Top Dresser Design..looking for input

[LawnSolutionsCP]

We are working on a compact top dresser that we are going to show at the EXPO in October and we are looking for some input that will effect the design of our machine. We will also be looking for companies to test / demo it this summer or fall.

How do most of you load your top dresser who apply material to residential lawns? Do you shovel it out of a truck? Do you have it delelivered and then shovel off the customers driveway? Do you purchase compost material in bags and then dump in?

Basically, we are considering several different approaches to loading our unit as well as optional loading add ons.

How much material are you putting down on a residential lawns? We do a lot with golf courses which is a different process all together than residential lawns.

The unit is going to be limited to 35.5" total width to keep the size down for small residential lawns. This unit is going to be tight and compact and not intended for large areas. There are enough large area top dresser on the market.

Looking for you input.

Thanks

David

[roccon31]

for small areas, like less than 6-7k sq ft lawns, i shovel out of the truck into a wheelbarrow then fan it with the shovel. for smaller lawns, it isnt worth bringing a loader along unless say you had ten small lawns to do all in the same block. i am too rural for that.

then again, bringing a small machine out to use up near the house and such where the big machine is clumsy, i could use my loader to load it....so an option for that may not be a bad idea.

for the larger ones, i load into a larger tow behind topdresser with my loader.

i havent used a small topdresser yet, so i would be interested in a demo on one for sure. your slit seeder is great, so i can guess as to how good the topdresser will be. keep us informed!

[growingdeeprootsorganicly]

any pic's to share there?

[LawnSolutionsCP]

No pics yet and there won't be until later this summer. We will be doing demoes and field testing this summer but no pics.

We type of volume of material do your normally put down. How large of a hopper is needed. We are looking at a 1/3 - 1/2 yard hopper that would be loaded from a pickup truck bed.

[Smallaxe]

Originally Posted by LawnSolutionsCP

No pics yet and there won't be until later this summer. We will be doing demoes and field testing this summer but no pics.

We type of volume of material do your normally put down. How large of a hopper is needed. We are looking at a 1/3 - 1/2 yard hopper that would be loaded from a pickup truck bed.

I like the sound of your hopper size. I like the idea of loading it from the back of a truck.

What I am most interestted in is: The distribution method. ...
You come up with something that is more efficient than a shovel... then I would guess... u have a sale...

[kjslawn]

Originally Posted by Smallaxe

I like the sound of your hopper size. I like the idea of loading it from the back of a truck.

What I am most interestted in is: The distribution method. ...
You come up with something that is more efficient than a shovel... then I would guess... u have a sale...

I agree This is such a easy sell to the cust, but I dont because the machines are so big and expensive. I would say 1/2 yard would be ideal. I seen one one the net I thought was simple and not very expensive but they never got back with me. I will see if I can get the website to give you ideas.

[JDUtah]

Yes, load from a pickup bed or maybe a dump trailer? If you could set it up to put down a range of 50 to 1000 lbs per k that would be AWESOME.

[Kiril]

Originally Posted by JDUtah

If you could set it up to put down a range of 50 to 1000 lbs per k that would be AWESOME.

......... and lay a golden egg when it is empty.

[JDUtah]

Solid gold with a diamond in the middle?

[roccon31]

for larger yards, a 1 yd hopper would be more desirable. 1 yd per K @1/2 yd hopper on a 5k lawn= alot of trips to the truck for a refill....not as many as a wheelbarrow, but still alot to justify im guessing $4-6k on a machine.