Correct. Hope it works out! Please keep us updated.

I think it’s the spreader design. Rotary is square and the drop hole is curved. When it rotates more fertilizer drops straight down leaving the stripe. Flip it over and look close while you turn the spreader.

Update: Put down Milorganite on April 1st (I’m in southern NJ), didn’t rain for about a week. So tomorrow will be 2 weeks past. I might be beginning to see some evening out but nothing great yet. Still looks pretty bad. Note I have ~15,000 sq ft of lawn, and spread evenly Qty 6, 32lbs of Milorganite.

Thanks for the update. What kind of grass do you have?

Mostly turf type tall fescue

Did this last week. Scott's Green Max and Scott's spreader.

Oh no! How discouraging! Have you ever used Milorganite? When I had the same problem last year I redid the lawn with Milorganite using half the recommended rate and tight passes. I also kept the grass watered and it evened out in about 3 weeks. I started seeing results in about 7 days.

Peter Hagedorn: what setting did you use? I find that when I use 5 on my Scott’s spreader that I don’t have any issues (or not as much). Using the bags setting of 11 is what causes too much milo to come out

I usualley set it on 4 1/2. But this time the bag said 7. I thought that was pretty high. 2nd summer in this house, second time I fudged the yard! Previously I got some liquid weed and feed (I forget the brand) , almost killed my grass! I guess I'll try "milorganite".

Bought the small Scotts spreader and had a plaid lawn last year. This year with the larger unit, I have stripes (only distributed in one direction). I have ordered a Benchley unit from Northern. I will take the Scotts back to Home Depot and "donate" it to their store manager. My old spreader (so old I don't remember the brand) never gave me stripes. Cable broke so went to the Scotts unit (being so ubiquitous in all the stores). How long will it take for my lawn to recover?

From what I've read, it'll need water everyday for a week. Then after "a few weeks" it should recover. We're under drought restrictions so I couildn't water every day. Hope this helps you!

I agree with Peter,
Last year when I had this issue I started seeing results in about a week. But it was after 3 weeks that there were no signs of lines.

This is a picture after a week.

So here's why this stupid spreader makes these stupid lines.

The tops of the wheels of the spreader are actually higher than the impeller that shoots the seed/fertilizer out. This results in a lot of the seed hitting the tires and falling directly down to the grass that's in line with the tires as you push your spreader, causing the accumulation of seed or fertilizer in a straight line, wherever you push it. It's 100% terrible design, and there's no way to fix it with the smaller Scott's spreaders. They are cheap for a reason, and there is NO way to get away from this problem. I'll be tossing mine this year and paying a little extra for one that doesn't have such a glaring design flaw.

Look at the line i've drawn in the pic below. The amount of seed/fert that'll hit the wheels and drop down is insane.

A GREAT video that explains it!

I recently purchased a Binly 50 lb spreader from Northern Tool. The spinner is good inch or more above the tires. I said tires...they are pneumatic tires. It's a solid unit and works well. Now if I can control my overlap. BTW: I took my Scots back to Home Depot and told the store manager they needed to carry a different line. I left it there for him to ponder upon. Interestinly, my neighbor purchased a Scots a couple weeks ago. She has green lines and is really ticked. I told her she could rent my Binly if she wanted

I have the same issue with the Scott’s DLX. I’ll be changing spreaders.

Another problem with the Scotts edgeguard is shown here in my before and after pics. Was getting burnout on my turn area. And I do release the feed handle way prior to turning. The problem is the the wheels. Hollow and partitioned plastic from molding. They retain excess product and when you slow down it drops out on to your lawn burning it. They should have made it flat and smooth. I taped off the inside but still having a problem with the zebra stripes. Time to get a better spreader

Binly seems a little high priced anyone having better luck with a more reasonably price spreader?

It is high priced. But, I fertilized two weeks ago and the grass is a uniform green other than some residual stripes from the Scotts spreader. My neighbor who also will return her Scotts spreader will rent (borrow) mine the couple times a year she needs it. I think it could be a community resource if y'all get together on it with neighbors. As you were commenting on the spinner vs the wheels. The Binly spinner is easily an inch above the top of the wheels.

Thanks for the input. Dan

For years I couldn't understand why the zebra stripes. I went as far last summer to kill off all growth about 12, 000 Sq ft. Tilled in 22,000 pounds of organic compost and reseed ed in early fall it looked great and this spring looked great, till I used the Scotts spreader. What a waste of my time do to Scotts crap

I’ve been WAY over analyzing non-Scott’s broadcast spreader options w/ spreader/spinner above wheels,tires (not hollow plastic), and priced $110-$150. Top 3 at the moment are Echo #RB-60, and Earthway #2600A-Plus or #2030P-Plus. Agri-Fab reviews are spotty and Lesco is clearly great but $300-$500. Anyone have experience with any of the above or a different opinion/recommendation?

PS- The Milorganite seemed to help reduce the stripes some but for me it was more just passage of time. Not fully gone until 2 weeks post Step 2 application. So…6-8 weeks.

The Echo seems to have the spinner somewhat higher. I looked at the Earthway sighting along the tops of the tires. They are just in line with the top of the spinner. As I said, the Binly has a good inch or more clearance and my results were excellent. Good luck

Yep after looking at some models and prices it's seem's to be a good value. Hope I can salvage my side lawn after all my hard work last year.

Several weeks after the Scotts striping, I used the Binly and applied a 2/3 dose of standard 23N fertilizer. The yellow areas the Scotts spreader left greened up and the darker stripes were pretty much the same so it's much more uniform now. It's all recoverable. Take heart.

Curious, how long was it after your weed and feed when you applied the 23N? Wondering about over dosing and getting burnout

My first application was with 10-10-10 garden fertilizer front yard and Milorganite in back. I do that every couple years to give the grass the other minerals. So it was low N. Even at that I got rich green stripes. That was about 4 weeks before I put down the 23N which, as I said, was at about 2/3 the recommended amount. I'm with you. I worry about overdoing the N. Half of my backyard is shady fescue which in hot weather does not tolerate a lot of fertilizer. In any event, I was fortunate with cool weather and timely rains.

Its because of the wheels, whether taped off or not its dropping MORE Fertilizer in the dark green areas, the lighter areas are with less fertilizer. If you want to have the dark green look which I recommend against because excess fertilizer can lead to disease. Buy a drop spreader or a handheld spreader. Or buy a professional speader which dlesnt have this problem before the broadcater is above the wheels

I purchased a Brinly spreader from Northern. It has pneumatic tires and a tall profile. The spreader is at least one inch above the top of the wheels. Used it this summer and no lines. It's pricey but worth it. I have three neighbors that will be using it...a community asset.

Its the wheels and the angle of the spreader with the square spinner and the rounded drop zone. this spreader has two problems. poorly designed.

To much fertilizer isnt a bad thing, yes it can cause disease, ugly lines and other issues but other than that youre lawn wont die, put down a little more fertilizer by hand in the areas that arent dark green this will help the ugly lines, than buy a real spreader or buy a by hand one which I dont recommend unless you have a small yard. Or you could spray everything with liquid fertilizers.

If someone has this problem with a real spreader it could be 2 problems, user error or thatch, thatch can affect fertilizer especially if you miss lines when areating, verticutting or anything by hand

What if you use a Dremel tool to remove some plastic from the inside of the wheel? Spokes instead of solid. Might correct the issue altogether.

Ok. I will try to upload a picture of my yard after applying nitrogen I think there should be a class action against scotts for the spreader they are selling. I worked very hard for 2 years to get a nice yard and now look!! I can send more pictures if anyone wants to see them.

I showed the manager at an Ace Hardeware. He had no idea it was designed so poorly. He took them down.

After much analysis paralysis, I picked the Earthway 2050P as my replacement spreader for Scotts. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0000BYDXN/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_882HZW485T9DJJJB6B8S?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
Used last week for lime/calcium application; worked very well so far. Over-seeding and starter fertilizer is in 2 weeks.

Yep mine dlx does same at first thought it was the fertilizer not scotts, then Recently did again and the stripes are back w scotts weed and feed southern lawns

HU-...355,

first of all you should not be using weed n feed products ever. It is hard to apply correctly, and if you put it down early enough as a herbicide then you are 6 weeks too early for the lawn to need fertilizer. And then you wasted a lot of herbicide not killing specific weeds. The preferred application is in the next para.

Secondly, you should not be using anything this time of year. Preemergent should have gone down last month and spot-spray herbicide doesn't go on until the middle of next month. Finally fertilizer goes down in late May. March is a month off.

If you have more issues, please let us know where you live and what kind of turf grass you have.

Here is the issue the scotts edge guard dlx rotary has design flaw . The broadcast slinger sits lower than top of wheel ,causing a fair amount of

product to catch in the wheel design as these cubicles fill they deposit product in a line on the ground primarily on The right wheel. This happens as the spin is starting to broadcast Also there are little rectangle hole letting product in and out at the axle take the hub cap off and see. SCOTTS AGREED FOR ME TO RETURN.

Me too with a Scotts spreader. The wheels are too high and intercept part of the fertilizer dumping it on the ground. Last year I purchased a Brinly spreader from Northern. Pricey but got absolutely uniform results. The spinner is a good 2" above the wheels. And, it rolls very easily with it's pneumatic tires.

“Here is the issue the scotts edge guard dlx rotary has design flaw . The broadcast slinger sits lower than top of wheel ,causing a fair amount of

product to catch in the wheel design”

but wouldn't that cause two bright green stripes close to each other where the wheels are instead of just one that people usually have in their yard? every photo i see is just one stripe

My thoughts....the Edgeguard assembly only allows fertilizer out to the front of the spreader, so any that is slung to the left, right or back hits the Edgeguard assembly and drops.

I removed the entire Edgeguard assembly and will see if the striping is going. I agree with others, if it was the wheels, it would have 2 thin lines where the wheels run. Plus, the angle of the spinner goes above the wheels, so that theory doesn't make sense either.

I switched to Milorganite and my yard looks great! Picking up a second bag rhis weekend!

Robert. Trust me, it was the spreader. Thin lines from the wheels doesn't hold water. When the nitrogen lines get rained on it spreads. I ran the spreader on my blacktop road and you could see fertilizer lines on the left and right side of the spreader. Case solved.

By the way. I did not use the edge guard feature.

Daryl, I removed the edge guard assembly and the pattern is now what it should be, full 365 degrees of spread and goes over the wheels as designed. I confirmed this on my paved driveway as well. If you walk slower, the spreader does not run fast enough and it will hit the top of the wheels. We'll see in a week or so how the grass looks, should no longer have 1 ft wide strips of dark green grass.

Was there actally a fix for this? i came to google to find out the fix and cane across this thread. my yard looks ridiculois

Hi Asia,
When I had zebra stripes on my lawn 2 years ago I used Milorganite fertilizer to even up my lawn. I set my spreader to less than half the recommended setting and used tighter passes in both directions. So first I ran the spreader up and down my lawn then left to right. I used the wheel lines as a guide. There was noticeable improvement within a week. And if you have an irrigation system water the fertilizer in. If not just wait for the rain. Hope this helps.

Not sure how many times we'll need to post this, but it's the Scott's distributors that cause this problem. The fertilizer distributor is too low, and hits the wheels and the fertilizer drops straight down below the spreader. Anywhere you run the spreader will eventually develop a dark green line behind it, due to the over-application of Fertilizer

ah so your opinion is final? okkkk

If you read my latest comment, that sums it up. Since my last application, I have no green striping this time after removing the Edgeguard assembly and walking at a decent rate to get the fertilizer to spread and go over the wheels. The spreader wheel is angled up, so it easily goes over the wheels, but not if you walk too slow. The Edgeguard is in the way of the spread and when the fertilizer hits it, it just drops and creates the green lines because of over fertilization. Other spreaders have a guard that drops down when needed, but out of the way when not. Remove the 4 handle bolts, pull the hopper off the wheel shaft and the Edgeguard assembly will pop off with a little force. Removed the Edgeguard lever assembly and cable and reassemble.

I ran a pattern test on my paved driveway and it all looked good. The key is to walk a decent speed, too slow and you won't get the proper spread.

I kept watering the grass, and it evened out in about 3 weeks.