I tried out the new Hooyman 24V electric chest spreader yesterday frost seeding Gallant Red Clover into a Stamina White Clover/ Jumbo Ladino Clover mix at the MWZ plots.
I spread about 2 acres of narrow (15ft) paths with the chest spreader and 5 acres of large plots using the 125 lb Vehicle Spreader on the landowner’s Side by Side.
I was shooting for a rate of 4 lbs per acre of red clover. I was very impressed with both of these units in their ease of use, spreading accuracy, width of spread, and ability to adjust the width of the spread pattern!
I was able to spread the 15 ft wide paths and by turning the speed button down I could get the pattern down to about 4 feet wide and at full speed I was spreading clover about 25 ft wide!
The close-up picture shows a unique feature of this spreader - it uses a custom, wearable vest that has padded shoulder straps and a small metal post in the front that the chest spreader slides down on to; this makes it easy to refill the spreader. You don’t have to lift it off your shoulder or up over your head every time you fill; simply lift it off the peg and fill it up! It has a window at the top so you can see how much seed is left in the hopper and is very user-friendly.
The Vehicle Spreader is also easy to use and versatile. I spread clover at the lowest rotor speed of about 12 ft wide and at the highest speed of about 30 ft wide! It also was able to spread it at the low rate of 3-4 lbs/acre.
Then I switched to 0-0-60 Potash fertilizer and was able to easily and accurately spread at the rate of 50 and 100 lbs. / acre and was not at the highest gate setting - so I could have applied many more pounds of fertilizer per acre.
The Vehicle Spreader has two large windows on the back so you can keep track of how much seed or fertilizer you have left and it is also easy to put on and take off of your ATV.
I am impressed with the quality, comfort, and versatility of these spreaders and also the price. the chest model is at the upper end of small spreaders but has way more to offer than many other spreaders. The Vehicle model is a lot less money than anything that size that I have seen and now that I have used both of these I am confident that others will love them as well.
Article posted by Brian Haynes.
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