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About This Project
Maintaining an attractive lawn takes not only lots of hard work, knowledge, timing and good weather but also the precise (and seemingly endless) application of the proper seed, soil builder and chemicals. Each product you apply requires a different spread rate. Too much is wasteful and could kill your lawn; too little won’t do the job.
A good spreader can apply just the right amount of product. The key is to choose a model that has an adjustable spread rate setting to deliver the product uniformly and in accurate amounts to the left, center and right while applying the recommended volume for your lawn size.
Spreaders are widely available from garden and home centers and cost $30 to $45 for the more accurate and durable units. We’ll show you how to use your spreader more effectively to save time and make your lawn more attractive.
Two Types of Spreaders and How They Work
Broadcast spreaders and drop spreaders are push-powered workhorses that
share many features in common. At the heart of both is a hopper with adjustable
holes in the bottom. A gauge mounted on the spreader’s handlebar allows
you to accurately set the size of these holes (following the recommended
setting listed on many bags of lawn products), allowing the proper volume of
material to uniformly exit the hopper. Alongside the gauge, a flow lever
controls when the material drops onto the lawn by opening and closing a plate
under the hopper holes. But the two machines have their differences,
too.
Drop spreaders lay a trail of material the width of their hopper (less than 24 in.). They work best on small lawns and in yards with numerous flowerbeds, sidewalks or patios where you need to carefully control the spread pattern. Unless you’re meticulous about lining up adjacent passes, the payload either is laid too thick or misses portions of the grass, resulting in visible striping.
Broadcast spreaders are the choice of the pros and the focus of our story. Broadcasters work best for yards larger than 4,000 sq. ft. They deliver their payload more quickly over a wider area—and without striping the lawn. One of their wheels is geared so that as you push the broadcaster, the drive wheel turns a whirling impeller plate under the hopper that catches and throws the payload. When the shutoff plate is open, the impeller broadcasts the material in a 180-degree arc 7 ft. to 11 ft. wide (depending on the product’s granular size and your walking speed).
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