Seed Spreader Bx2200

[bxbuster]

What are your thoughts on an electric spreader that would hook up to the three point? I was looking at tow behind models and they run close to 200 bucks for a decent one. I really wanted something pto driven but that was cost prohibitive. I found this one on ebay and looks straight forward. I'm thinking about buying one and was wondering if anyone had thoughts one way or the other on it. It comes with a full lifetime guarantee... http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3668523835&category=1269

 

[Bob_Skurka]

I would think that these units are less durable than PTO driven units, however they are MUCH cheaper.

I used to have a tow behind spreader but I threw it away. Mine was an Agi-Fab. I used it to spread salt in the winter. It was light duty, it corroded quickly and beyond repair. I would not consider another tow behind for several reasons.

I am considering buying a 12 volt model similar to the one you identified on Ebay but I am looking to mount it to the FRONT BUMPER of a tractor to spread salt, while the snowblower is mounted on the 3pt hitch. My logic is I drive backwards to throw the snow, so I could spread salt from the front bumper because it is in the rear of my travel path.

I too would be curious about hearing from anyone who has any experience with the 12 volt spreaders.

 

[Junkman]

I had one that came free with a tractor that I purchased a couple of years ago. The previous owner was very good about cleaning it after each use and the motor didn't hold up very well to the salt. After two seasons use, the motor was very finicky about working and by the time I gave it away, it was useless. The hopper was still in great condition, but the salt got into the motor and destroyed it. A close examination of the design tells me that there is no way to avoid this problem because they are so low priced to start with. Save your money and purchase quality or just spread it by hand if you feel that you can't afford the proper tool for the job. To purchase on of these for $159 is like wasting money in my opinion, not purchasing a lesser tool that will do the job that it is intended for.
I shall digress here for a moment and tell the story about the antique car that I and a few friends found in NH back in the 1960's. It was still in the original packing crate. The original owners son related the story that the car had such a bad reputation for breakdowns, that his father didn't ever assemble it after it arrived because he already knew of the reliability issues and just purchased another car. They were a wealthy family and could afford it. A friend purchased the car and proceeded to assemble it. The first day, something broke. He took the part to the machine shop and a few days later, had a new part and was back to trying to drive the car. Then another part broke and the same thing was repeated. Back to the machine shop and back on the road a few days later. This went on for about 5 or 6 times, when in desperation, one night he said, "I don't know what to do with the car". We all said "Sell it, before something else breaks!". That is what he did. The following week, he placed an ad in the N.Y. Times and the car sold for a lot more than he paid for it. The new buyer came with a trailer and took it away. I am certain that that car was not driven very much, but must have been trailered to car shows quite a lot. Some things are not reliable from day one. This car was one of them and these spreaders aren't very far behind in my opinion.

 

[TresCrows]

I believe you can get a Herd model M96 PTO driven--3-point spreader for under 350 dollars or such that will last a lifetime. It is great for seeds and pellitized lime, fertilizer etc. Not so good for fine powdery stuff and salt. Love mine. J

 

[Jim_Becker]

I've been using the Herd M96 for four years now. It's excellent with the BX and you don't have to fool around with the electricity to use it...just engage the PTO and go!

 

[NY_Yankees_Fan]

Jim,

Can you use weed and feed fertilizer in the Herd unit?

 

[DannyD]

On the same idea, but going one step further, is there such an animal as a spreader/power seeder, as in cuts the little rows, and covers them, for the BX2200, or has someone on the board designed one that really works, that you would care to post photos of.

I am redoing my whole yard and will need it for a few seasons


thanks in advance

 

[TresCrows]

"Can you use weed and feed fertilizer in the Herd unit? "

It depends, many well know weed and feed brands such as Scotts are very fine with a lot of dust. These small granules do not spread well with the M96 or most other such rotary spreaders. There are some weed and feeds that will work OK. I just put some stuff out I got at a local farm store--Weed and Feed and it did fine. Pellatized materials and seeds do best in the M96. Love mine.
By the way, it will spread fine granules--just not very well, I put out about a 100 lbs of Diazonon granules as a tick barrier. It spread them but I occasionally hadd to stop and slap the side of the spreader to get them to continue feeding toward the bottom. Still, I did in an hour what would have taken all day by a hand push drop spreader. J

 

[BXMMCC]

....Diazonon granules as a tick barrier....

TresCrows - have you done this in the past? How effective has it been? How much area did 100 lbs. treat? Do you have chiggers in your part of the country? Many thanks!

 

[TresCrows]

Well, yes, the stuff I use is stated to kill ticks. The 100 lbs spread thinly can cover a large area. In the past I used Diazonon and Dursban but know I used something that was from Spectrocide labled as a Diazonon replacement. What I do is lay down a perimeter. I also make a few passes into the woods. Yes, it has been effective. I cannot recommend it for you or anyone else but it does seem to stop them from getting into my property to a great degree. I have several brushy areas and a wooded place by a creek we call the park. I run in and around those areas. I also use a perimeter around my house and shop. It seems to make a difference for the good. Be careful about affecting runoff and use the stuff per labled directions. I don't think it harms the wildlife at the low dosage I use. J

 

[Junkman]

Do you use a insecticide such as Frontline Plus on your dogs also? I have been using Frontline Plus for the past 2 years with good results. It works well on the dogs, but I do find ticks walking on me after being out cutting the grass or doing other things outside. Here in N.E. CT, if we have a warm day in February where the temperatures get into the 50's, the ticks will come out for that day! My wife told me this evening, that the fleas have already started to be a problem according to her customers. She runs a pet shop, so we hear about them first hand.

 

[SCDolphin]

Heck I have so many chiggers on my property in SC, I have named it " Chigger Acres".

Nothing like a good scratch.

 

[TresCrows]

I cannot believe I am still on this computer--oh well--I need a life I guess /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif. My neighbor is a vet. I let my wife and her take care of all that. They are on some type of preventative for ticks and such in season. I am not much for dosing my dogs with poison though. I would rather put it on the ticks. Also it keeps them off me and the wife person (most important) /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif. I worry that it might harm all the harmless and beneficial garter snakes and such but I see no evidence that they are fewer in number around here so I think I am not hurting them.
One way of spreading granular materials is to mix it in with a pellatized fertilizer when you put it out. This seems to help the finer materials continue to flow and turns two jobs into one /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif.
Seems to work for me but your results may vary. One thing, Kansas is very nearly a desert with very long periods of little or no rain. I wonder if my method would work as well back home in rainy Louisiana. I suspect more applications would be required than the two a year I currently do. here I usually hit them like early Spring and again after the Spring rains end which is very nearly exactly the last day of June here when the rain simply vanishes save for a stray storm here or there. J

 

[gsganzer]

We can help y'all with your tick and chigger problem. Just tell me where to mail a batch of our fire ants. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

I declared a "holy war" on the fireants in my yard and had almost all the mounds "zapped" a few years ago. Unfortunately, this caused the tick population to reach record levels. (You're wife won't be too happy when she finds a tick crawling on the bed sheets!!!)

It turns out that the fireants help control the ticks, so now I'm in a quandary. Do I continue controlling the fireants (that I hate as much as a root canal), and allow the ticks to come back (which the wife hates just as much)? Or do I adopt the "scorched earth" policy and nuke the whole yard with diazinon to ice everything with six legs?

I need to spend some time in the "war room" (bathroom)planning my attack.

 

[Poppa]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( <font color="blue"> I declared a "holy war" on the fireants in my yard and had almost all the mounds "zapped" a few years ago. Unfortunately, this caused the tick population to reach record levels... It turns out that the fireants help control the ticks, so now I'm in a quandary.
</font> )</font>

A QUANDRY!!! Good Gravy man, I thought I had it bad with some crickets and mice. Sounds to me like your Jihad is nothing compared to the full blown war already going on in your yard. My advice would be to either never go outside or RUN!

Between reading the posts about chiggers, ticks and fire ants you can bet I won't be complaining about a couple of crickets or Black Widow spiders anymore.

Gotta go scratch /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

Mike

 

[gsganzer]

The bug problem certainly keeps us entertained. There's nothing like watching a redneck devising ways to kill fireants. It's like the old joke: How do you know when a redneck's about to kill himself? When he yells "Hey y'all! Watch this!"

The fireants, ticks and chiggers are manageable. It's the "mud daubers" that can cause me grief. They always seem to plug up the things that don't need plugging.

 

[TresCrows]

"The fireants, ticks and chiggers are manageable. It's the "mud daubers" that can cause me grief. They always seem to plug up the things that don't need plugging. "

Yep, same here, while there are no fireants in Kansaw there are plenty of those pestiferous mud dubbers. I hate those things more than anything and nothing I have come up with slows there destruction of my property. Coming from La. I know about fireants---NUKE the yard with Diazonon or similar and control the mounds with Amdro.

"Hey, y'all watch this"! /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif----yep, last time I yelled that I singed all my hair off and the explosion was large enough that in the evening twilight it attracted curious air traffic and rattled windows for some distance. Amazing what a few gallons of gasoline and diesel fuel will do to a pond full of cattails. Holy cow /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif. J

 

[Poppa]

What is a mud dauber? And I think you have forgotten to mention them african bees in your list.

Mike

 

[gsganzer]

A mud dauber looks like a hornet. They roll up little balls of mud from nearby puddles and use them to make a little mud nest (about 1" to 3" long x 1/2" wide tunnel) under your eves, car air filter, outdoor electrical panels, hot tub control panels, outdoor light fixtures, water tank pressure switch, air conditioning condensate drain, between the windows and the screen etc. etc. etc. Basically anywhere you don't want one.

Haven't had any run-ins with the african bees, those are still farther south. Yellow jackets, I have plenty of them. Two summers ago I had a record going for the most consecutive weekends to get stung while cutting the grass. Five weekends straight (twice one weekend). They always seemed to get me in the head or back of the neck. I've gotten rid of most of them. BTW: don't buy the economy brand hornet killer, I can p!$$ a stream further then they shoot and it only seems to get them aggitated. The good stuff knocks them out of the air.

 

[Poppa]

Hornets I understand. When I was living in WA state, I found a hornets nest about the size of a honey dew melon right outside the back door. I hate the things so I did the only thing I could think of I called an exterminator. He came out and removed it in about five minutes, made it look easy and me look wimpy. Not to mention a hundred dollars lighter. After he Left I was walking around in the backyard feeling pretty good when I happened to see another nest up in a tree big as a beach ball and twenty yards away from where the original one was.

went back inside and drank beer til winter. /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Mike