Best Drop Spreaders for Your Garden | Reviews & Guide of 2024

You might know if you are into gardening or farming how tiring and exhausting it is to spread the fertilizer or seeds manually; it might just take most of your day. Instead, you can get a drop spreader that meets your needs and saves you a lot of time.

Not to forget to mention that it will help you spread whatever you want to spread in your garden or farm evenly. You must be wondering, how would you even know which spreader is the accurate and best spreader for you?

You don’t have to stress about it, especially when we have already curated a list with perfect and best drop spreaders that you can get. You can also refer to the buying guide, which will help you define exactly what you need in your spreaders.

Let us show you some of the best drop spreaders that you choose from,

Best Drop Spreader Reviews

1. Scotts 76565 Turf Builder Classic Drop Spreader

Scotts has one of the classic spreaders that works the best, and you can easily get it at a cost-efficient price. If you have a small yard, you can get this spreader. The hopper has the capacity to spread the seeds in about 10,000 square feet of ground.

It is highly easy to maintain and use this drop spreader. All you gotta do is assemble the dropper and put in the seeds that you want to spread. The spreading width of the equipment is 22-inch wide, and it will help you cover the area of the garden very quickly.

It is one of those walk-behind drop spreaders that will last for a few years. Because the wheels are larger and have even better stability of the frame, you do not have to worry about the ease of the flow.

What we like the most about this spreader is that you can even use it as a handheld spreader. There’s a lever that you can push to evenly spread the seeds in the area of ground about 5000 square feet in one go without needing to refill it.

This can be a perfectly good addition to your collection of gardening tools. The only setback is that if you have a larger area in your ground, you might need to refill, or you will have to get another one with a larger capacity.

2. Earthway 2150 50 LB Commercial Broadcast Fertilizer Spreader

Earthway has been one of the leading brands when it comes to providing some of the best gardenings tools, and this spreader does not lag behind, adding value to the brand. The special thing about this spreader is its patented design for even spreading.

This spreader is capable of spreading the fertilizer from its 3-hole-drop system, and it will let you control the width of the ground the spreading will cover.

You can even adjust the spreading settings in a way that you can use the side spread function so that if you want to spread fertilizer to the sidewalk grass, flowerbeds, etc. Your work will be even made easier with its 13-inch pneumatic tires.

You can easily walk behind the spreader without having to struggle rolling through the soil. It will glide easily even when there is uneven soil.

Using this broadcast fertilizer spreader from Earthway is very easy. The capacity of the tank is 50 lbs, and it can easily help you cover medium to a large area without needing to be refilled.

Moreover, it is also equipped with a heavy-duty Epoxy powder coated “Diamond” chassis. It is one of the stylish and hassle-free broadcast fertilizer spreaders you can spend your money on.

3. Earthway 2170 Commercial Broadcast Drop Spreader

Earthway has quite a few spreaders that you can choose from easily. One more spreader from Earthway made its way onto our list. This one has the capacity to hold 100 lbs, so if you are tired of refilling your spreader for your large garden, this might just fit with your needs.

The 13-inch pneumatic tires of the spreader will make it easy to do the job. You do not have to worry if the surface of the ground is a bit rocky or with puddles. The tires will slide on the ground carrying the maximum weight without much effort.

This broadcast fertilizer spreader is built to last along with its rust-proof hopper and other long-lasting parts. There is Earthway’s patented 3-hole-signature drop system that will give you a blockage-free spreading.

You can even adjust the length of the handle of the spreader to make it perfectly comfortable for you to spread fertilizer.

When we are mentioning all of its good features, how can we forget to mention the heavy-duty gearbox that lets you handle the spreading with no blockages or no extra time wasted fumbling over the perfect settings that you need for spreading?

You can even control the side spread of the spreader up to 180°. Its ergonomic design is also made to last you long and give you the performance of every penny you spend on it.

4. Chapin 8620B 150 lb Tow Behind Drop Spreader

Suppose you are looking for a spreader that will give you a high capacity when it comes to you not needing to refill the tank of the spreader. You can also get a tow-behind spreader by Chapin that comes with a capacity of 150 lb.

You can easily fit this spreader behind your ATVs, tractor, UTVs, and even you can attach it to your lawnmowers. You just have to make sure that you are connecting the hitch properly so the spreader cannot collapse or, worse, spill the seeds or fertilizer in one place.

The chain has made spreaders in the USA and has acquired all the materials to make from all around the globe, just to make sure that the tow-behind spreader that you are purchasing can be the best of everything.

Let us not forget that it comes at a very pocket-friendly cost, and with proper maintenance, it will last you for years.

There are certain features in this spreader that makes it one of the best in the market, and those features are as follows, Auto-stop to make sure that there’s availability to stop the spreading exactly when you want, easy 11 incremental gate adjustment that lets you control the spreading speed and the amount of spread, etc.

The tires of this spreader are also quite easy to glide, especially as it is a tow-behind spreader. You will be done with your work in no time.

5. Agri-Fab 45-0463 130-Pound Tow Behind Broadcast Spreader

Sometimes, the walk-behind spreaders do not come with the capacity that you need for your ground coverage. Sometimes even if they do, pushing them in front of you becomes hard with all that weight that it carries.

When that happens, tow-behind broadcast spreaders come in as your savior. This particular spreader by Agri-Fab might become your favorite spreader because of the strong build and the ease of use you get with this spreader.

The capacity of this spreader is 130 lb, which is sufficient for your medium to large gardens, so you can easily save effort and time when it comes to refilling the hopper of the spreader. You can easily control the on and off of the spreading with its durable and easily manageable rod.

It has a universal hitch, so it can easily fit in your ATVs, UTVs, lawnmowers, or gardening mini tractors. You can make sure whether this tow-behind spreader is compatible with whatever vehicle you have.

What concerns the users most about the spreaders is the tires of the tool. But you do not have to worry about it when it comes to this spreader as they are pneumatic tires that can easily glide over even and uneven fields equally.

Not to forget that it will not tip over when you are towing it behind your vehicle, so you can rest easy about that part too.

If you have land near about 25,000 sq. ft., we are sure that you will not require refilling the hopper, but if you have a larger area to cover than that, you can easily refill the hopper without much hassle. In addition to all of this, this tow behind broadcast spreader comes with a 3-year warranty.

6. Agri-Fab 45-0462 Push Behind Broadcast and Drop Spreader

Agri-Fab is a well-known and well-admired brand for the excellency of gardening tools and equipment. However, it gets even difficult to choose only one product from them when there is one more broadcast spreader that can easily make its way onto our list of best drop spreaders.

This spreader is a push behind spreader that you or any elderly in your house can use without putting in stressful efforts.

The capacity of this push behind the broadcast spreader is about 130 pounds, surely ideal for even the larger ground space. Don’t worry if you have a larger than 25,000 square feet of the area, as refilling this spreader is easy and quick.

If you are one of those customers who are keen on purchasing the product that is made in the USA, this might fit the bill along with its 3-year warranty.

This push behind broadcast spreader has pneumatic tires of 13-inch, which makes your work even more easy and quick. They are known to slide as smoothly on even the rocky surface as the water slides down.

You can adjust the low control with the rod of the machine along with the width area that the spreader covers. What more can we say? This push behind broadcast spreaders is a package deal when it comes to low pricing, excellent performance, and even better durability.

We are sure that it will easily make it to your shortlisted spreaders’ list.

Buying Guide for Best Drop Spreaders

We have seen the list of some of the best drop spreaders that you can purchase, but again the main question is how can you choose any random spreader for the list of the spreaders and know which one will perfectly meet your needs?

To help you figure out this question, we have curated this buying guide to help you perfectly define exactly what kind of drop spreader that you need. But before we can head into that, let us first learn a little bit technicalities about the drop spreaders,

What is a Drop Spreader?

Basically, the drop spreaders have bucket-shaped hoppers with a good capacity to hold fertilizers, seeds, etc. Accessing this hopper, the droppers are connected; now, depending on which type of drop spreader you are using, the wheels’ movement helps the spreader do its job.

If you are using a push behind drop spreading, it will do the spreading job as you push it forward as you walk, and as for the tow-behind spreaders, it will do its job when they are towed behind the suitable and compatible vehicle that you might have.

They are very much useful when it comes to spreading fertilizers in large areas. You can get that job done within just a few minutes with the help of the spreader.

Types of drop spreaders

There are basically two types of drop spreaders used by farming or gardening enthusiasts. One is walk-behind spreaders, and the second is tow-behind spreaders. They both are useful in different needs, depending on their capacity and the area that needs to be covered by it.

Walk-behind spreaders are more suitable for customers who have a small area to cover, and if they are okay with refilling the hopper, they can also prefer to get this kind of spreader for their medium to large areas.

They work pretty easily; you have to assemble the spreaders, but whatever you want to spread in your garden in the hopper keeping in mind the capacity of the hopper. Some spreaders come with the spreading setting that you can adjust per your needs, and after that, you can start walking your drop spreader in front of you while it does the job you have purchased it to do,

Tow-behind spreaders are most ideal for those who have larger square feet to cover. Most of the tow-behind spreaders have a larger capacity when it comes to the hopper.

You can put whatever you want to spread in the area in the hopper and connect it via hitch to the compatible vehicle that you have, like ATVs, UTVs, lawnmowers, tractors, etc.

Once after making sure that the spreader is securely attached to the vehicle, you can do your setting for the spread and start driving your vehicle around. Using the tow-behind spreader will make your job very easy and quick.

One thing that you have to keep in mind is that you have to purchase a tow-behind drop spreader that is highly compatible with your already owned vehicle; that is why most of the users prefer to purchase a spreader with a universal hitch.

What to look for before you decide which drop spreader is perfect for you?

Before purchasing anything, customers should compare and examine each aspect of the product. But neglect one most important thing, like defining what they actually need.

This time, we suggest you follow that order with the help of this buying guide, and we are sure that you will end up purchasing the most effective drop spreader that you need.

In order to do so, the below-mentioned points can help you determine what are the features and functions you can look for so that you can select the most compatible drop spreader that you need.

Square feet of the area to be covered

This has to be one of the topmost questions that you have to focus on. You have to define the approximate or accurate square feet of the area that you want to use the spreader for. Once you do that, it will help you figure out what kind of capacity you will need to cover the area for your needs.

Here, there are certain factors that might affect your choice, which is correlated with the type of spreaders, the capacity of the spreaders, etc. If you are clueless about the area you have to use your spreader for, you will never be able to make the correct choice that is hassle-free.

Type of the spreader

Types of spreaders are more dependent on the two factors, personal choice and the capacity of the spreader. Now, if you already have some kind of gardening vehicle, you can always opt for the tow-behind spreader, but if you are looking for a spreader to cover the sidewalks or the small area, you can get yourself a push-behind spreader.

Again, it all depends on you, but if you have a large area that you want to cover and you have the availability of the vehicles like ATVs, UTVs, etc., you should always opt for the tow-behind drop spreaders.

Wheels

Believe it or not, wheels are one of the most integral parts of the spreader, and you surely do not want to be stuck with a spreader which makes the spreading of the fertilizers, seeds, etc., hard for you.

Most of the standard spreaders have 13-inch or 14-inch pneumatic tires that usually slide slowly on the rough soil, but some of the spreaders have a bad reputation when it comes to their wheels, so you can steer clear from those kinds of spreaders.

If your spreader does not have compatible wheels with the capacity of the spreaders, there are very high chances that the hopper will tip over despite the type of spreader you are using. Always make sure to check the quality and easiness of glides on rocky as well as uneven surfaces before you make your purchase.

Handle of the spreader

This point is particularly considered for the walk-behind spreaders because you are pushing the spreader on the ground with your hands. It has to be compatible with your height, and not all spreaders come with an adjustable handle height. If the spreader has an adjustable handle, you can easily make sure that using the spreader does not become a tiring task for you.

If the handle of the spreader is not comfortable and as you need it to be, you are likely to get tired after your work is done. So always make sure to choose the spreader with the handle that can be adjusted in height as per your needs.

The capacity of the hopper

The capacity of the hopper can be considered as one of the most important factors that you will check for before you can make your choice. There are spreaders with 50 lb capacity, and there are spreaders with 150 lb capacity. You have to figure out the area that you want to cover and the amount of fertilizer it will need to cover the desired area.

Once you figure that out, you will be able to know what is the capacity that you will need your hopper to hold. After figuring that out, your decision becomes even easier.

Rust-proof-ness

Imagine spending certain money on some tool only to find out in a few days that it is rusting and it cannot do the performance you hoped that it would. That will be a total disaster and a complete waste of money.

If the mechanisms of the spreader get rusted, you will not be able to do the spreading as efficiently as you are supposed to. Hence, it is highly advised that you look for a spreader that is rust-proof.

Warranty

A drop spreader is something that you do not purchase every other day, and you might have to spend a good amount of money for the spreader that can last you long.

Now, imagine if you are purchasing a spreader that was perfect for you, but it is from an unknown brand. At this time, if you will have a warranty, you will feel secure against the amount of money you spend on the tool.

Although most of the spreaders do not require any warranties and especially above mentioned best drop spreaders are some of the most long-lasting spreaders that you can get, but if you are still reluctant about it, you can always look for a compatible spreader that comes with a warranty.

Conclusion

Drop spreaders are one of the easiest ways to spread the fertilizers, seeds, pesticides in your farm or your garden, but we understand that choosing one that meets your needs is a tough decision.

We curated this buying guide along with the list of the best drop spreaders you can get to ensure that your decision and choice regarding the spreader becomes even easier. With a spreader that meets your needs perfectly, your work will be made so much easier.

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