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

Quality components in an effective design. I purchased this to spread from behind my zero turn mower. It fits the bill perfectly. The rubber tubed wheels appear more sturdy than plastic. Installation was sort of a pain, but the instructions are accurate. Assemblers will need two 7/16" ratchet drivers, or one and a 7/16" wrench. Also need needle nose pliers to spread the cotter pins. I needed needle nose vice grips to hold the tire tube inflation valve in place to air up the tires. Seems like good value for the price.

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.

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.

Instructions are a little vague. But if you take your time it will go together with no problem! They need to do a little better job on packing the spreader. Everything is just kinda tossed in the hopper and the paint on the pipe pieces was scratched up and the metal put some digs in the plastic hopper. Spreader still works fine, I just think things that are new should look new! All in all a good product for the price!

Ease of assembly was a plus, the discharge gate adjuster is weak, mine broke from the adjustment handle in 2 uses and only had the item a month. It worked great, when it was working. The cable is looped somewhat to open and close the feeding gate and just puts too much stress on the plastic parts inside. What I will say, once I contacted customer service, they promptly sent me the repair parts, so that is worth a star.

Much of this unit is okay in that the metal parts are powder-coated, and the wheels are solid. However, the biggest issue is the opening gate that allows feed to fall through the hopper—it’s both poorly designed and poorly constructed. First off, assembly took far too long due to a frustrating and unclear instruction manual. In the age of AI, poor manuals should be a thing of the past. Secondly, the gate and adjustment handle are extremely poor. Both the gate and the part it slides within are plastic. This could be okay but the gate does not slide smoothly within its track. This makes opening and closing the gate extremely difficult. To make matters worse, the wire mechanism that connects the handle to the gate bends easily. When pressure is applied to the handle, the wire flexes instead of moving the gate, which means the gate only opens about 1/8 of an inch. Overall, this design flaw makes the feeder nearly unusable. Look for a model with a better gate mechanism—this one is very poorly engineered. I’ll be taking it apart and sending it back.

Easy to assemble light weight perfect for spreading cedar in your yard and fits perfectly behind your lawnmower. Very durable and great value for your money

Assembly instructions poor. One of the bolt installations requires you to bend close to the breaking point, the spinner plastic piece. Mine also had a crack in the bottom of the tub. Irritating but not enough to disassemble, repack and return. Also, the wire mechanism is very wimpy and barely closes and opens the little plastic door. The molded plastic is too tight for it to slide easily. Overall, this will work for a once or twice a year use, but it is a real piece of junk when it comes to the actual build quality. Would not purchase again.

Did not include hitch plates to bolt to end of draw bar. Feed adjustment poor quality and accuracy. No info on spreadersettings for specific materials

poor quality especially for over $200. plus parts are missing from the gear assembly says it will hold 85 lbs it might but with regular use the spreader will fall apart.

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.

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 .

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!