Spreader Broadcast spreader deal fell thru whats the best

[Bob_Skurka]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Well my tractor salesmans dad had already given away his spreader so I'm back in the market. My Kubota dealer stocks Fuerst but in our area I have easy access to other spreaders they all are the standard painted metal type funnels the spreaders I've seen for sale around here are Fuerst, Frontier, Modern, AgMeier and the TSC red ones. Does anyone have any reccomendations on which are made the best and the least trouble to maintain/longest lasting. My plan is to use it to spread food plot seed and fertilizer all at once. They are all less then $500 with TSC being the cheapest at $395.
Steve )</font>

For what it is worth, I have a Herd M96 Seeder and love it. First, it is one of the very few American made products. Second the bottom of the unit is heavy cast steel that will not easily rust through (it's probabaly over a 3/8" thick?). The hopper assembly is galvanized steel. All the components are heavier built than other brands I've seen. I've only had my unit for 1 season so I can't say for certain it will last forever, but compared to the imported units it sure looks like a much better unit. I don't recall the exact price but I believe mine was about $415.

 

[stevenf]

Bob, MarkV had an important point and that is how well does your Herd96 do the finer seed a lot of my use will be in the fine stuff like wheat and oat seed size. I have looked for another Herd as I think they have a superior unit when it comes to rust and corrosion resistance. The Befco responder has been PMing me and he seems like an honest guy I've given him my cell # and he's finding a dealer I can deal with local for his spreader I have a local bunch that carry them but I'm avoiding them due to past experience.
Steve

 

[kingoflawns]

I am in the fertilizing business (lawn) and have been very pleased with the sitrex spreaders,simple to calibrate and operate and they last!

 

[stevenf]

I've got a dealer that has a sitrex chisel plow but I've never seen any of the sitrex broadcast spreaders. I'd imagine since the general consensus is many broadcast spreaders are from the company in Italy and just relabeled for the distributors that the Sitrex is as well the same. I finally heard back from a dealer about the M96 Herd spreader they want $463. + shipping guaranteed to be under a $100 but that makes them about $100 more then the rest around here so I may just go with the Fuerst that my Kubota dealer sells as he has them in stock and sells implements to me at a discount since I've already spent over 50K with him on the original equipment purchase. He's hoping to live long enough for me to wear this one out because so far I'd go right back to him and buy another one just like it.
Steve

 

[cp1969]

The Herd M96 is a good spreader and can spread as little as 2 lb of seed per acre, IIRC.

But it is way too small for a 90hp tractor.

 

[MMM]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( the finer seed a lot of my use will be in the fine stuff like wheat and oat seed size )</font>

Wheat and oats are quite large and shouldn't be a problem. Clover, some grasses, chickory and mustard can be difficult. I mix small seed with screened sand (PlaySand).

 

[greg_g]

If I had to do it all over again, I'd have gotten that Baltic 80 instead of this farm store Italian model. If you like light duty and side drop, it's ok. But if I ever find somebody to buy it, I'm going back to Southern States for the Baltic. I like the idea of expansion rings, and especially like the bottom drop and stainless steel.

//greg//

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Matt, I was looking at the TURBO-HOP 303 but your website is lacking pictures. What type of metering system does it have and if possible can you take a picture of it along with a pic of inside the tub. I did not know Befco made this style of spreaders and hopefully they will be comparable to Vicon but not in price.

 

[easyrider]

Robert,

I'm out in Missouri right now but as soon as I can I'll get some pics up for you.

http://www.befco.com/products/hop/turbohop303.html

That's the only picture of the pendulums on the website. The metering system is similar to other spreaders. You have a calibration chart and a gate valve to let material through. I'll try and get somebody back at the factory to log on and put some pics up.

As far as price, pendulums are ALOT more expensive than spin spreaders. However, they are 100 times more accurate and can spread more than spins. Ours should be in line with the Vicon. Which model Vicon are you looking at and I'll do a comparison for you.