EarthWayProducts 2050TP 80lb Towable Broadcast Spreader - Pull Behind Spreader, ATV Spreader for Lawn Mower - Adjustable Fertilizer and Seed Spreader with Easy Flow, Durable Frame

Specified minor assy required! Understatement. One part was defective. Earthwsy sent a replacement part and the wheel axel assy needed to be assembled. Instruction manual only had a parts breakdown!Besides that the product is great. Works well!

First of all the instructions were pathetic, you can't even make out what the photos they are sharing, super poor quality. Second, you might as well be reading Chinese, nothing makes sense and additionally they start by saying "after the wheel have been installed, yet you have to install them and it isn't easy to figure out with some odd pieces.Lastly, this has to be the cheapest piece of crap EarthWay produces, super low quality and I would never recommend.

ASSEMBLY: I just love it when a product says "semi-assembled" don't you? Its another way of saying, "were lying to you, you pretty much have to assemble the whole thing." The only thing which is already assembled, is the gearbox unit. You have to attach the hopper to the frame, controller to the frame, and the wheels. Though most of it was easy to assemble, I do take issue with the hopper fastening design. Specifically the part where you have to insert the carriage bolts to fasten the hopper to the frame.After tightening down the nuts on these bolts, I noticed the bolt heads were wanting to pull through the holes in the plastic hopper! I just knew that it was not going to last more then one use. So I installed a couple of washers and that seemed to fix the issue. Though they do provide you with instructions, they are poorly written and require you to do more thinking then you generally want to do for something so simple.GEARBOX & WARNING; Incase you didn't know, the Earthway 2050TP is a low end model, this is why it costs around $160.00, now is $92.00. Despite what is mentioned in the SPECS, the gearbox is far from commercial! The insides of the gearbox are all plastic, which means, if you abuse this spreader, the gearbox will fail. The manual states a warning to all operators. DO NOT EXCEED 3-MPH WITH YOUR TRACTOR WHILE TOWING THIS ATTACHMENT! As long as you adhere by this warning, you should not have any problems with the gearbox.HOPPER CAPACITY: The hopper has a 1900 cubic inch, or 80-pound capacity. What this means is, when your hopper is fully filled to its rated capacity, you must use the proper setting on the controller to spread the fertilizer around. If you are unsure about what setting to use, don't worry. On the back of every bag of fertilizer, they provide instructions for all the major brands of spreaders and which settings to use per yard sise.OPERATING: Again, please make sure while operating this lawn spreader to move no faster then 3MPH with your tractor, I use 2MPH as a golden rule. Make sure the lever on the controller is in the off position till you get onto your lawn. Then, move the lever to the proper setting that you are recommended to use. As you start moving, you will notice the deflection wheel rotating, this is what throws your fertilizer around.Using fertilizer, I found that this spreader did a pretty good job, it did spread evenly for the most part. I just moved slowly and made wide turns with it and I never dumped the hopper. As the hopper got low, I had to get off my tractor to shake the hopper to get the rest of the fertilizer to fall downward. I was mostly happy about the performance of the spreader.Using Insect Killer, If you read my "lawn roller" review, you may recall me telling you that the best weapon against the moles is a insect killer. Kill the insects, and the moles leave! You can also buy insect killer for lawn spreaders, it is also a dry based product but with one difference. I find that the insect killer is made up of larger granules then that of the more powder based Weed & Feed.Because of this, even when I used the proper setting as written on the back of the bag, the insect killer did not want to flow right. This is because the granules are just too big to get through the tiny hole and get stuck. When I adjusted the controller setting at a higher number to compensate for this, it began to flow out way to quickly and I went through it all before I even got to the back yard!CONCLUSION: I think that this is a pretty good spreader for the money, its not really that expensive. It spreads fertilizer pretty evenly for the most part, and I am over all happy with the product. However, the spreader not being able to handle an insect killer despite being rated to do so, is very disappointing. I am also very weary of the plastic gearbox. Despite the product having the word "Estate" in the title, I highly suggest you do not use it on your estate as it won't hold up. If you really have a 3 to 6 acre estate, buy the best spreader you can buy.

I was look for a spreader for my zero radius lawnmower. This mowers has the motor in the back and it's not easy to reach the spreader control. After reading the reviews I thought I would try and found that I had to get off the lawnmower to turn it on or turn it off. After a couple of bags I solve this problem with buying a lawnmower control cable. I unhooked the factory cable at the bottom and attach the new cable and brought it over to the lawnmower and held it in place with big hand clamp. This worked quite well. I wish I got a 5 foot cable instead of a 4 but they only had a 4.As I have two large dogs my backyard is quite bumpy and that is why I was spreading palletized line. I found the spreader worked very well never sliding or tipping.It held the 40 lb. bags. I'm thinking that 80 lbs. of lime would fill the hopper to the very top.

THIS SPREADER BELIEVE OR NOT ACTUALLY WORKS WITHOUT THE NEED TO CONTINUALLY ORDER REPLACEMENT PARTS FOR THAT OTHER JUNK! 4 OUT OF 5 OF THEIR STUFF IS ALREADY AT THE LANDFILL, LAST ONE IS BEING WELDED BACK TOGETHER BY A FRIEND, MAYBE IT WILL WORK. WOULDN'T COUNT ON IT.FRIEND OF MINE HAS A STORE & TOLD HIM TO GET RID OF THE OTHER STUFF, HE WAS VERY GLAD HE DID. THIS EARTHWAY IS PRETTY GOOD AND ACTUALLY EASY TO OPERATE, JUST DON'T USE "S_ _ _ _ _" WITH MOSS CONTROL. THAT STUFF IS LIKE CONCRETE WITH THE WATER ADDED TO IT. THE ONLY WAY IT GETS TO THE GRASS IS BY THROWING IT! THE CONTROLS ON THE EARTHWAY ARE HD AND EASY TO REACH. STAY ON # WITHOUT RESETTING ON EVERY TURN. DIDN'T BURN THE "_ _ _ _" OUT OF THE GRASS THIS YEAR! CLEANS UP REAL EASY & THESE FOLKS ARE SMART ENOUGH TO TELL YOU NOT TO POOR 3 QUARTS OF 10W40 ON AFTER YOU WASH IT! IF WE EVER HAVE MONEY AGAIN, DOUBT THAT& REPLACE THE PIECE OF JUNK TRACTOR (THE ONLY ONE I COULD AFFORD) FROMTHOSE GUYS WHO USE TO HAVE THE BIG TOWER IN CHICAGO. RAN GREAT, FIRST FEW DAYS, LUCKY MY FRIEND HAS A SHOP & IS IN THE BUSINESS CAUSE AS MANY TIMES AS IT HAS BEEN THERE, I COULD HAVE PURCHASE A JD COMBINE!HE TELLS ME DON'T BRING IT IN NOW WHAT TIL WINTER AND WILL TRY TO FIND PART FROM THE OTHER JUNK ONES OUT BACK. MAN THEY ARE PROBABLY REALLY HOWLING, SIDES ACHING IN PEKING! NEED MORE STUFF FROM CHINA DON'T WE, KEEPS THE ECONOMY ROLLING CAUSE YOU HAVE TO KEEP BUYING THE SAME STUFF. OVER & OVER AGAIN. GOOD PLAN CHAIRMAN MAO!

wheels were located too close to tub needed to be widened out. The reason is when loaded it became top heavy just the slight incline and it was tip over

Used this spreader for 2.5 years on a property with about one acre of lawn. To start, within the first three months, the gear driving the propeller plate seized. Called customer service. First, the rep accused me of driving the lawnmower too fast but eventually sent the replacement parts.I was never happy with this spreader. The wheels are too placed too narrowly which causes the spreader to tip over onto its side. Maybe its because my property has quite a few hills, but it has also happened on a bumpy but otherwise flat-level surface. Today, one of the struts supporting the wheels has broken off. It was completely rusted through. Somehow the metal tube was completely filled with fertilizer so it rusted from the inside.

Overall the preader seems to be well made, but there are some issues. 1 - the assembly instructions are poor or non-existent other than a diagram of the parts. 2 - access to bolt on the frame is difficult unless you have tiny hands. 3 - There are some design issues, particularly in the attachment of the wheels. Unless you are prepared to do some re-engineering I would avoid this product.