Store the Spreader So It Works in March

The broadcast spreader goes in the corner of the garage after the last fertilizer application and gets forgotten until spring. Then the gate is stuck, the wheel won't turn, and the first spread of the year comes out in stripes.

Fertilizer is salt. Left in a spreader, it pulls in moisture, cakes up, and eats metal parts. Five minutes now saves a broken spreader in March.

Empty it completely

Pour any leftover product back into the bag and seal it. Tip the spreader over a tarp to get the last bits out. Don't leave "just a little" in the hopper.

Wash it

• Rinse the hopper, gate, spinner and frame with a hose. Get under the spinner plate, where product cakes up.
• Open and close the gate while you rinse so water washes the slot.
• Let it dry completely in the sun or a warm garage.

Oil the moving parts

Once it's dry, put a few drops of light oil on the wheel bearings, the gear box (if it has a fill point), and the gate pivot. Spray a light coat of a rust inhibitor on metal parts. Work the gate a few times so everything moves freely.

Check it over

• Is the gate opening evenly? A bent gate means uneven spreading.
• Are the tires holding air (if they're pneumatic)?
• Is the spinner cracked or loose?

Order parts now. They're easier to find in fall than in April.

Store it dry

Hang it or keep it off a damp concrete floor. Leave the gate slightly open so it doesn't seize in the closed position.

Store the products, too

• Keep fertilizer bags sealed, off the floor, and dry. Damp fertilizer clumps and spreads unevenly.
• Grass seed keeps best somewhere cool and dry. Heat and moisture lower germination.
• Keep weed control and pesticide products in their original containers, away from kids and pets, and where they won't freeze if the label says so.

Check the calibration in spring

Before the first application next year, check your spreader setting on a driveway with a measured amount of product. An even spread starts with a clean spreader.

On the golf course, every spreader was washed after every use, without exception. At home, once at the end of the season is the minimum. See also mower winter storage.

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