The spreader is well made, especially for the price given what else is out there these days. I've used the spreader once running about 100# of fertilizer through it. Here are my observations so far. Pretty easy to assemble, the directions seem a bit daunting at first given the size of the manual, but once you realize the manual is written for about a dozen different languages, it isn't so bad. The adjustment for the drop slide isn't quite right in the book, it says 1/2" showing on the ends of the rods, make that like 1/4" or the slide doesn't fully close and the first time you use it you'll end up with a pile of product under the spreader. When you adjust it and the handle is in the fully closed or off position, if you look under it and see any of the drop holes, it isn't closed far enough. One thing I did notice upon assembly is the finish on the parts is on the wrong side of awful. You can tell these metal parts were just painted quick and heavy then thrown in a pile, the paint is marred from touching other parts while wet. The tires are not as shown in the picture, those tires are actually rubber. The ones that come with the unit are cheap plastic tires (you know the ones, you can find great examples on the HF shelves). I don't know how long they'll last, but I'm guessing not very. It is these two reasons why the spreader only gets 4 stars (and the misrepresentation of the tires in the photo.) Using the spreader is easy. It is designed for use behind a tractor so reaching the handle is easy, if you have a tractor type mower. I have a ZT like many do these days so you really can't reach the handle. You can either play the "open the chute and run to the drivers seat before it drops too much product" game or tie a rope to the handle and pull it open and go. You just cannot close it (can't push a rope). The spreading is uniform and it will dump about as fast as you pull, the internal rotors are connected to the tires so spin the tires, spin the rotors, dump the product. This replaced a broadcast spreader and is much more even. The broadcast spreader would only consistently throw weed killer when I was near flower beds it would seem... Overall, this is a great spreader. It takes longer to do the lawn than with a broadcast obviously but it does a much better job. Get the settings right and you can just fertilize while you mow and not worry about it. It works great with clumpy material because the rotors at the bottom chew it up vs the broadcast which usually just throws the clumps around in the hopper. Because it drops you can get close to areas you don't want to cover and be consistent with coverage. Great spreader.

Spreader clogs up easily depending what your spreading. Not easy to unclog. It’s ok otherwise. Also difficult to reach the handle to turn on and off.