Earthway 2750 Hand-Operated Bag Spreader/Seeder

Have owned numerous towable fertilizer spreaders and a cheaper, flimsy, handheld model. Used one like this years back to apply seed around a lake and liked it. This thing works great with 10-10-10 fertilizer that has no clumps in it. Applied 40 lbs. with my towable model a few weeks back. Then, put down another 40 lbs. today with this model on the spots I missed. This thing worked much better than I expected it to applying fertlizer. Was able to control it (where fertilizer went) much better than with the aggravating towable models. It is the easiest to use as far as I'm concerned. Walked at an easy pace and it is not hard to crank for a good broadcast. All spreaders are somewhat challenging and can be aggravating but this one just became my favorite. Now for the REAL challenge: keeping the fertilizer from making it rust. Will wash it well and soak it with silicone spray. Then, keep an eye on it in storage. Rust is what will eventually kill it. After washing it clean, don't see that many exposed metal parts. Fertilizer has a way of finding its way throughout a spreader to rust them from the inside out. This spreader works well. April 2013: Used it again to apply some coated time release fertilizer. It worked more smoothly than with 10-10-10. The silicone spray worked. Saw no rust anywhere on it. It appears to have nylon gears which will not rust. That's good as far as I'm concerned using it for fertilizer. With cranking it fast, can get a broad broadcast or slow down and have more ccontrol. Worth the price- I like it. It's much easier to use and control than my towable broadcast spreader. July 2014: Used it to apply some fire ant control granules (granular insecticide like sawdust). Was able to attain a very light broadcast by controlling the flow as I walked with it. In areas with heavy fire ant populations, opened the valve a little more. It worked well. May 2015: Bought 40 pounds of weed and feed to apply. Found this spreader stored about 1/3 full with fire ant granules from last Summer. So, got a jump on the fire ants this year where I definitely want them gone. Then, applied the weed and feed. Have not taken good care of this spreader yet it is still working well. The handle now has some rust on it but that does not affect its function. Need to clean it up some with water and some silicone spray. It's holding up well against the rust promoting fertilizer compounds I have used in it. The internal gears still work smoothly- like new. Could have used my towable spreader but this one is my favorite for a 3/4 acre lawn. With this one, get more of whatever I'm using on my body and shower immediately after using it but have much better control of what I'm applying.

UPDATE 5-27-18: I seeded 7.5 acres of forage beans using this hand-crank seeder yesterday and today because our tow-spreader was busted. This worked so well, I doubt we replace the tow spreader. Bean distribution was awesome. Other than walking my butt off in the fields that have been chisel plowed, disced, and power tilled, it worked great. Up until now I have not found a need to install the plastic stiffeners for the seed bag...but I will do so now as it would have been much easier to load the seeder bag. OLD REVIEW FOLLOWS: I over-seeded 4 acres of declining alfalfa today with Whitetail Institute coated clover seed. It took maybe 25 minutes to over-seed 4 acres and I put 9 pounds of the clover seed into the spreader at a time (18 pound bag). The suggested setting on the bottom of the spreader was 2.5 for clover which is a tiny, tiny seed. Coated clover is like 3 or 4 times bigger and I seeded with a setting of 1.5 and 2.0 and I also put duct tape over the slot opening to only allow an inch for the seed to flow out. With this modification, a setting of 1.5 was too low and I had to go over the area more than once. On a setting of 2.0, it was just about right to maybe a little fast. I have attached a picture of this modification. I walked up to one of our lakes and used the spreader to check the seed distribution and it was everything I could have hoped for. The only quirk I noticed is when walking up a steeper slope and maintaining seeding speed, my thigh would bump the broadcaster stopping it for just a fraction of a second.

I ordered this product based on the reviews to spead grass seed and fertilizer. I did not want to get the average consumer piece o crap handheld spreader or a bulky wheeled spreader thus... nylon bag spreader it is! Overall I like this product, It is easy to use and does a nice job spreading. The bag is held up by two plastic fins that need to be screwed into each end of the bag area upon receipt. I could tell they would not last long with the way they were made.. And on my second time using the spreader one of them broke off partially due to me letting it fall on the floor. Not the end of the world. Mostly made of plastic this is definitely not a commercial grade product but for my occasional use it has worked well and does not take up much space. I would purchase again.

Used this to spread grass seed on about a quarter acre. Replaced a Scott’s device that broke after first use so I was mainly looking for quality and simplicity and this spreader delivered. One seed mix I had had a seed mulch in it that was the consistency of loose dirt, this made it a pretty a dusty mess when spreading and I ended up covered in the stuff but it still spread the stuff correctly so more of a lesson learned as far as spreaders that are up off the ground than something I hold against the product. Seed itself has just started coming up and I can see it did a great job as far as even spreading. Much better than sections I did by hand after my first device broke. Read the instructions. DO NOT OPEN THE RELEASE PORT UNTIL YOU ARE WALKING FORWARD AT PACE or you’ll have some nice piles of wasted material to admire.

This spreader will cover more ground, faster, with less hassle, for less money than anything I've tried. I've been using spreaders for 40 years. I've used several of the kinds that roll on the ground and broadcast. They're slow because they're low to the ground and the seed (or fertilizer) hits the ground before it can go very far. Also, you can't vary the spin rate independently of your walking rate (as I explain later). I've used rolling drop spreaders, and while they are very precise, they are even slower than rolling broadcasters because they cover such a narrow path. I do use them for seed to cover areas close to beds so that I can avoid growing grass in the beds. Until I got this spreader, the fastest things I'd used were the old hand-carried, wood-and-metal-and-canvas broadcast spreaders. They had two problems. When you filled them you had to have help because the canvas top would bend, and the whole thing would flop over and spill. If you used fertilizer in them they would last one season before they corroded so badly, they were useless. They were cheap, and they were very fast, and a lot of pros used them for seed and even fertilizer. I used them because they were fast, but lately I haven't seen them in the stores, probably because people kept beating up the retailers over the corrosion problem. Then, from Amazon, I got a very expensive, hand-carried broadcast spreader call the Solo. Terrible choice. It didn't fall over, and it didn't corrode, but it was slow as molasses in the winter and didn't spread evenly. It was also very hard to use without catching your finger in the mechanism. It didn't hold a lot either. I hated it. My neighbor had a huge, heavy, pro-grade handheld broadcaster that worked pretty well, didn't fall over, and didn't corrode. I used it once. I lift weights, but this thing was terribly unwieldly. I actually tried several times to find one at the Farmer's Supply where he said he got it, and I never could. Now I'm glad I didn't. I've used the little one-handed scoop-shaped spreaders you find a Home Depot et al. They are fine for sprinkling seed on spots, but they're too small for full yards. You'd do better spreading by hand out of a bag. And then along comes the Earthway 2750. It does everything the old hand-carried, wood-and-metal-and-canvas broadcast spreaders would do, only better in terms of smooth cranking and speed variability. It won't corrode (although I do worry about one little screw). It doesn't flop over for two reasons: (1) it has vertical plastic pieces you install in the front and back of the bag to hold it up; (2) it has a wide, very stable base to keep the whole thing from tipping over. The zipper on top is a nice touch to ensure that it doesn't spill when you're hoisting it onto your shoulder. It costs a lot less than the Solo and will cover a yard more evenly in about 20 percent of the time. Now, let me manage expectations. If you've never used a hand-held broadcast spreader before, don't fill it all the way up the first time. You especially don't want to fill it all the way up with heavy fertilizer. Once it's loaded, start out gingerly. Prop it against your stomach to get it out in front of you. You vary the width of the path that you sow by how fast you turn the crank (which slings the seed out). The amount that you put down per square yard depends on three things: (1) how far back you pull the left-hand lever; (2) how fast you walk; and (3) how fast you crank (because that varies the width). It is not like learning to ride a bicycle, but it does take getting used to. Once you get the hang of it (punny) you'll find it gives you wonderful control -- far more than any rolling spreader. Okay, I read the review from the person who said she got the fertilizer all over her. I just walked in from using it, and I don't have a particle of fertilizer on me, but I certainly understand how it can happen. Before you fill it up the first time, hold it in position and walk while turning the crank. Pull back the left (valve or throttle) lever and look down to see what the valve in the bottom is doing. Get comfortable doing that much first. Next, fill it about 1/4 full. Start walking and cranking BEFORE you open the valve. Open it slowly. If you do this, I predict you'll be totally successful the first time out and not waste a bit of seed or fertilizer. I also read the review from the guy who broke his spreader. I was concerned by that. The only way I can see that happening would be if you tried to strong-arm the crank. Just spin it up gently before you open the valve. If you try to spin it up fast when it's clogged with fertilizer, you could stress the mechanism. If you are using pelletized fertilizer, you're going to need to break up any clumps. Follow these suggestions, and I'll be very surprised if you break it. ***Update*** I've now been using this spreader for over a year, and I'm still sold on it. It still works like new. Good luck! Tim

Man went to the moon once but it was a looooooong time ago. Where to begin? The primary problem is the same with every spreader I've ever owned--clogging. When you start it is a torrent, three steps later there might be four or five granules being ejected which eventually peters out to nothing. The product boasts some sort of device that is supposed to ensure even feeding. That little plastic bar looks like grandma's dentures gumming some oatmeal while she's asleep on a bad day. Maybe she's dead? You need time lapse photography to see that it is actually moving. Secondly the slope of the plastic at the bottom of the bag is too shallow. If held even slightly off level, feeding stops. To keep spreading, you are forced to constantly shake the GD thing which brings me to problem number Three: The clip on the shoulder harness is simply a slot, not a snap. So while you're shaking the bejabbers out of the spreader to get something flowing, the "clip" (bad word since it doesn't apply in the least) on the strap pops off. All of these shortcomings force a stop/start approach resulting in some areas of the lawn being burnt out with a circle of fertilizer and some areas getting nothing at all. Now for the added insult that got me in front of my computer. At one point I sat the unit down on my driveway while I went to the garage. I had left the slot open by accident (yes this is stupid on my part). When I returned, a third of the bag had run through and spilled onto the drive way. The problem here was that left unattended it couldn't seem to stop gushing fertilizer. When I pick it up and run around my yard with it, it works when it feels like it. Joke's on me. Alas, as the years mount, I begin to fear that I will never own a spreader that lives up to it's name and actually, simply and evenly SPREADS something. The best I can offer is this: This spreader fails just as much as any other spreader I've owned.

I bought a very well known brand name lawn fertilizer's spreader to use with their product at a big box store. Twice! First was a battery operated gizmo for lazy homeowners like me, that essentially does the same thing their hand cranked version does. It jammed up quite a bit and the on off button got stuck in the on position. The second one was the traditional hand cranked version. It was even worse the the battery operated one. Within five minutes it was jammed to the point of failure if I attempted to turn the handle any harder. I am convinced that the engineer(s) that designed it, never actually tried to use it on their own lawns. Both were returned as defective. Finally, after a fair amount of research I found the Earthway 2750. What a distinct pleasure it is to use compared to those other pieces of junk. I've used it to spread both seed and fertilizer on multiple occasions at my home and my inlaws home as well this summer. This thing just works. Glad I found it.

This is one of those tools where when I first started using it, the title sentiment immediately came to mind. I have been using a Scotts HandyGreen II for 10+ years that finally bit the dust and when I was looking at the new ones in the local "big box store," I was underwhelmed. Reviews on them here reflected the same, which was that they are much more cheaply made than the old ones. So, based on the good reviews, I spent the extra money and bought this little beauty. Not only is it a quality product, but I had no idea that the bag holds enough fertilizer to do 5,000 square feet+ all at once. With the HandyGreen, I had to keep the fertilizer handy and refill a few times. Also, the way this feeds the fertilizer onto the rotating distribution disc is much smoother and helps with not getting a large amount coming out too fast. Another plus is that the bag keeps moisture out - invariably, when I am applying fertilizer, I see some light rain on occasion. If I could give it 6 stars, I would!

Works great

Great handheld seeder except when the bag is filled with seed and strap is around your neck… it’s very heavy pulling on your neck

Works great! Thanks