Agri-Fab 100 lb. Tow Drop/Spiker/Seeder/Spreader

Was prepared for an assembly battle based on the reviews. It was pretty straightforward and fast with an adjustable crescent wrench and drill (I think there were just two different bolt head sizes). Probably spent 30 to 45 mins assembling. No missing parts. If you have a set of calipers get them out. They don't label the hardware so when they call for a 2" vs a 2.5" it makes it quick to grab the right one, same with the washers as they have a few variations of them and it's hard to know exactly which they are calling for without thinking it through or measuring based on the BOM dimensions to confirm. Don't bother swapping out the wheel bolts like some have mentioned. Unless you are hauling this thing around a lot on non grass surfaces where you need the wheels down they aren't even being used. I retract my wheels so they don't touch the ground. I think that is why the bolt is so long so you can catch it over the rail and keep them locked off the ground if you don't need to engage and disengage it while on the move. Yes, shouldered bolts would be better but seem unnecessary to upgrade them given the limited action the wheels would typically get. It worked well. I've used it twice to spread and spike fertilizer and no complaints. With the larger granules it took a little trial and error to get the spread rate just right.

Overall, I'm very pleased with this gear. It's built solidly and works as advertised, and I'm thrilled that it saves me tons of time when applying fertilizer on our large yard. Not surprisingly, it's a bit more awkward to use on a smaller lawn, such as our front yard. The spikes appeared to work effectively. My one area of frustration was with the parts. When it arrived, I carefully sorted and counted the parts, because other reviewers noted problems with missing parts. Sure enough, I was missing a few items (several bolts missing from a smaller package). I submitted a message on the company's website asking for the parts, but never heard back, so rather than wait, I just got them at our local hardware store. I'll also note that the instructional video on the website (which explains how to put it together), while very good, is a little out of date. Several items that they show on there are no longer part of the design (no spring, some plastic vice metal parts, 1 cotter pin vs 2). Minor issues, and they didn't impact me being able to follow the instructions. Overall, happy with the product, just frustrating re the lack of quality control on inclusion of parts in the shipment.

Instructions were " alright ", still needed to refer to the picture or youtube video to get it together..sit down , have a few liquid refreshments, then go at it, its time consuming to get it together.. When using it you'll need a bungee cord to secure the feed adjustment handle as it wants to move offsetting when spreading seed..Aside from that, the aerator works good as does the feed drop on spreader..

Edit to 3 stars. Quality really not so good but paying $179 for it okay home owner use. This thing will waste a lot of your $ putting down seed. I wouldn't recommend for seed unless you like throwing out money. Tried, none really grew. The spaces are too far apart its luck if any seed falls in them. You have to have loose soil and weight on it to make a indent at all as a aerator. There isn't many spike blades. Tue seed preferably needs to be IN the ground and covered. This doesn't do that.Which leaves most of the seed on top of the ground and it isn't covered and wont grow. Lot of $$ in seed wasted.. Stick to lawn pellet fertilizer or pellet bug killer. Compared to using the hand spreader I'm all about this thing. Quality good. Wish it went in the ground a little better but really nothing to compare too this might just be what they are. Assembly IS required. THIS WILL WASTE A LOT OF MONEY TRYING TO USE IT FOR GRASS SEED.

This is a well thought out, sturdy machine. I've read reviews saying it was hard to put together, griping about the bolts for the wheels, etc... Not so! It went together easily, the instructions were superb and yes I had spare parts left that i just stuck on it in case I needed it but more importantly there were no missing parts. Works very well for what it was designed to do. This is not an industrial machine but a yard/garden machine and I expect ro get many years of good use from it.

missing some of the hardware, but had some in the shop. was not very sturdy quality

I have a 1/2 acre yard in central Florida, and I have been trying to find a spreader that I can pull behind my yard tractor. I was excited about this unit as it looked sturdy and had a spike system and a spreader. This comes as just a kit with poor instructions and nothing pre-assembled. It took about 6 hours to put it together. When I finally got the machine out on its maiden voyage, it went about 50' before the drive chain jumped off its gears and jammed the spikes up. Removing and replacing the chain is a nightmare, but I really wanted this thing to work, so after another 2 hours of resetting the chain and testing all the movements, I gave it another try (I had the bin about 35% full of fertilizer, not much, really). It went around the yard once, and the chain jumped off again. I will not get into how cheaply some of the parts are made, but they obviously are not sturdy. I am not a mechanic and don't have a machine shop to fabricate the pieces in this thing that need to be replaced with something that can last. I just want to put some fertilizer on my yard with my little tractor. I tried calling the company's service office and ran into the typical auto phone attendant who wanted product data. I did not have to get to the service office. I looked at the listing information, and I would need to take this monster apart, repack it in the box it arrived in, and then return it. I am not doing that, so it is headed to the junkyard, an expensive lesson learned. This is the second product I have purchased from this company. The first one lasted longer but eventually failed after about six uses. I should have learned the first time.

The assembly took me and the wife almost two hours - gathering the tools, setting up the work area, sorting the parts and finally assembling it. Having it on a work table made the job so much easier. A second set of hands and eyes definitely helps, too. The manual has a very nice 1:1 parts page for all the fasteners. I photocopied it so we could lay parts on it to make sure we had the right ones without having to flip back and forth in the instructions. Agri-fab REALLY needs to deburr their parts better. Some edges of some parts were deburred, but others had diabolically sharp edges and burrs waiting to cut you. The worst one I included a pic of. There are a LOT of parts. The steps are clear, but you do really need to pay attention to the pictures AND text. Normally you can scan through instructions and mostly get it, but there are a couple of gotchas in these instructions that will bite you and make you redo something a few times if you miss it. So pay attention. Read thrice, assemble once. There are a number of plastic bushings that I am nervous will not last very long, but time will tell. After I got it together, it survived the first spreading of its life just fine. However, the "1" and "2" setting are almost useless for any kind of granules of fertilizer. At least it was mostly useless for the Sta-green "3xtreme" weed and feed I used today. I pull it behind a Greenworks CRZ-426 60V electric zero turn lawn tractor and while the hitch is a little high for this thing, tilting it back about 15-20 degrees, it seemed to work ok. The geometry of the mower meant I couldn't reach the spreader control from the seat. So fair warning if you have something similar. I forgot to take pics of it hooked up this afternoon, I'll see if I can't update the review later if I can remember to. All in all not bad - but not great. It will definitely take you a feeding or three to get the flow control right for your particular fertilizer. Hopefully it lasts several years, though as noted, those plastic bushings have me worried. Time will tell! EDIT: Added pics of it behind the mower. When I first used it, I removed the bagger lid, but there was still no way to reach the flow control - its simply too far back. So I didn't bother removing it for the pics.

When I received from Amazon all the parts were all over the box and missing pieces, I spoke to Amazon and they suggested to contact the manufacturer directly as they dont have parts. The agent was very helpful. I contacted the manufacturer directly and they immediately shipped the parts UPS. I had to look up the directions for assembly on the internet as they were missing as well. Overall when I got all the parts and assembled it looks like it will do the job and well bilt. Now to wait till spring to try it out!

The Agri-fab spreader and aerator is good enough for a city-lot property and functioned as advertised. The assembly was not complicated but was interrupted due to missing bolts... all of one-size. To skip the trouble of going back and waiting for the manufacturer to send some, I picked some up at a hardware store and carried on. For the price, the device is good enough and saved me $125 rental fee for the two times a year we’d use it thus paying for itself in two seasons. If you’re handy and don’t mind a trip to your local hardware store to finish the assembly, this is the tool for you.

It was easy to assemble and pretty straight forward. Got it together in less than 2hrs. Works well when I overseeded my lawn with it. 2 10kg bags of grass seed fit the hopper perfectly.

Broke 3 times on 1st use