Fertilizer Spreader

[Brian123]

My Dad has 1 of those spreaders you attach to the rear of a Riding Mower. It spins fine in reverse, but going foward it barely spins. So I tried spraying around the plastic gearbox, and I got it to spin but with some noise. I drove around the yard and the spreader spinned, but once I added fertillizer it barely spun. I took the spreader in the garage and did what I could with some WD40 but it still makes a crunching sound going foward.

Is there a fix for this or do I just get a new spreader? I am almost thinking that something is probably stripped, the Gear Box looks like it is all plastic.

 

[Lubener]

Some cheap fertilizers are very course and can cause the problem you exhibit. You might try increasing the setting some and see if that helps..

 

[Tdbo]

I have two older ones that I cannot find a replacement for because the handles on them are the perfect length (I'm 6'4") and all the newer ones that I have looked at have short handles which force me to lean over to use, exacerbating my back issues.
Even the one that I have for my tractor (I use less frequently) does as well.
Every year, I get them out and liberally flood the guts with penetrating spray and spin the wheels until they smooth out.
They always do. In my experience, I have concluded that dust, residual product, etc get in the gears and cake things up.
Generally takes a while, but they always smooth out and function well.

 

[mrsilv04]

I just bought a new fertilizer spreader this morning.... LOL.

Everything is wrong with my old one. Two flat tires, the on/off spreader control is broken, and the gearbox slips if I put too much fertilizer in it. I bought it probably around 15 years ago, and the parts to fix it (even if I could find them) would very likely exceed the cost of the new one.

So many of the new ones that are $50 -$60 are literally throw aways. This one should last at least several years.

https://www.menards.com/main/outdoo...preader/ct0071-85/p-1536733783028-c-13262.htm

 

[Barkleymut]

a push spreader will be 1000x more precise when spreading fertilizer. And with at least a 6 ft swath it really doesn't take long to push it around the yard.

 

[wpod]

I have an Earthway spreader that has worked for the past 20 years. Quality lasts.

 

[Brian123]

a push spreader will be 1000x more precise when spreading fertilizer. And with at least a 6 ft swath it really doesn't take long to push it around the yard.

Being that my Dad is 81 years old and he has a 1 acre property a Push Spreader is out of the question. He went ahead and got another spreader where he can take the screws off the Gearbox and clean it out if need be.

 

[John Galt]

Buy a cow? Grass in, fertilizer out and they move on their own and don’t need oiling. Whats not to love.

 

[Hermann]

Methane