CHAPIN 8400C 100-Pound Capacity Made in USA Professional SureSpread Turf Spreader with Stainless Steel Frame and Linkage, Enclosed Gearbox, 14-inch Tires, Rotary Gate - Fertilizers/Weed Control, Red

This is such a quality spreader. Great components and stainless steel frame. It was not really that challenging to put together, you just have to study the drawings and replicate them. After reading a review about a different Chapin spreader, I heeded their suggestion that you should use washers and lock washers on all of the bolts. Some reviews have noted that these spreaders can loosen up and the nylon nuts don’t really stay secure. I bought 1/4” stainless steel washers and 1/4” stainless steel lock washers to secure all of the bolts (see the photos). I used these washers on the head end of the bolt as well as on the nut end. The frame tubes are all rounded and the heads and nuts don’t have a flat surface on which to seat. It feels really solid after putting mine together this way. The only problem about the instructions that I still haven’t clarified is the large washers. It only says “use the washers as needed.” They are intended for somewhere along the wheel/axle/wheel assembly to take out any back and forth slack, I just don’t know where. I’ll call Chapin again tomorrow. They have been very helpful when I called with questions. The other nice thing about this spreader is that it has two different augers—one regular style flat auger (but not a simple thin piece of metal), and an auger that is like a drum with wings on it. The manual says the drum is for applications of minerals (that tend to clump) to lawns. I regularly apply gypsum to my yard as it helps with clay soil. The gypsum clumps badly, and I know the drum will help in applying it. This is a spreader with quality parts, good design and so easy to use. The open/close of the holes is solid with no slack—just strong and gets the job done, without question about whether it had. One last thing, this thing is FN HUGE. I didn’t realize it was so big. I won’t have to reload so often for my 5000 sq ft lawn. I love it!!!

The instructions need more tweaking but, I didn't have any problems figuring things out. It took maybe 45 minutes to assemble. I just purchased the Argri-Fab 130 lbs spreader I really wasn't pleased with it. It wasn't broadcasting the way that I expected it to. If you forget to close the hopper or some media get caught in it, the media just poor out you would have to reach down and dislodge the media to close it because it didn't come the a screen to filter out large pieces of media. Now, the Chapin International 8400C all I can say is wow! I held off putting down my milorganite until I received my Chapin spreader. It is definitely worth the money. The swath is so much more precise and wider also the spread control for left, right or just straight works beautiful! The tires are much wider than the Agri-Fab and it come with a screen and cover so you can use it in the rain. I will not need to purchase another spreader again. by the way it also has a zerk fitting to grease the gears.

The Good: This thing is built like a tank! Solid construction, awesome big wheels, super easy to push around, and holds a ton of material. The Bad: -The instructions need to be improved. I figured it out just fine but some room for improvement here. -Not all material comes out of the hopper when you get to the very bottom. Usually left with a cup of material at the end and constantly needing to adjust the angle of the hopper to get the last bit to come out. There are three giant holes in the bottom to let material out, surely this design can be improved. This is so irritating and takes a 5 star spreader to a 3 star spreader. Overall: Solid spreader for the money. Solid construction, good price, works well. Couple areas for improvements but I’d still probably recommend.

This was not the easiest nor the hardest to assemble, but I absolutely respect the thought and engineering that went into the design and instructions. It did take longer to assemble than I expected but I am okay with that based on the end result. This should be the last spreader I ever own, assuming I wash it, lube it when necessary and no one steals it. I have about an acre and a half of lawn and trees that I will use this unit on. The terrain varies, so a pull behind with my lawn tractor is more trouble than it is worth at this point. The design is very well thought out. The machine has a nice wide stance, the spreader can be adjusted to spread left, right, center or any comination of the three. The materials used for construction are stout, not just good looking but flimsy.

I have a 2 acre zoysia yard and fertilize every month during the growing season. I also put down pre-emergent, etc.. so I use my spreader a lot. I finally wore my Shindawa RS60 out this spring and knew I wanted something as good or even better. I did a lot of research and zeroed in on the Chapin 8400C. I think it delivers a ton of bang for the buck. The tires are so much bigger than the Shindawa which makes it is significantly easier to use. It also holds 80 pounds of product, so cuts down on my refills by half. I really like that all of the metal parts are stainless; this was the lowest priced unit I could find in stainless. It also has a zerk fitting which will allow me to take better care of it than my Shindawa. Instructions were simple; it took me less than an hour to build it. I really like this spreader, look forward to many years of use and highly recommend it to others.

Unbelievable materials quality. I just leave mine out in the weather next to the air-conditions next to the house and my spreader looks like new. But there is this... The tank that holds the fertilizer doesn't funnel the material to the holes in the bottom very effectively. The result of this is that quite a bit of fertilizer is still in the hopper when the spreader stops dispensing material. I end up having to tip and shake the spreader for far too long to get the last bit of fertilizer out. The entire time I find myself asking, "how could you design a fertilizer spreader that doesn't funnel the chemical to the holes in the bottom?" This seems like a huge oversite to me... And it's not just me. I lent my spreader to my neighbor. When he returned it I asked him what he thought. He said, "Really nice... but not all the fertilizer comes out". Obviously if you keep the tank full you will never experience this. If you put two 40 pound bags in the hopper, you won't notice this shortcoming until the hopper gets towards empty. If you are using this spreader for home use and only put a single 40# bag in it (or less), you may find this quite annoying.

Pros, it's tall and easy to push and holds a lot of material Cons, it doesn't always spread what you put in it, and yes I did try both augers. It consistently would get stuck and not spread and would need to be shook or it would not feed. Then when you get about 1/3 toward the bottom, it would not spread evenly and would not feed evenly. Then when you get to the bottom it leaves 2-3 lbs of granules. Because of the inconsistent spread amount and difficulty of spreading everything I put in it, I'm going back to my old Scotts. I really tried to make it work but in the end it wound up being 2 frustrating seasons questioning why I spent $500+ on something that doesn't work much better than the $50 spreader it replaced. 10 times more expensive, not that much better

Great spreader that works very well and is solid and durable. The assembly instructions are very poor and the illustrations are hand drawn and not pictures which adds to the difficulty.

The bolts were too long and and had to be cut off so the impeller could turn . The pattern adjuster also had to be lifted with a zap strap so it didn't hit the impeller .

I bought this unit to salt our parking lot. Unfortunately, the hole the salt goes through is too small and not really designed for that. The salt always jammed up which eventually jammed the unit up.