Chapin 8303C Made in the USA 100 lb. Contractor Turf Broadcast Spreader with Enclosed Gears System, Rugged Powder Coated Steel Frame, 12 Inch Tire, Includes Rain Cover and Grate, Red

For some people - the con (negative) - it takes some work in assembly. I like to assemble and I am pretty good at it. It took me about 2 hours. Some funky drawing perspectives in directions. But with patience and basic tools - it works and pays off. I was fed up with junk, undersized toy spreaders. Small wheels, short handles, unbalanced with fert loads that tip and dump.. This is a big stable unit, comfortable for taller people and with very good dose/direction control. I spread about 30,000 ft2 4 times a year. This will be the last spreader I need.

Bit of good and bad. Instructions were sparse on details. Alot to put together. Bolt pack provided is obviously imported mostly M5, which the frames were engineered for 1/4 inch bolts which would have been better. Added cheap flat washers to protect holes in long run. Wheels are plastic with hard rubber tires slightly out of round. The gear box is sturdy looking and separate from axle, a plus. Too bad they didn't use a good bushing through tub. Now for the good, lever had good control of regulator gate of which two of the holes can be blinded off. Unit had good throw and even application. You can cover alot of ground fast if you keep your confidence up. Rolled easy for the weight, but i straightened the frame for the plastic axle bushings and added silicon grease. Ball bearings would take this to the next level. Hated the two piece grate until i zip tied them together then loved the feature. Not a 5 but a decent 5. Similar and obvious to another brand if you look at frame and other details.

As material in the hopper gets low, it does not exit consistently. This is a major flaw. The other issue is the stop knob on the spreader settings loosens and allows for the amount of product spread hitting the turf out of your control. I would absolutely return this if amazon would let me.

I have used this spreader a few times since ordering it. First, building the spreader is easy enough. There were times that I had to study the picture and use some deductive reasoning, but for the most part it was easy to assemble. Prior to assembly, I wanted to make sure the gears were well greased and to my surprise, they had plenty of white lithium grease all over the apparent metal gears. Good to know. I sealed up the plastic gear cover and assembled the spreader. The only issue I wished would be different would be the auger would be lower in the hopper. Mine sits about an inch above the hopper and doesn't move material under it. I may try to adjust it if I can figure out how. After assembly, I used some Urea to gauge the amount of material at what settings. I used the suggested setting of 12 for 1/2 pound of N per 1000 sq ft. Setting 12 put out 14 pounds of Urea for roughly 15,000 sqft lawn. Looks like the settings are about perfect. I also used it to put down 58lbs of pre-emergent. I split the preM into two separate applications. I used the 12 setting on this also, and it worked well. The hopper may say 100lbs, but 40-50lb bags fit nicely into the hopper, I wouldn't go 100lbs. The bad: The two piece grate is worthless. I've tried it on the occasions and it isn't worth using so far. The rain cover though work great, though. Since I was putting down in slight drizzle, it helped keep the fertilizer from getting wet. Overall, this is a great spreader for those that need to jump up in size over the Scotts brand. Believe me, pushing that Scotts with a 40lb bag was a workout. The Chapin moves effortlessly with the pneumatic tires. Way easier and it will last for years.

All parts included. Putting it together was a bit challenging, instructions not thorough, but easy enough to figure out. This Chapin 3303C spreader appears very sturdy and built to last. My last spreader lasted 25 years. I expect this one will too!

I’m not sure why this is rated so high ? I after trying to use it-found it Very disappointing! As they say its assembly directions are very poor, but being mechanical I did it in about an hour+. The gauge for how much material is released is poor design- you can not set it at the recommended setting because it won’t be open enough for certain fertilizers! I still don’t have mine dialed in.Chapin says to set at 11-12 for fertilizer-NO WAY! The discharge holes won’t be open enough. The 8303C is too big for my 3k sq’ lawn-in process of exchanging for 80lb model. The 100lb is heavy pushing uphill I’m 76 & it’s tough. Tried to calibrate in a 500sq’ area on my drive & it threw it way past that area forward& sides. Hope the 80lb model is a little easier to use. But here comes Another assembly hassle. Don’t like the bar that stirs the fertilizer either.

My initial review of the Chapin 8303C broadcast spreader is below... I'm amending this review after just one year of use at this point. The gears would seem to grind some from the start, and I thought that using what sounds like plastic for gears on a piece of equipment supposedly designed for commercial use was a mistake. Well now the impeller barely turns and I'm sure the gears are worn almost completely. Fall is a major time for me (a small business gardener and landscaper) and to get to a job and not be able to use a tool for the job of the day really affects my livelihood and reputation with my customers. I'm terribly disappointed in this product, and have contacted Chapin to see what they can do for me and hopefully will be able to update this review favorably. I'm a professional gardener and landscaper and after using the spreaders that you find in the box stores or hardware stores just doesn't cut it. The original review follows ((The Chapin spreader is extremely well made, was easy to assemble but the best is how well it does the job! I have so much better control as to where and how much material I put down on the lawn. It makes me a better gardener and saves my clients money!))

I bought this spreader to put fertilizer on my large grass area. It worked very good. It is well built and can handle 100 lbs easily. It was easy for me to assembly, I am good with tools and common sense. It would have taken my son in law awhile longer to do if I was not with him. The instruction are not as detailed as I would hope for. But they got us through it. The distribution of the fertilizer was very even. The one hint I would give is to close the gate valve before stopping, otherwise too much product will fill the spinning spreader and you will have a ton of product fly out when you restart. Yes, I recommend this spreader.

It's well made and functions well for the most part; the price I bought it for was reasonable. The spread rate/ratio chart makes absolutely no sense, no way to determine how much to use specifically. When filled to capacity the screws on the under carriage that connect the chute opener to the main body will interfere with the spinner, making a grinding plastic noise. ;not sure of the long term implications of this. Granted I may have installed it incorrectly some how but I consider myself pretty diligent when putting these things together. Other than that, it's the typical cheap parts, non stainless bolts and screws, etc. It's decent for the price I paid for it years ago.