the flow plates to see them. The hopper flow plates slide to incrementally cover these holes to block them when the flow control arm is moved toward OFF, and slide to incrementally uncover these holes as the flow control arm is moved toward ON (any of the various flow rate settings). To adjust the hopper flow plates, screw the flow control rod ferrules in or out until the slotted holes are completely closed with the flow control arm set at "0", and are completely open with the flow control arm set at the highest/most open position. Also check to see that each side (each hopper flow plate) is adjusted equally. After adjusting, tighten the ferrule nuts snug and then back them off 1/4 turn. 4. Step 15, Check for Proper Tension on the Hopper Flow Plates, says to check this and check that. Well OK, but simply put, it could say "tighten the Flow Control Arm nut until the arm stays firmly in position at any setting". You may want to note that the tension from this nut is the Only thing that keeps the Flow Control Arm from accidentally sliding to a lower setting....the Flow Control Gauge, beefy as it is, will only prevent it from sliding to a higher setting. 5. The tires needed a bit of air and sure enough, I had to remove the tires for access to the valve stems since they are on the inside edge of the tires. This was simple enough, however, since the tires are only held on with a cotter pin that easily comes out with the pull of a finger. All in all, it's a pretty good spreader. If it were not for the sharp edges, the minimal paint job, and the parts not being bent correctly, I would have given it 5 stars. Good luck with yours!

It took me about 45 minutes to assemble. You need only two wrenches - 9/16 and 5/8, if I remember correctly. I'm certain about only needing two wrenches. I hooked it up to my Zero-Turn Cub Cadet, set the lever to 0 (closed), poured in about 100 pounds of fertilizer, set the lever to 2 as recommended, and while on my level concrete drive, I pulled forward to check the output. It was perfect. I have a 1.5 acre yard on a steep grade. My concern on purchase was the spreader may slide downhill when pulled. It didn't. It worked so well and easily even when making sharp turns, I engaged my blades and mowed my grass as I fertilized. Each wheel controls its side of the hopper keeping the output even during turns. I needed to devise me a way to close and open the hopper as I couldn't reach the adjustment arm while on the mower. I looped a piece of wire to short 1x1. It worked fine. I assembled, fertilized, mowed, and was back in the house in two hours. My only regret in purchasing this Drop Spreader is I didn't do it sooner. I also like the partition dividing the hopper in half. On my steep grade yard, I feared the fertilizer would pile to the low end. It didn't. As you can tell, I really like and enjoy this Spreader. One more thing. Amazon got this to me fast. I had it in about 3 days and it qualified for free shipping.

One side not distributing fertilizer evenly as the other.

So, I've been through 3 of these... #1 I put it together with no issue, went to put some seed in it and noticed a big crack in the plastic tub, took it apart, shipped it back #2 I put it together, got to the last step and the bar that controls the shut off/flow control will not fit correctly....i'm not sure why, so i call the company and they have me take measurements and compare them to the parts list that they have, everything is correct so they have me take a few pictures of the problem and email them to them, 2 days pass as i eagerly await a phone call from Agri-Fab telling me what i'm doing wrong. On day 2 i call and ask for the woman i spoke with about 48 hours ago, she gets on the phone and asks me if she can call me right back, which she does....the next day, she tells me that two of the brackets were installed up side down at the factory and that she could send me the rivets and new brackets to change them out, i tell her that i don't have a riveter so she offers to send me screws, which show up two days later. After researching rivets, and about 20 minutes of attempting to remove the factory rivets, i realize that i do not have the proper tools to make this adjustment and tear down the entire thing, pack it up and send it back.... #3 So far So good! i unpacked everything, put it together in record time and everything seems to be working well, i like the spreader its is very heavy duty and i anticipate a long life. So i'm giving 4 stars for my frustration with the ordering process and the company's laziness in responding back to me, my first spreader was ordered on April 15, 2016 and i finally have a functional spreader on May 23, 2016, a little ridiculous, but worth it in the end i guess Update 07-07-16, i finally had a chance to use my new number 3 spreader, as soon as it was filled, it began to leak the material even though the shut off was on, and when i started to use it, one side released at a significantly higher rate than the other, I spoke to argifab who offered no assistance to me, Luckily Amazon was nice enough to accept the spreader back because i had the original packaging. I will never buy from Agrifab again. I'm also changing my rating to a 1 star.

I gave it a 5 star without actually using it yet, but it is well engineered so I have faith ( I am a mechanical engineer). The parts are all heavy steel and when assembled, the unit is very solid. Takes about an hour to assemble with only two 7/16" wrenches. Instructions are fairly good, just follow the instructions, they are perfect. A couple notes/tips. 1) Tire pressure marked on the tire is 30 psi, the owners manual says keep them at 13 psi, 2) when attaching the two "Z" bars, remove the wheels (easy) use a large screwdriver to bend the bracket on the bucket so you can get a nut behind it. 3) Once fully assembled, take your time adjusting the flow plate using the ferrules. Open the flow plate, measure the hole openings on each side of the bucket, then adjust. It took me about 4 true to get it right. Otherwise you be have an unbalanced application of fertilizer.

After pushing my manual spreader at 63 years of age I decided there has to be a better way. Thank you Agra fab. My unit arrived two days ahead of schedule. Using it tomorrow before the rains come this weekend. Now putting down fertilizer can be fun again at my age. Update: Had a few issues with this spreader. My buddy who put it together had the calabration set wrong. I put 15,000 sq feet of fertilizer in the hopper. It was all gone after two paths down my lawn. It was set at 4 but the hopper wasn’t set up right. After he fixed that I tried again. The lever for turning it on or off doesn’t stay towards the on Section. It moves my itself closer to off causing less coverage. Will purchase a bungee cord to secure better and recheck tightness on bolts. I’m not sure now if I like this model. Guess I’ll know if my lawn burns up or I get missed streaking.

Disappointed with the poor manufacturing and performance of this spreader. I’ve had several Agri-fab broadcast spreaders - all good. This one had sharp edges to the metal frame that you have to assemble, resulting in several cut knuckles. I persisted and used the device once. It appeared to work on and off, no subtle adjustment at all. I checked the fastening around the volume lever and all was well but the joint is so vague that there is no way it can give such minute adjustments, the flap is either open or not. I also had to hold the lever open whilst I tried to spread the feed as the lever kept creeping towards 0. I can not recommend this product, it is very expensive for the quality and performance.