Hey there, this could be a bit long winded..you’ve been warned.
So I have 3-4 acres with so-so topsoil, I was interested in slowly building up my soil so that I could have a healthier, more resistant lawn for our business. This is our second year of having a lawn (new construction) and our first year going fully organic. I am not sure where else to review this, so I am reviewing it here. I initially was comparing Earth and Turf, with the EcoLawn Applicator top dressers, and was actually going to purchase one of the EcoLawn products, but a few things stopped me.
1) Eco Lawn’s company rep was good, responded well and explained everything. Quickly put me in touch with the local guy. Local guy didn’t respond after 3 separate attempts at contact, 3 different ways (email, phone, website message). What is the point of local, if local is worthless?
2) Eco Lawn has poor reviews with wet product, and I don’t own a covered area at this point to store compost, top soil and sand when I am not using it, and I can’t wait until perfect moisture %’s.
So after running into these issues, I reached out to Earth and Turf about their walk behind products. After speaking with John from Earth and Turf, he quickly let me know their walk behind was for smaller properties and I would be working way harder and longer than I needed to with one of those, what I needed was a tow-behind. Their tow-behind is about 3k cheaper than the one I contacted him about, so it was nice not to be pushed into something way more expensive that wouldn’t even suite my needs. They didn’t have a local dealer though, but would sell directly to me and cover the shipping. This thing shipped was almost 800lbs (included box etc..) so I am guessing I saved at least a few hundred dollars there. Again, thanks!
The E&T showed up quickly, and with the help of a neighbor with forks on his tractor, we quickly put it together. Things were straight forward and we really didn’t even need the directions, doing it slowly while chatting it probably took an hour. Looked sturdy, felt sturdy, and was simple enough that I could fix it if something went wrong.
Fast forward, 18 yards of compost mix dropped off and ready to rock. This stuff was WET, we have had a few inches of rain recently and it rained on it last night for good measure. Hooked it up to my Polaris Ranger (turf tires on) and away I went.
A few take aways:
1)Shoveling wet heavy compost sucked, I ran and got my brothers Dingo after 3 yards.
2)A few times I pushed down a little on the “light material sides” (the silver part on top) with the Dingo bucket, and by a few times I mean like at least 5-10. The thing held up great and I don’t think it dented the metal at all. I was worried I was going to damage it, but it was sturdier than I expected.
3) Even with everything soaking wet, the E&T sent it all flying no problem. ALL of the compost mix was out of the cart everytime I refilled.
4) At first I was going to do a full 1/4 inch all over, but it emptied out the machine too quickly and was leaving it a little heavier than I wanted. Part of this was MY fault, as speed seems to play a large roll. I have a cocoa drag mat I will be using on it tomorrow, and from a quick hand wipe I am positive it will all disappear into the grass.
5) If you go over about 5 mph, it seems to be too fast and doesn’t spread the product as wide. I was warned about this by the company, but it took me a few loads to get it down how I wanted it. I think this will change also depending on what you are spreading, but in general, slower = wider spread and faster just drops it off the back heavy.
6)I loaded a bunch in once, and it was too heavy, if you have heavy wet product, don’t load to the top of the light material wings.
Here is a photo, I know not great, but I can add more if anyone would like detailed shots. Also included a video, I have another but it’s taking forever to upload, pretty much the same and nothing super exciting. Please ignore the look of the lawn, we had a huge tent wedding last weekend and it was very wet. The yard hasn’t had a chance to bounce back fully yet.