Scotts Handy Green II Hand-Held Broadcast Spreader

I've had the older versions of this spreader for many years and they were a pleasure to use. I think the gear box was redesigned a few years ago. I have not had luck with the latest 2 new ones I have purchased. The handle is almost impossible to turn when any product is used. I can't use seed nor fertilizer nor insecticide grannuals. I thought that things would improve over time as they sometimes do but things did not work out that way and now it's too late to return them to the big box store to get my money back. Scotts has always been a name brand that I can depend on but this time is a fail for me.

I bought this in April 2016 to apply fertilizer to my small yard (~about 3500 sq. ft.). This size yard requires about 3 loads of fertilizer in this spreader. I was able to get my first application down without any troubles, which after reading the reviews I was fully prepared for troubles. My next fertilizer application was scheduled for early July. This time, on the first load of fertilizer the crank began to not turn unless extreme amounts of force were applied (which is difficult on a 2 inch handle). By the second load of fertilizer the whole mechanism was froze up and I developed a large blister from trying to finish the job. There I sat with a half-fertilized lawn...my neighbors are going to love me. To avoid embarrassment, I finished by spreading with my bare hands (this was painful considering the open wound left by the crank handle). I can only imagine that the consistency of my hand spreading was sometimes the equivalent of a "1" setting and sometimes a "5". Regarding Scotts' "no-quibble" guarantee, they want proof of purchase in the form of a broken crank handle sent to them (at my cost) in order to receive a refund. Why a receipt or UPC barcode won't do is beyond me. I suppose I have to chalk this one up as a loss.

I tried fertilizer and seed, nothing much came out while spinning and what little did was way out of the range of my lawn, so I fertilized the dirt. Had to do it by hand and now I'm worried I over-fertilized. Bummer, I have new sod and was trying to be very methodical about caring for it.

this is an excellent and expensive yard too this is an excellent and inexpensive yard tool it allows you to spread grub control and fertilizer and just minutes I was able to spread the fertilizer in a quarter acre yard and less than 15 minutes after spreading the fertilizer I rinse the spreader and put it back in storage and a few days later the lawn looks great ! I highly recommend the handheld spreader and the Scotts Yard products . [This review was collected as part of a promotion.]

I have used other hand-held spreaders and they tend to clog or the gears wear out too easily. Not with Scotts! This little beauty delivers universal even application and takes lawn fertilization to a whole new level. It's a pleasure to use my Scotts hand-held spreader and I tend to dance my way around the lawn while using this. My lawn tells me to "FEED ME SCOTTS....FEED ME!" [This review was collected as part of a promotion.]