Agri-Fab 45-0543 100 lb. Tow Spiker/Seeder/Spreader, Black

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.

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 fist bought this after reading some reviews I was a little concerned. I ordered it keeping in mind I could return it if it seemed bad quality. First I am an experienced machine designer and assemble my own designs for the most part. So I removed al the parts, separated all the fasteners and checked to see that all the parts were there. Then I followed the directions and was completely amazed at how it went together per the directions. You do need to be somewhat mechanically inclined. This product went together very well for a mass produced product. No bending or wallowing out holes to make it assemble correctly. I read where some replaced the screws that fastened the wheels. First of all the threads would only cut so far if any because most of the time the tines are taking the load if you're using it correctly. If the threads were to cut into the wheel holes it would stop once the threads filled and would then work as a bearing surface since it has no other place to go since that area is encapsulated. I waited for a good rain and the next day used it. We have hard dirt in NC. But since the ground was wet it worked well. I actually didn't use the pattern they suggested but ran over the yard then zig-zagged letting the rate setting on the dropping set about mid way. Anyway...for the price you cannot beat it.