Agri-Fab 45-0288 175 lb. Tow-Behind Lawn & Garden Drop Spreader for Seed,Fertilizer, Salt, Ice Melt; Designed to Pull Behind Lawn & Garden Tractors

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.

Assembly instructions OK but make sure you do a parts count first and then follow instructions exactly- tightening nuts too soon may make it difficult to fit other pieces later. I came up short one hopper brace, probably because the shipping box was flimsy and the part just slipped out. Operates just fine, though on/off handle can be difficult to reach, and if you start the flow before putting your tractor in motion it will dump excess whatever it is you're spreading in one place, which might kill the grass. So it's a bit of a contortion act. Hopper will not empty completely if hitch position is low because material will slide toward the front of the hopper and not reach the dispensing slot. I have contacted the vendor about getting a replacement brace, we'll see how that goes. All that being said, it can put down more in an hour than a smaller spreader can do in a day. I can also use it to salt my driveway in winter, so that's double-duty for me.

BEST SPREEDER ON THE MARKET--TOOK AWHILE TO ASSEMBLE, BUT WORTH IT.

BOTTOM LINE: A basic, relatively easy-to-put together pull behind broadcast spreader (made in the USA!). It easily holds the stated weight of whatever you're putting on your lawn, (though 130lbs will fill the hopper right to the very brim!). My tractor pulled it across flat lawns, some bumpy spots and a few low-graded side hills with no problems whatsoever. The fit & finish were very good, although there were a couple of tiny spots where the paint was scuffed. (But this is a fairly inexpensive basic lawn tool, not a pricey hotrod, so a flawless flashy paint job was not high on my priority list.) Speaking of which... some online photos make the frame color sort of look like a metallic copper orange. It's not. It's just plain orange, a little on the reddish side. THOUGHTS: I tried to save money and bought a pull behind broadcast spreader years ago thru Sportsman's Guide. It lasted exactly three uses before falling apart! I got exactly what I paid for. *SIGH* I was a little nervous about buying this Agri-Fab unit as I've read a few bad reviews from owners here and elsewhere. The majority of reviews, however, were positive - plus I still have an Agri-Fab aerating drop spreader that's well over 15yrs old and still holding up. The 45-0463 unit came well packaged in a fairly sturdy box. It was a LOT lighter than I thought it would be. The thing is tightly packed and will take a few minutes to unload. Do yourself a favor and have a large, clutter-free workspace to put this thing together in if you can! Make certain all the listed parts are there first, and read the entire assembly instruction booklet *before* starting. The instructions aren't as detailed as I would've preferred, but I was able to figure it out. (There's also an online video from Agri-Fab, to help make the job easier for those who are less mechanically inclined.) I took my time and was able to tinker it together in less than two hours. A basic socket set will greatly speed the assembly process! Above all: BE PATIENT! A lot of the issues other customers reported would seem to be more from rushing thru things without proper preparation or not following the instructions properly, IMHO. (Like NOT tightening all the hardware until you're instructed to do so!) If something is missing, call Agri-Fab. I had one bolt missing from the vacuum-sealed parts bag. Thankfully I was able to find a suitable replacement in my misc nut & bolts stash. The assembled unit looks pretty nice, hooks up easily and pulled with zero problems. (A hitch pin w/cotter securing pin comes with the spreader.) The adjustable discharge control unit is a very basic "set it & forget it" affair. I found that a setting right around 4 to 5 did a nicet job of spreading the recommended amount of product. I have a little over nine acres and first put down insecticide to keep fleas & ticks off our dog for the summer, then laid down a good coat of weed & feed right around the house to green up a few thin spots and wipe out the encroaching dandelions. Both products spread nicely; both the fine powdery insecticide AND the coarse grainy weed & feed - with no clumping or binding of the gear box, even with a full (heaping) load on the weed & feed. BTW... the gearbox is enclosed in a heavy black plastic housing, but the housing is held together, clamshell style, with three cotter-style pins for quick easy disassembly & cleaning/lubrication. It should also make replacement of any worn gear drive parts a breeze as well. Be aware that the broadcast spinner works whether going forward or backwards (it just changes direction), but that did not present any functionality issues when I did. Also, if you come to a stop and don't close the trap door beneath the hopper, whatever's in there will continue to trickle (or pour, depending on the setting) onto the spinner plate - potentially giving you an unintentionally huge overdose of chemical when you take off again, if you aren't paying attention. And some commonsense advice: rinse off your spreader after *every* use! That'll go a long way towards making it last a lot longer, plus the painted parts won't rust/corrode/deteriorate as quickly. No, this Agri-Fab model 45-05463 isn't the world's greatest spreader but for the price it seems to be a solid bargain. In fact, my only real gripe is that the accessories that Agri-Fab sells for this unit, (hopper cover, grate kit & deflector shield), should've been included with it. Oh well. One last thing: the unit is light enough to lift and hang up out of the way on a nail or hook on the wall of your storage shed or garage at the end of the season. Nice.

I, like so many other reviewers, had the issue where the gears would stick or bind, causing the tire to stop rotating. Assembly was a nightmare because the only thing that comes pre-assembled is the main gear, axle, and drive shaft. Everything else has to be done by the buyer. Unfortunately, after troubleshooting for two hours and reassembling the entire thing three times, I noticed at the very end that the main drive was assembled incorrectly. That means that the only thing that the factory assembled themselves, they did it incorrectly. The first issue I noticed was that the wide black spacer for one side of the tires did not fit at all. I needed another half an inch or more of space to fit the spacer. But without the spacer, the second tire did fit the assembly, so we put the tire on without the spacer. Unfortunately, the gear would get stuck every once in a while while rotating. If I used it in this manner, it would lead to the issues that other reviewers are seeing, where the retaining piece of plastic would break or melt if it got stuck while going 4 mph on a tractor. That's when I noticed that in the picture, the drive wheel was on the opposite side of where I mounted it, so I had to turn the drive shaft 180 degrees. This change corrected the first issue I had run into, and now I could get that wide black spacer on both wheels. However, when I tightened the bolts on the frame, the axel leading to the auger became crooked, binding the axle in the frame. This was the enlightening moment. If the wheels were on the first way I mounted it, the axle leading up to the auger was off-center by half an inch and it caused too much friction in the frame and stopped the wheels from turning once in a while. But if I rotated the whole drive shaft to match the tires to the assembly picture, then the axel would be offset even more, by an entire inch, and the tire would not rotate at all. That's when I noticed that the gear was on the wrong side of the pre-assembled drive shaft. In the picture, both the drive wheel and the axel are on the same side, and the gear is on the opposite side. The proper assembly at the factory would allow the axel to be aligned straight in the center of the frame and auger, but with the gear that's half an inch wide sitting on the wrong side, the axel will always be off-center no matter which way you orient the drive shaft to the frame. The gear is held in by a tension pin, and even at the factory they only drove it through the shaft about 20 percent of the way. The pin is stuck in there and I couldn't get it to budge with a plier, so I can see why they gave up on pushing it through at the factory. At this point, I didn't want to bother trying to hammer out the friction pin to move the gear to the other side of the drive shaft, so I initiated a return.

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.

Let me tell you about the Agri-Fab 45-0463 130 lb. Tow-Behind Broadcast Spreader! This bad boy is a game-changer for anyone looking to tackle their lawn and garden with ease. Picture this: sitting on your riding mower, cruising around your yard, and effortlessly spreading seeds, fertilizer, salt, or ice melt with just a flick of a switch. It's like magic, I tell you! 🪄✨One of the best things about this spreader is the convenient flow control right from the seat of your mower. No need to stop and start, no hassle, just smooth sailing all the way. With a generous capacity of 130 lbs, you can cover a lot of ground without constantly refilling. It's durable, reliable, and seriously simplifies your outdoor tasks.The only tiny drawback I've noticed is that assembly can be a bit tricky at first, but once you get the hang of it, you're good to go. Trust me, this spreader will level up your gardening game like nobody's business! 🌱👩‍🌾

So I just received my Agrifab 130-pound tow-behind spreader and there is a flaw in the parts packages. Part L is a spacer for the wheels--probably the single simplest "construction" of the entire package. The spacer is metal and is supposed to be 5/8" interior diameter to fit on the 5/8" axle, but it isn't. There is no possibility for the L spacers (2 of them) to actually fit on the axle. AGRIFAB, ARE YOU LISTENING? Everything else was actually perfect. I was prepped because so many reviews warned about how tricky and difficult the assembly was. It actually wasn't, although one must go step by step pretty carefully. But YOU SENT THE WRONG SPACERS, AGRIFAB. These L spacers are for a smaller diameter axle - got it? I haven't used it yet at all. It seems pretty sturdy, even though it isn't fully assembled yet. I will have to go to my hardware store with the faulty spacers and find something that might work. Shouldn't be too hard, maybe just a nut of 5/8" diameter the same width as the faulty L spacers. Fortunately, I'm doing this in mid-winter and not for a project I must get done tomorrow. THIS IS A STUPID PACKAGING ERROR. AGRIFAB, YOU NEED TO CORRECT THIS. Everything else in the packaging was perfect UPDATE: I was able to obtain spacers from my hardware store that worked. But then I learned ALL ABOUT the angry folks who complain of a wheel dragging and not turning, nothing really working after assembly, BECAUSE IT'S JUST AS EASY TO ATTACH THE HOPPER WRONG AS IT IS RIGHT. When you are supposed to attach the hopper (Step 8) to all the cross braces, for the 130-lb. unit you have to use the holes that are "highest" on the support tubes (parts 5 and 6). It's just as easy to attach the hopper to the other, lower holes, but then the hopper and impeller can't work at all because they are too LOW and block the impeller movement, which locks up the wheel as well. You also can't make the control bracket that opens and closes the hopper feeder work at all. I kept going back, step by step, undoing and redoing things until I actually looked at the support braces and saw additional holes higher up. Decided to try THAT, and it wasn't too terribly hard to move the hopper, actually. As soon as I had the hopper attached at the higher holes, everything fell right into place. But it is waaayyyy too easy to do it wrong, and the instructions do not make clear at all that you must choose the higher holes for the 130-lb. hopper. It's there, but only if you really look for it--not brought to your attention in any way. So, AGRIFAB ARE YOU LISTENING? GIVE PEOPLE A CLUE!!!!! POINT OUT FOR THE 130-LB. HOPPER THAT THE BOLTS MUST GO THROUGH THE HIGHER/UPPER HOLES IN THE SUPPORT TUBES. YOU WILL HAVE A LOT FEWER RETURNS AND UNHAPPY CUSTOMERS IF YOU PROVIDE THE CORRECT SPACERS AND A WARNING AND DIRECTIONS ABOUT WHICH HOLES TO USE. My unit looks and feels like it will work the way it's supposed to. It's sturdy, simply, and free-moving. And because I put it together myself, I can fix it if something is needed. Hope this is helpful to people who have the "wheel lock" problem.