Spreaders

Buckeyeman · Dec 5, 2006

Does anyone make a heavy duty plastic or some type of poly material spreader for a 3 point hook-up to spread salt and fertilizer that won't rust?

lawn_king · Dec 5, 2006

There are plastic hopper pto spreaders, google 3 point pto spreaders & you will find them.

Bob_Skurka · Dec 5, 2006

Buckeyeman said:
. . . that won't rust?

The problem you will find is that the spinner and the mechanisms will still rust. I have a HERD M96 that has a galvanized hopper and THICK solid cast metal spinner/gears that has held up very very well. There are some brands that have stainless steel spinners and parts under a plastic hopper, I can't recall the names of any of them.

At one time I had an AgriFab unit. I gave it away. The guy who took it got a really bad deal. I'll never buy another AgriFab implement again.

lawn_king · Dec 5, 2006

For what it's worth, fertilizing being our primary business, the steele sitrex pto spreaders are great, simple to service,easy to adjust and they last. We fertilize cemeterys,athletic feilds and commercial propertys, and the kubota/sitrex set up is sweet!

Glowplug · Dec 5, 2006

Herd spreaders seem to be the "gold standard". I would like to get the 1200 some day to re-seed and fertilize 16 acres couple times a year.

Check out: HerdSeeders

Agri-Fab spreaders are total junk.

You may want to try posting this question on the "Attachments" forum.

Buckeyeman · Dec 7, 2006

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

Dusty · Dec 9, 2006

lawn_king said:
For what it's worth, fertilizing being our primary business, the steele sitrex pto spreaders are great, simple to service,easy to adjust and they last. We fertilize cemeterys,athletic feilds and commercial propertys, and the kubota/sitrex set up is sweet!

I guess that we have opposing views on the Sitrex. I have one that I used for 3 years and this past summer, it just fell apart at the spinner section. The rust got under the powder coating and the metal just rusted away. I replaced it with a Hurd spreader. I believe that the Sitrex might have faired better if it were painted.
Dusty

thcri · Dec 10, 2006

I have the Herd M96 now for three years and love it. Has not failed me one bit.

murph

rvaitor · Dec 11, 2006

thcri said:
I have the Herd M96 now for three years and love it. Has not failed me one bit.

murph

I have a very old one of these I was considering reconditioning or seeing if it will work. What do you use yours for? This seems to be a fairly narrow hopper vs the wide ones that are fairly common - why is this?

Thanks for your help.

lawn_king · Dec 12, 2006

Dusty said:
I guess that we have opposing views on the Sitrex. I have one that I used for 3 years and this past summer, it just fell apart at the spinner section. The rust got under the powder coating and the metal just rusted away. I replaced it with a Hurd spreader. I believe that the Sitrex might have faired better if it were painted.
Dusty

I wash down my spreader after each use and coat it with oil. I spray paint them with a very expensive galvi paint when new. Very happy with sitrex, very unhappy with the landpride, junk in one season!

Buckeyeman · Dec 19, 2006

I found a spreader that is made of polyester/nylon with a stainless steel spinner (Vicon) Our Products - Broadcasters
I e-mailed the company to find a dealer in my area. I'll let you know what I find out.

Bob_Skurka · Dec 19, 2006

Vicon is supposed to be good stuff, but their smallest unit might be too large for your 3 acre property. Their little spreader has a 400# capacity hopper? Do you need that much capacity?

Dusty · Dec 19, 2006

I purchased the Hurd spreader, and when I called the manufacturer about a minor issue, I also asked about cleaning. They said not to wash it down, but to just blow out any residue of fertilizer.

lawn_king · Dec 19, 2006

Vicon makes quality spreaders. I was raised on brodcast spreaders and am more comfortable operating them, vicons are pendulum machines. With some products such as merit grub control in excess of $40. per bag, you have to be accurate on application rates or you can loose lots of money real fast!

inseeme · Dec 21, 2006

I washed my sitrex down after every use and only got 2 seasons out of it, not very happy with that. The slide rusted together and you could not open it. is it better to wash them down or just blow the out as suggested in a post here????

lawn_king · Dec 21, 2006

I wash down with water and go at it with oil. Im getting many miles out of my sitrex machines, commercial use! Fertilizer and metal are always at war. Stainless is the way to go on fertilizing equipment if you can afford it!

Dusty · Dec 21, 2006

I washed my Sitrex after every use and blew it dry with compressed air. Oiled it after wards. The rust crept under the powder coat and ruined it. It can be fixed, but I don't have the patience to work on rusty equipment. My slide also rusted shut, but I used my 5# persuader to free it. Now, that is the only part that still works. If it were painted, it wouldn't have rusted as bad. Powder coat is like sealing the metal in plastic. Once it gets under the powder coat, it is junk shortly thereafter.
Dusty

inseeme · Jan 2, 2007

Dealer price me a herd model 750 for $950.00 is this a good price? does anyone have one? Thanks

lawn_king · Jan 3, 2007

If your willing to spend that much money on a spreader, buy the vicon and rotting will never be an issue.

Buckeyeman · Jan 3, 2007

The Vicon Model #203 came back at around $2K, way more than what I want to spend. I did find a company called Gandy that makes a pull behind spreader with a plastic hopper and stainless steel spinner for about $252 that I'm going to check into. It probably will be too small for my application of 3 acres.

Gandy Direct: Gandy Products: Broadcast Spreader