Scotts EasyGreen Spreader

Considering this cheaply Made in China product, it actually works. It is made of flimsy plastic, cheap steel and two tiny wheels. The fertiliser flow adjuster is laughable and when the whole spreader is in use you feel like you’re pushing a child’s pram. But to be fair, putting the above aside, it does a reasonably good job spreading the fertiliser. At a whopping $90-95.00 I would expect far better quality all over!

Inexpensive But Kept Breaking, Then Died – Applying fertiliser to your lawn can be a hairy business. Too much and you'll be mowing your lawn all the time, too little and you might think the product didn't work, and if you try to spread it by hand you could also be left with all kinds of wonderful green patterns in your lawn not dissimilar to tiger stripes. This is where fertiliser spreaders come in handy.

Fertiliser spreaders tend to spread fertiliser nice and evenly and can even be calibrated to throw or drop fertiliser at a rate recommended by the manufacturer of the product, so the product performs in the way it was designed. The result - a happy customer!

Fertiliser spreaders come in 2 main types - broadcast and drop spreaders. Drop spreaders look like a horse trough with wheels and as you push them like a lawn mower the product falls out the bottom like a rain curtain. Broadcast spreaders allow the fertiliser to fall out a hole onto a spinning wheel resulting in the fertiliser coming out like a spinning lawn sprinkler.

Fertiliser spreaders often get problems with rust, moving parts that become jammed, gearbox problems, agitator problems, and door problems. Generally the more expensive fertiliser spreaders have these problems nailed down, and with a bit of maintenance, cleaning, and grease you'll never need to worry about any of this. The biggest issue for fertiliser spreaders is that fertiliser is generally abrasive and acidic so if you don't clean your machine after each use it will develop problems.

I work as a gardener and wasn't expecting the Scotts EasyGreen Spreader to perform like a professional machine but I was surprised that after putting just 200kg (10 bags) of fertiliser through it, the machine was already dead.

The most appealing feature of this unit was the price; a mere $70 at Bunnings. I also liked that it folded down quickly for fast storage into the corner of a ute, van or shed. The controls were also easy to understand and didn't require a manual or much explanation and the machine also didn't need calibration since it isn't a professional unit.

After going through 10 bags of fertiliser the unit was already starting to rust and I noticed the agitator in the bottom wasn't coping very well with clumps of fertiliser that are occasionally found in products. The clumps would also tend to jam the door open so the fertiliser would keep falling through, when this wasn't happening the clumps could also prevent the fertiliser from falling at the correct rate so it would get applied too thinly in some areas.

After I had put about 15 bags of fertiliser through it the handle control became jammed and had to be freed with a pair of multi grip pliers. I also started to have problems with the door return mechanism so the fertiliser couldn't be shut off while travelling over areas not needing to be fertilised (such as paving and driveways).

Finally the gearbox that makes the impeller spin started to skip and its teeth could be heard grinding unless the spreader was lifted onto 1 wheel to provide more force through the drive wheel. After the 20th bag I decided the whole unit needed to go back to Bunnings since it was unusable.

In summary this probably wouldn't suit a professional application but if you only need it to spread 2 bags of fertiliser around your house every year, and you're prepared to wash, dry, and spray with WD40 before putting it back into storage, this machine could last you a few years (albeit with a few problems dealing with clumpy fertiliser).