The Handy THS50 Broadcast Spreader for Fertiliser, Seed or Refined Salt 23kg Hopper with Adjustable Feed Control - 2 Year Guarantee

A little fiddly to put together so you need to take your time but very good construction, sturdy and easy to use and does the job really well

For anyone with a lawn (mine is just under an acre), this is an ideal piece of machinery for spreading all the chemicals necessary for a decent lawn.It comes flat(ish)-packed and requires some complicated assembly for successful operation and accurate, efficient and correctly measured spreading of chemicals which can have adverse as well as beneficial effects on lawns. It takes a little time so don't expect to rush out to the lawn too soon.Once assembled correctly, it makes working on large lawns quite straightforward, although judging the spreading rate with the sheet supplied is not easy. The machine settings differ from those on the sheet but it just needs a little flexible intelligence.I did have to contact the manufacturers to solve one assembly problem but they were helpful and quick with their response.

Compact box for delivery.A little fiddly to assemble but no worse than a bill bookcase.Works well and cleans up easy.Good value for money.

My wife and I are very adept at putting things together, however putting this together stretched our patience to the limit. However, we persevered and we were eventually successful, only to find some corrosion on one of the metal bars. Got in touch with the supplier and they very speedily resolved the issue to my satisfaction. I have used the spreader a number of times and it seems to do the job of spreading the fertiliser quite well. But be warned as the hopper distributes the fertiliser in a rotary fashion rather than linear you need to take care on distributing fertiliser on to garden paths and garden borders. Recommend that you brush any fertiliser off paths immediately or you will end up with an orange stain on your pavers. Also, take care to distribute on a low setting 10-15 as any higher than this and you will go through a 14kg sack in no time. If you have a large square or circular lawn then it will do the job in no time. But if you have a long narrow lawn then stick to the lawn spreaders that cost about £25.00 that are available from most garden centres. The spreader is very robust and apart from the aforementioned small bit of corrosion seems to be well made and should last years.

This is a really high quality product that looked after, will last a lifetime. My only criticism is the assembly instruction manual. It looks like it came off a dot matrix printer in 1975! Some of the diagrams are out of focus and you simply cannot see the details clearly enough to know which way round some parts go. It will stump some customers who aren't used to doing these things 'blind'.

As others have said, the assembly is tricky, mainly because the diagrams don't have enough detail in them.There's a bit of a learning curve to use it. My first time I ended up seriously overdosing the lawn with "weed and feed" because the wing nut to limit the rate of application needs to be REALLY tight, otherwise you go straight to maximum rate without knowing about it.Still, it's a far better job than the cheap gadgets from other companies that don't work properly - with this spreader you can cover the area quickly and thoroughly.

The end caps provided were unfit for purpose. They are meant to be hammered on for a friction fit. Mine slide loosely on and off the axle, making the product completely unusable. Unfortunately for me, I attempted to put this together a year after purchase.Even if the product was functional, it would have received 1 star. Instructions appalling, pictures provided so small and un-detailed they are impossible to follow. Coupled with written instructions at the level of 'install part X on part Y', it's a complete game to put this together.Horrendous experience.

The spreader is very solid and works well but the self assembly instructions are useless. Allow yourself a couple of hours at least as you try to make all the pieces of the jigsaw fit: if you don't like puzzles you will have trouble.