Chapin 8622B, 150-Pound Tow Behind Spreader with AUTO-Stop and Hitch Pins, Black

It is difficult to put together as the directions tells you to loosen a bolt but does not tell you to move the angled support to hold the handles. Can't wait to try it out. Damn rain!

We spread 1000’s of lbs of Fertilizer/Lime. Always used John Deere ..decided to purchase a Chapin due to the fact of the none flow when stopped Big mistake. Going to try to return. Spreader is too bouncy. Already flipped it twice Spread adjustments very difficult to manoeuvre … screen not included. Which causes poor flow due to possible lumps getting caught and finally wheel base is too short

I first bought the Agri-Fab 45-0530 and was disappointed. It's very cheaply made, especially the key part: the flow control mechanism. So I shopped and found the Chapin, which is almost twice the price.However, everything about the Chapin 8622B tow spreader is significantly superior to the Agri-Fab 45-0530. It’s like comparing a Yugo to a BMW. The Chapin is solid as a rock; really heavy duty constriction, made to last. It’s farm grade.When unpackaging, I examined the parts closely with glee. I kept hearing my Dad’s voice in my head saying, “You get what you paid for.” Yep. The frame, wheels, tub, and above all the two most critical parts -- the mechanism to adjust the volume, and the gearing mechanism -- are pro or farm grade construction. See the product image showing the cast metal gears; the gear housing even has a nipple to add grease. That seems like a small thing, but it's not. It an indication of quality engineering and design to last, not "planned obsolescence" as with so many throw-away products these days.Quite conveniently, it was nearly all assembled out of the box, also unlike the Agri-Fab. With the Chapin, I only had to assemble the tow assembly. It took 20 min. A customer wrote a review in April, 2023 complaining about the assembly difficulty. That certainly wasn’t my experience. A photo from a different reviewer, Doug, from June 5, 2019, shows how few parts there are to put together. If someone can’t figure that out, they probably have difficulty installing a light bulb. I agree with the rest of Doug's review too. Even the bolts and little parts come neatly packaged and labeled, not jumbled willy-nilly in a plastic bag, as his picture shows.I’ve used it twice on a 5000 sq ft lawn area and it works perfectly. When you stop, the flow of material automatically stops. To be sure, you have to get off to make adjustments to the flow if needed. And you have to set it to zero if you want to drive without material being spread. But I’m OK with that. The Agri-Fab does allow one to remain seated and try (TRY!) to make adjustments, but the Agri-Fab’s control mechanism is such a cheap piece of junk that doesn't work as intended. You can see how cheap the Agri-Fab is just from looking it after buying. It isn’t worth it.The Chapin also comes with a cover for the tub (nice!) AND notice the shape of the tub itself. Another example of clever attention to engineering detail. It’s not rectangular; it has a pointed middle so that you can just tip it over forwards and pour out any remaining content into a box or bag. Love It. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!

Étendre engrais à gazon.

I bought this spreader because I got sick of the cheaply made Agri-fab and Brinly tools that always fell apart within months. After some research and reading the reviews on here, I decided to pay a little more for this Chapin.Boy was that a bad decision so far. There are several things about this that are decent, but the most glaring design flaw is the wheel base. It is way too narrow. The people writing these glowing reviews about how stable it is must be living in a subdivision with a small, perfectly groomed and flat lawn.I have a 4 acre lot, 3 of which is grass, and it has a lot of bumps and mounds. My first time using this, it toppled twice, spilling everything all over the lawn. I had 4 15kg bags of pelletized lime, which works out to 132lbs and less than the capacity it advertises. It toppled once when I was about 2/3 full and again when about 1/4 full. The hitch bracket bent completely out of shape and I had to hammer it back flat to get the hitch pin out. It is no where near thick enough to prevent bending.The spreader is pretty tall, which makes it taller than it is wide. That's just asking for anything to topple, especially when you are putting weight in the top half.And the worst part is that I wasn't even going fast. How do I know? Because the impeller didn't seem to be throwing well, so I was going slower to see if that helped.That brings me to the next issue. For some reason, it is inconsistent with how much it throws. I tried changing the settings and there was no rhyme or reason for how much got tossed. After looking at it closer, I think the plastic auger was backing off. I tried tightening it again and I'll keep an eye on it.The installation instructions weren't terrible, but there were a couple of steps that could have used a little more detail. However, I was able to figure it out after playing around with it for a bit. Specifically, it was around the bolts that needed to be backed off to attach the frame. One other minor issue is that it referenced step 2.3 when it should have been step 3.3. I assume at one point it used to be step 2.3, but they added a new step 1, pushing the others back.What I like about the spreader is that it stops when you stop. That allows you to get out and close the hopper when moving to a new area. It would have been nice to be able to reach this from the seat of the lawn tractor, but it's not the end of the world.The tires are also nice and big. But this brings the instability into play as mentioned above. With a wider wheel base, these tires would be great.So, after spending more to get a "better brand", it turns out I got the same quality. Don't fall for that "Made in USA" is better crap, because that simply is not true. All companies are trying to make the most money by ripping their customers off.Extending the axle by 6 to 8 inches would drastically improve stability. And having the red hitch brackets be thicker and/or attached together with ribbing would drastically reduce the bending.