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Top Dressing Spreaders

16 years ago

I've always used wheel barrow, shovel and rake and just knocked it out a few hours a week. I'm ready for something easier. Any suggestions? I've seen these rolling steel cage barrel things. Do they work? Are there residential spreaders that will pull behind a lawn tractor?

Thanks, Phillip

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Comments (9)

dchall_san_antonio
16 years ago
What material are you spreading? Compost will clog up just about anything except your wheelbarrow and shovel. Extremely dry sand will fall right through a broadcast spreader. Anything else will have clods in it that block the flow of traditional spreaders. You might check with a farm and ranch store for a tow-behind that will work for you.
soccer_dad
16 years ago
I have searched high and low for months. No luck for homeowner grade. There are some high priced units for professional grounds keepers/golf courses, but not what I need. The closest thing I've found is the Newer Spreader, but still too expensive for me. Though I still would like to look at some of the 5 bushel spreaders coming out that hunters use for planting deer plots. There might be enough agitation and a big enough opening to handle the moisture content of compost or other topdressings. But for now, smaller areas and wheelbarrow will have to do.

Here is a link that might be useful: Newer Spreader
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Rager, Like several MistaScott, I thought you were using "concrete" as a metaphor for really hard soil. Which seems appropriate for some sandy clay soils, like mine. How did you resolve your issue? Did you core aerate and topdress with a sand peat mixture? if so, did the lawn come back lush and green? In some locations, my Saint Augustine is perpetually yellow and thin. i suspect there is not enough permeability to facilitate deep rooting. If I run the sprinkler too long the water goes into the street. So, I run the sprinkler more frequently, and the stressed lawn develops fungal problems. These patches oscillate between severe dryness and mold issues, because the clay soil is impermeable to water, and fails to retain moisture. That area of the lawn is like a hydroponics operation. I have attempted the baby shampoo approach, using an Ortho Spreader, a cup of beer, some milk and J&J Baby Shampoo (Laurel Sulfate). I figured I could feed bacteria, combat the fungal issues, and break down the clay in one fell swoop. Let's see if the shampoo hype is more than just hype. Ultimately, I have littel faith. I suspect i will need to import viable soil to amend these patches of hardened clay. I will need to core these spots and topdress with a soil to prevent the clay from rendering the cores impermeable. The holes will trap water and fertilizer becoming the Normandy beach of my grass invasion. Any advice on what soil mixture to use on compacted Houston clay? And no . . . I'm not really invading Normandy.
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Awwww jeeze! You hit most of my pet peeves. Had you written in here before going to all that trouble I might have been able to talk you out of everything you did. There is an easier way to soften your soil than core aeration. Spray shampoo at a rate of 3 ounces per 1,000 square feet works over the entire surface rather than just the few hundred holes you punched in it. Overseeding bermuda is never necessary. If you have thin spots in bermuda the reason is usually too much shade. There is no solution other than take out the bermuda and put in flowers. Further, now is a bad time to seed bermuda. It is too cool. June or July is a much better time. Top dressing with city compost is a lot of work that could be avoided. This part could be worse, but I don't think it's needed.
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tmajor
16 years ago
There is a Newer Spreader listed on Craigslist.

Here is a link that might be useful: CraigsList
tmajor
16 years ago
"Mini Topper" ... don't know how much $$$.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mini
jimtnc
16 years ago
I've been saying for years if someone would make a small spreader that would suit the average homeowner and at a reasonable price...he would become an instant millionaire.

Don't know why Scott's, Johnny's Products or someone don't try to fabicate one that would work with a little agitaor bar and a nice drop opening for even spreading? I'd jump on it, for sure. Preferably one that could be pulled behind a tractor to keep it simple.
rcnaylor
16 years ago
I've seen some over the years. They seem to fall in to two categories, big and complex enough to spread compost right - and too expensive for a one time a year use, and small and too simple to do the job very well, but cheap enough for the average homeowner to keep around for a once a year job.

I'd like to see rental places buy the bigger ones, but, until more homeowners use them, they can't/won't.

So, its kind of one of those chicken and egg things. Homeowners are waiting on the right product, the right product is waiting on enough homeowners.
kelleynelson
16 years ago
Top Dressing Roller?

You might even be able to engineer something similar out of wood and hardware cloth.

http://www.emeraldseedandsupply.com/lawn/index.html
soccer_dad
16 years ago
The word on that emerald roller is it doesn't do well. Clogs up. Probably needs bigger holes. Metering and agitating the materiel are the problems in this application that I just can't get my hands around to figure something out that would be an easy modification to a typical 10 or 15 cu ft trailer. Something modeled after the old type lime spreaders might work too. Something to fret with this winter when the snow is on the ground.
tmajor
16 years ago
I was thinking about something with an auger/worm/axle.?

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