Agri-Fab Tow-Behind Broadcast Spreader - 85-Lb. Capacity, Model Number 45-0530

I have no clue what everyone is talking about with plastic and bad gears/levers/parts! Maybe they’ve listened to the customers from 2017 and 2018 and made a better version? The drive which controls the fan rotation and the lever that sets the opening are metal. The covering over the metal parts is plastic to protect it from the elements. There doesn’t appear to be a way to attach pictures from the mobile otherwise I’d show you it is NOT plastic! Most of the wear and tear parts are metal with the exception of the hopper, inflatable wheels, and the little fan that distributes the product from the hopper. The drive which determines how fast the little fan spins to distribute the product, rotates based on the speed you are going. This is hooked to the same metal bar that rotates the wheels and then to the part that rotates the fan. The best features are with the lever that controls the amount of product used. First there is an OFF! Most you just close or set to the lowest number and they don’t always STOP! Second, it is easy to reach from the tractor seat! I don’t have to get off the mower, yippeee! What I didn’t like is that there isn’t a cover that comes with it. Yes you can spend 18 more bucks but it is not a cover it’s a grate. With no axial if you turn too sharp it tips over grate or not you just dumped your product! I ended up finding a drawstring bag and using that for a lid, works great! This lid issue is why it didn’t get 5-stars!I’m sure that I’m not using all the proper names because I’m not a mechanic, but hopefully this is a non-techie view. The machine operates exceptionally well, and I can easily compare it to the ones costing $250 dollars. The mechanisms are all built the same with the exception of the hopper and the fan which distributes the production; in the $250 spreader these are metal. However, both still only spread 4’. If you spend more $400, you can get a spreader with an axial; this doesn’t have one so don’t make sharp turns or it will tip over! The wheels on this are big and far better than the $250 one I had!I highly recommend this! I have almost 3 acres and was spending nearly $700 each application of weed and feed, now with this $70 item I can do it for under $200 for each application. It’s a great value and as you can see from the savings, even if it lasts one season I’ll still save 4 times the money!Assembly took about 15 minutes. The instructions are just pictures and take a bit of guess work and assumptions to comprehend what they are trying to show. If you’ve never seen or used a spreader, it could become a frustrating experience and take you an hour or so! Frankly, I don’t understand why they can’t just put it together with the exception of the hitch because the box has plenty of room; it would increase their customer experience 10 times!Hope this helps!

On-off lever not easy to use and made very cheap. They need to come up with a better control, close to driver. I will redirected mine to make more user friendly

I ordered my spreader on Wednesday and it was delivered on Friday. Was very easy to assemble and is well built. I recommend this seller

This would be a great spreader. Except for the most important part, the control lever, it's sturdy, easy to assemble, easy to use, and it's got a 3 year warranty. One would think that the manufacturer would put as much into the most critical part, the control lever mechanism, as it does into the rest of the product.The control lever mechanism (lever mechanism and strength of cable to the hopper) is inferior; it doesn't work and it's of very poor quality and cheaply made. It cannot handle the force necessary to open the release door with even 25 lbs of material in the hopper.I set the plastic Adjustable Stop (which itself is a fragile little bit of plastic, with no instructions on how to use it), to 3.5. While moving, as instructed, I turned around and and tried to move the lever to the Adjustable Stop. But the door just wouldn't open. I had to stop, move the Adjustable Stop all the way to maximum, then start moving, to be able to apply the force necessary to open the door. This happened repeatedly, and caused massive amounts of material to fall out and be wasted, and immediately I had to move the lever to approximately 3, but since I was moving, I couldn't be sure what the setting was.Too bad they equip this spreader with such a cheap lever mechanism.FOLLOW UP (4-2023)I bought Chapin 8622B. Everything about the Chapin 8622B tow spreader is *significantly* superior to the Agri-Fab 45-0530. It’s like comparing a Yugo to a BMW. The Chapin is solid as a rock; really heavy duty constriction, made to last. It’s farm grade. When unpackaging, I examined the parts closely with glee. I kept hearing my Dad’s voice in my head saying, “You get what you paid for.” Yep. The frame, wheels, tub, and above all the two most critical parts -- the mechanism to adjust the volume, and the gearing mechanism -- are pro or farm grade construction. See the product image showing the cast metal gears; the gear housing even has a nipple to add grease. That seems like a small thing, but it's not. It an indication of quality engineering and design to last, not "planned obsolescence" as with so many throw-away products these days.Quite conveniently, it was nearly all assembled out of the box, also unlike the Agri-Fab. With the Chapin, I only had to assemble the tow assembly. It took 15 min. A customer wrote a review in April, 2023 complaining about the assembly difficulty. That certainly wasn’t my experience. A photo from a different reviewer, Doug, from June 5, 2019, shows how few parts there are to put together. If someone can’t figure that out, they probably have difficulty installing a light bulb. I agree with the rest of Doug's review too. Even the bolts and little parts come neatly packaged and labeled, not jumbled willy-nilly in a plastic bag, as his picture shows.I’ve used it twice on a 5000 sq ft lawn area and it works perfectly. When you stop, the flow of material automatically stops. To be sure, you have to get off to make adjustments to the flow if needed. And you have to set it to zero if you want to drive without material being spread. But I’m OK with that. The Agri-Fab does allow one to remain seated and try (TRY!) to make adjustments, but the Agri-Fab’s control mechanism is such a cheap piece of junk that doesn't work as intended. You see how cheap the Agri-Fab is just from looking at it. It isn’t worth it.The Chapin also comes with a cover for the tub (nice!) AND notice the shape of the tub itself. Another example of clever attention to engineering detail. It’s not rectangular; it has a pointed middle so that you can just tip it over and pour out any remaining content into a box or bag. Love It. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

Not the best quality but does the job. I found it to be a very simplistic design that could use some improvements. The shoot on the bottom that allows the seed or fert to be distributed down to the disk at the bottom is not the best quality. The weight of whatever you are spreading seems to prevent the door from opening easily and I find that it's either open or closed and there is no real simple way to dial it in like there is in walk behind fertilizers. Also when you stop moving it still pours out all over the place and leaves piles in the yard. I find it hard to use when I am pulling it behind my tractor because I have to constantly make sure I am closing it when I slow down etc... It's ok quality, but I would maybe recommend you look at other models to find one that works a bit better.pros:Simple designEasy to assembleSpreads seed and fert well when you are movingConsDoes not adjust well to the opening when trying to get the amount of flow correctcheap construction of the gears and mechanismsYou have to stop the flow of the product or it will pour out too fast.

Well made with good material. Works very well. Assembly instructions not well written and somewhat confusing as to which is front, rear, left or right. Not a show stopper but extra time is required to assemble.

I used this for spreading salt on icey parking lots in winter. It worked well being towed by lawn tractor. It spread evenly for a long way. However, the plastic housing on the gearbox broke. I did glue and screw it together but the plastic gears had stripped rendering it useless. I returned it and was refunded on my purchase.

Very impressed with this product, quick delivery, easy to read instructions and very easy to put together, did a lovely job spreading fertiliser (4 x 20kg bags ) over an acre paddock just used my ride on lawnmower and it worked perfectly. 1 x 20kg bag fitted in the hopper nicely.

Assembly instructions were ok but needed some interpretation. If you’re not a handy person, the assembly might not be for you. The control lever for the chute mounts too close for the cable to action well and I left the bolt out on mine and just hung it up with a zip tie. A longer bar to mount this would fix the issue. Once I hooked it up to the mower, it did a great job of spreading 20kg of lawn feed. I’d buy it again.

So this 85 pound capacity spread only holds 42 pounds of fertilizer. The flow control is poor at best and it's not well made. I have a zero turn and the control cable needs to be longer. (It's about 2 feet long) need at least 7 or 8 feet to be able to use it while in motion. Have to find a "safe" place (like a non grass area) to start the flow and then get on tractor and go but if you stop before the hopper is empty you cat a large pile that runs out before you can get to the control. Agri-fab really needs to have an option longer cable for the control or get a better design. After 1 use not impressed as it is not user friendly for controlling the flow. Pretty useless at the end of the day... so I returned it

Worked well and completed the job, only thing is it is light, so on bumpy ground have to go slower, wouldn’t let this put you off buying as for the price on this it’s great.