John Deere Fertilizer Spreader | Review

John Deere 175-lb Pull-Type Spin Spreader

Last year I purchased a John Deere tow-behind fertilizer spreader for my John Deere X300 riding mower. I’ve used the fertilizer spreader to spread both fertilizer and lime and it’s saved me some serious time walking around the yard pushing a spreader by hand.

Spreader Features

This particular model features:

• 175 lb box capacity with a volume capacity of 3.5 cubic ft
• All stainless steel interior hardware, shaft and agitator to prevent corrosion
• High speed, 6:1 reduction glass-filled nylon gears provide the widest spread pattern at the slowest speeds
• Fully enclosed gearbox eliminates down-time and maintenance
• Autoflow feature stops the flow of materials automatically to prevent burns
• Directional spread-pattern control feature provides positive shut off along sidewalks and driveways

Product Review Notes

First let me say that I’ve always been quite impressed with John Deere products and that’s why I bought this spreader. Overall I’m satisfied with this fertilizer spreader especially it’s large capacity. I can put three 40 lb bags of fertilizer in it at once and do almost a full acre on one load. The following are my thoughts on the good features and features that might need some improvements.

Quality Features

• Tires – Great air filled turf tires that run great on rough terrain.
• Tow Assembly – Easy to hook up to my mower and drive away.
• Hopper – Holds up to three 40 lb bags of fertilizer, almost enough to do a full acre in one load.
• Stainless Steel Parts – Any equipment that gets wet and comes in contact with fertilizers needs the superior performance of stainless steel.

Poor Features

• Location of Fertilizer Flow Control Lever – The control lever is located above the tow bar so you can reach it while you’re driving the mower. The location seems to be a good spot until you go down a hill and start up another and the back of the mower seat hits the lever and opens it wide open spilling fertilizer out at a very fast rate. They really need to locate this better to prevent this problem.
• Adjustability Of The Flow Gate – It’s quite difficult to adjust the flow of fertilizer at low application rates. As the gate gets closer to being completely closed it has a hard time maintaining a steady flow.

Overall Product Thoughts

Even with the two small issues I have with this spreader I’d recommend it to others. As usual John Deere makes great quality products that will last. I’ve heard some folks say that they had trouble with the spinner at the bottom breaking but I’ve yet to see that. So if you’re looking for a large capacity, towing spreader for residential use then I recommend you take a look at this model. It costs just over $200 and I find it to be a good value.