Brinly P20-500BHDF Push Spreader with Side Deflector Kit, 50 lb. Capacity, Black

This spreader was available more cheaply at home depot online, but without the side deflector. Since I did not want weed killer in my flower garden or the sidewalks, the deflector was worth the extra money. A pleasant surprise was that the deflector kit included a clear plastic cover for the hopper. it proved valuable in first use when a little rain fell before I finished.Pros - rolls easily over even bumpy terrain. Spreads smoothly, although as with any spreader you need to maintain a constant speed for a constant spread. The big hopper is great. Assembly was easy and quick. Really like the sturdiness. Covered stainless steel gears is a real plus. I think this will last a long time.Cons - It does not fold for storage, so it takes up some space in the garage. The spread rate took experimentation to get it right. I followed the best directions I could find on the weed & feed package and the Brinly instructions, but I ended up spreading at half the intended rate on my first try. Next time I will double the rate and it should be correct.Overall, very happy with the purchase.

I just bought one about 3 weeks ago. I love the unit. I have only used it once this season so far but I really like the unit. It was very simple to put together. Unit is very sturdy in my opinion. Air tires work well in the grass and pushes smoothly. The deflector works well and you can actually adjust the distance by how far you lower the deflector. The one thing you need to remember is to use the lever to close the hopper. If you stop walking and do not close the hopper opening it will continue to drop fertilizer on the spinner. I had a 2 yr old Scott's spreader and the deflector quit working. Decided to spend the money on a good unit and glad I did. Comes with a clear cover, grate and the side deflector.

I always read the reviews before making a purchase. There was some trepidation based on the reviews regarding product assembly and use. I put my trust in Brinly (a John Deere Co.) and bought the push spreader. Assembly was not difficult and took about 20 minutes including adding on the side guard. If you read the instructions carefully, watch the video, and have two 10 mm wrenches it is really hard to screw it up. There was a comprehensive chart showing the spreader settings for a wide variety of fertilizer and grass seed types. I followed the directions about how to apply the fertilizer and after a short learning curve I got the process down reasonably well. The true test will be in a couple of weeks when I can verify the weeds and dandelions are gone and I don't have any green streaks in my lawn. The spreader is well built, and I expect to have it for many years to come.

One of my huge pet peeves is that companies will sell you junk even under a brand name that you should be able to trust. Top of their line or bottom it will still be junk. How many stupid fertilizer spreaders do I need to buy in one lifetime? The Brinly P20-500 spreader feels like it is in a whole different class. I wonder why they made it in Jeffersonville Indiana instead of China - could it be they are more concerned about quality than getting every last dime out of their customers? Anyway, this is sturdy enough for a homeowner but below commercial grade. I'm sure Brinly has commercial spreaders and priced accordingly. I like this spreader. It was made in the USA. It feels solid when I push it around my yard.

This spreader is a quality build and the gearbox is well protected from spreading materials. (Salts in spreading materials cause corrosion on metal gear parts leading to seize, I've experienced that on other spreaders). The major flaw with this model is that spreading material regularly gets trapped in the hopper due to inadequate agitation (I've used only snow melting salt purchased at hardware store). The agitator is little more than a tiny R-clip attached to a drive shaft that rotates when pushed. This is entirely inadequate. This might be enough for lawn products but I found that, even with the shut-off plate wide open, I had to frequently jerk the whole spreader just to keep the salt dropping down to the impeller. And no, this wasn't due to salt chunks in the hopper. Btw, the R-clip was missing when I received the product and took me a bit to figure this out. When I first used the spreader, barely anything came out. I called their customer service line (got a very pleasant person) but they were really unable to help me figure out the problem. From the beginning, it seemed odd that there was nothing in the hopper to agitate materials but perhaps it relied solely on gravity? I studied the parts list and diagram from their website a realized that the R-clip was missing. I was able to purchase one from Big Box Hardware and that certainly improved things, but I find that even dry, well screened road salt gets caught up in the hopper, especially as you come to the last 1/4 of material. I think I should be able to make a more efficient agitator in my home shop.I do really like this spreader with its large hopper capacity, protected, stainless steel gears, all around very well built. But unless a spreader can efficiently move the materials, It's of little use. This should be an easy manufacturing/engineering fix.

Too many reviews complain of spreading material remaining in hopper. That is common for virtually all spreaders. For $200 bucks this Brinly competes with Andersons and Earthway similar design, wheels are large and roll smoothly, hopper holds volume of material w/o being too heavy, comes with a hopper cover, very sturdy square tube handle assembly with heavy duty grips, manual edge guard helpful for application along edges, throws material with an aggressive spread. Very pleased with purchase, so is my wife who will use too.

Parts feel light duty and fragile. Assembled easy. Time will tell

Love it, very sturdy,spreads nice and even

Good spreader for the price, easy to assemble. The joystick nut was too loose and cannot keep the handle at the same setting. Need to be thighten a bit. The only thons that is very poor is the agitator. It is too high from the bottom of the bin. It do not move anything. I will build a new one longer and lower to properly move the fertilizer over the holes.

More plastic components than I was expecting, hope it holds up.