Agri-Fab 45-0530-131, 85 lb. Tow Broadcast Spreader,Black/Orange

These people have no engineering skills whatsoever. Simple parts are made incredibly difficult, there are no instructions, just tiny pics showing numerous things attached at once. Save your money !!! This is the second crappy product from this company. A total useless piece of junk.

Price was right, assembly wasn't awful, though the it was clear from the get go that the feeder control was WEAK. What was not obvious was how bad the gearbox was. The drive from my garage to my field is three minutes tops, though it is a bit bumpy (the field is bumpier, it's a field after all). Before I actually got to the field the gearbox housing fell off.Sadly, I did not notice that since I was struggling to open the bottom feeder to allow seeds out. The ad claims this thing will work with 85 lbs of material. That may be true if the feed port is opened before putting material in the hopper, but I had about 2 lbs seeds (just a bit from a 5lb bag) mixed with about 10 lbs of sand. The feed control would not open the port. I fussed with it until seeds could come out and took off rolling. Sadly, without the gearbox housing, the gears didn't touch and the spreader didn't spread anything. Realizing there was a problem, I hand sowed the seeds around my plot then dragged the damn thing back to the garage. On the way back I found he housing.After bit more fussing around with the damned thing, I got the weak (OMG WEAK) housing reattached and was able to demonstrate that the spreader would spin. Sadly, that was while the hopper was EMPTY. Once a bit more seed and a bit more sand was in the hopper the gear just ground and the spreader didn't spin. Once again, I hand sowed the seeds and sand.In a last ditch bout of optimism, I put the remainder of the 5lb bag of seeds in the hopper, without sand, and tried it again. The damned thing couldn't even work with that little weight.Buying this thing was a mistake.

Expect to spend 60 to 90 minutes assembling this spreader. Use the videos available on Youtube. I found that I also had to refer to the written instructions at times. The control mechanism was poorly designed. There is a plastic piece that is used as a stop, but it is easily moved with pressure from the lever used to open the release door. So if you are opening and closing the door while riding on your mower the stop may move. I bought a C clamp and use that as a stop. Spreading appeared to be even.

BROADCAST WAS KIND OF HARD TO ASSEMBLE. BUT WITH YOU TUBE I GOT IT DONE. SERIOUSLY WATCH AND USE THE YOU TUBE VIDEO.

First I’m a mechanic of thirty plus years. I found putting this spreader together to be challenging but not hard. It maybe hard for people that are not experienced on building things. Second the way that the spreader chute is designed is garbage. It’s molded plastic that doesn’t fit quite right and with the cheap cable adjuster you will find yourself going under the spreader on your knees to close the chute or make adjustments. The last thing I want to mention is the drive gear set up. The differential mechanism requires a lot of energy to rotate. This causes the one drive wheel to sometimes not spin. When working on a driveway covered in snow or ice this is problematic. To the spreaders credit this did improve with use. This is why I gave this three stars. It does function but there is no adjusting the chute. If it lasts a year I’ll be happy. I will buy a more expensive one next time. You get what you pay for

Received yesterday as a replacement for an earthway spreader that we purchased locally. Husband hit a root and bent one of the bars. There was no fixing it. That spreader was almost 300 dollars worked ok but cheaply made. The reviews on this spreader were good similar capacity and at 119 dollars, I took a chance. Husband put it together in about 1.5 hours using the picture instructions. All the parts were included and he kept commenting about how much better the parts were compared to the one we bought last year. He plans to spread fertilizer today and if it doesn’t deserve a 5 star review I will update. But so far it’s a win!

Disappointed with Agri-Fab as i don't think this is their first try at making a spreader.1. Shaft matches drawing, outside holes for cotter pins are off set as shown. But you can't put it together without drilling a matching hole 1/4" from the opposing end.2. Missing 2 bolts, 3 washers, and 2 nuts.3. Cotter pins are too small. No way they will last long.4. The cable is a bout 2 to 3" too long. It is so bound up, the lever can barely overcome the sliding door.5. The sliding door is made from a worn out mold. You need a razor to de-flash to the part so it will slide.6. And finally, that same door doesn't cover the entire hole when closed. There are gaps where the seed or fertilizer will fall while you are sitting still .If you can afford better- get it. If you plan to use this once or twice, then I think that is the target audience they are shooting for. Sell it for $40 bucks and I would buy it again.

Nice well-built spreader but cover did not some with shipment. Please send my cover

Bought this to fertilize and spread seed on 2.5 acres. Took me 11/2 hours to put together. No biggie. Spread 60 lbs of fertilizer no issues worked great. Tried to spread pelletized lime next and could not get the spreader gauge to work. Had to open it from underneath by hand. Will only close. Piece of junk!

Let me start by saying, I order a lot from amazon.. for like 10 years. and this is by far the worst quality, missing parts (highlighted in blue), worst packaging (non existing) not the rights colors ... item, I have ever received. How they are able to send something like this out is beyond me.. I mean wow.. no words. Anyways.. do not recommend, order at your own risk.

This was a reconditioned product, supposedly good as new. Very hard to assemble. Once put together it become obvious the lever that adjusts the spreader was poor quality and stripped, no doubt the reason it was returned in the first place. Mail office would not accept for shipping.

The cable on the feed adjuster is too long , causing bends in cable that make it work too tightly and bend at control lever . Cable should be about 6" shorter and should be lubed when assembled . Other than that it went together OK .

They obviously sent me a used unit as a brand new one. Two of the cotter pins are bent so you can tell they were installed before and also there is a bolt and nut missing. The system was easy to assemble, but I would appreciate it if the manufacturer could at least verify all the parts are there before they shipped out a used unit.