King Kutter S400P Spreader

[ValleyView]

Does anybody have experience with this or similar poly 3pt POLY seed/fertilizer spreaders? Looking for a budget spreader to overseed/fertilize fall and spring pastures. Been in the market for a cheaper drill but think I get may get more bang for my buck with a spreader since I will predominantly be overseeding rye, wheat, fescue or fertilizer. Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[bird dog]

Those types of spreaders show up on Craigslist quite often. Most of the King Cutter stuff I have seen is not real high quality. It seems made for the hobby farmers.

I have one of these cheaper models and rarely use it. It works okay for a hard product like fertilizer but with seed, it doesn't give enough uniform coverage for me. If you are mechanically inclined, you can find the old John Deere drills fairly cheap that will do a much better job. They are easy to work on and new parts are available but getting somewhat expensive. There are lots of old parts machines around.

 

[Texasmark]

I have a popular, lower priced, 3pt. 500# conical steel spreader that I bought new and have had it for probably 30 years. The steel drum is tempered and resists rusting......to this day, zip rust except where the stirrer wheel rotates in that little band and that rust is just very minor surface rust....you can see it if you look closely. Even the slinger cups aren't rusted out.A poly would be to my liking if this one ever started rusting, and probably would be the purchase.

Reason being is that upon job completion, I wash it good and then coat it good with used cooking oil and store it out of the weather, lying on it's side, where it can't have water or debris---like leaves, standing on it.

So the moral here is that the budget spreaders work just fine and the only problem I would see with a poly would be leaving it out in the sun and the sun having a chemical effect on the poly.

 

[ValleyView]

Those types of spreaders show up on Craigslist quite often. Most of the King Cutter stuff I have seen is not real high quality. It seems made for the hobby farmers.

I have one of these cheaper models and rarely use it. It works okay for a hard product like fertilizer but with seed, it doesn't give enough uniform coverage for me. If you are mechanically inclined, you can find the old John Deere drills fairly cheap that will do a much better job. They are easy to work on and new parts are available but getting somewhat expensive. There are lots of old parts machines around.

I do qualify as a hobby farmer so this may be a decent choice. Only looking to seed and/or fertilize max 60 acres every year. I have searched for quite awhile for some decent priced John Deere B single disk drills but they're either retired yard art looking models with unknown issues or more than I prefer to spend. Had a rear remote put on my Massey 240 to rent the NRCS drill but $100/day is a flogging that needs to stop. A less than uniform stand is still an improvement to what I'm currently working with in my pastures.

I'm open to other models as well, but assumed King Kutter or Landdoll were better quality than Cosmo or Tarter. Found this review the other night and got a pretty good kick out of it!

***Language disclaimer on the link to video. It's not bad, but not exactly sure what the policy is.

https://youtu.be/a37fWAGRl3s

 

[ValleyView]

I have a popular, lower priced, 3pt. 500# conical steel spreader that I bought new and have had it for probably 30 years. The steel drum is tempered and resists rusting......to this day, zip rust except where the stirrer wheel rotates in that little band and that rust is just very minor surface rust....you can see it if you look closely. Even the slinger cups aren't rusted out.A poly would be to my liking if this one ever started rusting, and probably would be the purchase.

Reason being is that upon job completion, I wash it good and then coat it good with used cooking oil and store it out of the weather, lying on it's side, where it can't have water or debris---like leaves, standing on it.

So the moral here is that the budget spreaders work just fine and the only problem I would see with a poly would be leaving it out in the sun and the sun having a chemical effect on the poly.

Thanks for your input Texasmark, I appreciate it. Agreed, poly being exposed to the sun may be an issue. I won't be able to keep in a shed/shop currently. I like the decreased weight of the poly models that is the main appeal to me. How much does your model weigh?

 

[wbvs58]

He doesn't sound too happy with does he?

Ken

 

[Texasmark]

I have a popular, lower priced, 3pt. 500# conical steel spreader that I bought new and have had it for probably 30 years. The steel drum is tempered and resists rusting......to this day, zip rust except where the stirrer wheel rotates in that little band and that rust is just very minor surface rust....you can see it if you look closely. Even the slinger cups aren't rusted out.A poly would be to my liking if this one ever started rusting, and probably would be the purchase.

Reason being is that upon job completion, I wash it good and then coat it good with used cooking oil and store it out of the weather, lying on it's side, where it can't have water or debris---like leaves, standing on it.

So the moral here is that the budget spreaders work just fine and the only problem I would see with a poly would be leaving it out in the sun and the sun having a chemical effect on the poly.

Thanks for your input Texasmark, I appreciate it. Agreed, poly being exposed to the sun may be an issue. I won't be able to keep in a shed/shop currently. I like the decreased weight of the poly models that is the main appeal to me. How much does your model weigh?

No idea. I work alone and from the time I brought it home I have done what needed to be done alone. It is light enough that I can leave half of it on the ground and lift the other half.....let's say it weighs like 125-150#. I leave it attached to the tractor and initially wash with the PTO running. Then shut off the tractor and remove the top link and "guide" the top to the ground which helps me to wash the under neath and inside the hopper and then allowing to dry in this position. Next it to reconnect the top link and take it over to it's storage area and unhook. Really not one of my problem 3 pt implements for hitching.

 

[ValleyView]

I have a popular, lower priced, 3pt. 500# conical steel spreader that I bought new and have had it for probably 30 years. The steel drum is tempered and resists rusting......to this day, zip rust except where the stirrer wheel rotates in that little band and that rust is just very minor surface rust....you can see it if you look closely. Even the slinger cups aren't rusted out.A poly would be to my liking if this one ever started rusting, and probably would be the purchase.

Reason being is that upon job completion, I wash it good and then coat it good with used cooking oil and store it out of the weather, lying on it's side, where it can't have water or debris---like leaves, standing on it.

So the moral here is that the budget spreaders work just fine and the only problem I would see with a poly would be leaving it out in the sun and the sun having a chemical effect on the poly.

Thanks for your input Texasmark, I appreciate it. Agreed, poly being exposed to the sun may be an issue. I won't be able to keep in a shed/shop currently. I like the decreased weight of the poly models that is the main appeal to me. How much does your model weigh?

No idea. I work alone and from the time I brought it home I have done what needed to be done alone. It is light enough that I can leave half of it on the ground and lift the other half.....let's say it weighs like 125-150#. I leave it attached to the tractor and initially wash with the PTO running. Then shut off the tractor and remove the top link and "guide" the top to the ground which helps me to wash the under neath and inside the hopper and then allowing to dry in this position. Next it to reconnect the top link and take it over to it's storage area and unhook. Really not one of my problem 3 pt implements for hitching.

Thanks for the info. I ordered the King Kutter from Atwood's today and paying for shipping was a kick in the twins! Getting excited to give my pastures a shot of life with some crabgrass seed this year.