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Top Dresser Design..looking for input

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LawnSolutionsCP

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
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
 
#2 ·
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!
 
Discussion starter · #4 ·
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.
 
#5 ·
LawnSolutionsCP said:
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.
Click to expand...
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...
 
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#9 ·
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.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
roccon31 said:
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.
Click to expand...
Retail should be $3,500 - $4,000. We are looking to make something different than the others on the market. The thought was make a machine that will fit on the back of a pickup with a carrier and then load it from the bed of the truck. It should make spreading your top dressing mixtures very easy. This could eliminate a trailer or add room on your trailer for other equipmnet like AERATORS.
 
#12 ·
I bought an ecolawn spreader last year and it worked pretty well, 100times better than shovel and wheel barrow. It had a few weak points in design and durability but overall i was pretty satisfied with productivity. If i would change anything i would make it a little bigger and beefier, commercial grade, possibly a 1 yard hopper and hydro drive for sure. What i am interested in this year is a better way to get compost into spreader. Shovels work ok for smaller jobs but i have a 120k lawn that i put 50-60 yards down and we currently rent/borrow a skidsteer to load hopper but i am thinking a blower system, like a heavy duty leaf sucker might be the ticket. Maybe a little 5-10 hp motor and an intake hose to put into pile or trailer and an outlet hose to fill hopper. I have no experience with these blowers so i don't know how well they would work. Finn has a full blown trailer that can handle bark mulch but i am thinking portable unit and less $$$.
 
#13 ·
MikeBJH said:
I bought an ecolawn spreader last year and it worked pretty well, 100times better than shovel and wheel barrow. It had a few weak points in design and durability but overall i was pretty satisfied with productivity. If i would change anything i would make it a little bigger and beefier, commercial grade, possibly a 1 yard hopper and hydro drive for sure. What i am interested in this year is a better way to get compost into spreader. Shovels work ok for smaller jobs but i have a 120k lawn that i put 50-60 yards down and we currently rent/borrow a skidsteer to load hopper but i am thinking a blower system, like a heavy duty leaf sucker might be the ticket. Maybe a little 5-10 hp motor and an intake hose to put into pile or trailer and an outlet hose to fill hopper. I have no experience with these blowers so i don't know how well they would work. Finn has a full blown trailer that can handle bark mulch but i am thinking portable unit and less $$$.
Click to expand...
Mike if you were to do it again. Would you buy another ecolawn? I'm looking to add a top dresser and the ecolawn is the most economical machine that actually looks like it can get the job done. The others are met-r-matic and earth and turf sp But they are considerably more money. If David gets a machine in production I would certainly consider one. I have the revitilizer and love it! One other question. The ecolawn has a rotary spreader below the conveyor....do you find it difficult to see where you have spread and where you have not as opposed to the drop style of the earth and turf or met-r-matic? I was looking at finns smallest model and it looks nice but it's about $20,000
 
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#14 ·
I've been very happy with my Earth & Turf 100sp http://www.earthandturf.com/100sp.htm

It's very well built, easy to handle, gets into tight spaces nicely, safe to use. Top of the line IMO. It costs about $6,500.00

If a machine can do what this one does for $3-4,000.00, it would be a winner!

I would love to see a self propelled machine that can self load and aerate while top dressing. :clapping::dancing::)
 
#15 ·
I looked at all the top dressers before i bought the ecolawn and they all seem to be the drop type. The spread action of the ecolawn is what really sold me. It seems like the drop type would take forever to cover a large area and you would have to keep your lines perfect or you would see a lot of double covered strips. I would buy the ecolawn again but in a perfect world i would like to see it constructed a little stronger. The meter matic and earth and turf look to be a bit more rugged but they need to make them broadcast.
Its pretty easy to tell where the material is going and where you have been if you open the gate all the way. If applied heavy egnough you can see it on top of the grass. I apply the compost in the same way as fertilizer, make a strip and then when i make the next i throw it to my tire tracks of the first strip. You get good double coverage this way and no missed areas. With the compost i am using applying using this method and the gate fully open i go through 1yard of compost for every 2k of turf.
 
#16 ·
I looked at both drop spread & broadcast top dressers before buying the Earth & Turf. What sold me on the drop spread was the control of applying material and the amount it holds.

Yes, a broadcast will empty faster but if it holds less material that gain is lost by the amount of time it takes to get back to the material and reload.

The precision of the drop spread, reduces clean up time due to over spreading & reduces hand spreading in hard to reach areas.

The Earth & Turf is built to last a lifetime.
 
#17 ·
phasthound said:
I've been very happy with my Earth & Turf 100sp http://www.earthandturf.com/100sp.htm

It's very well built, easy to handle, gets into tight spaces nicely, safe to use. Top of the line IMO. It costs about $6,500.00

If a machine can do what this one does for $3-4,000.00, it would be a winner!

I would love to see a self propelled machine that can self load and aerate while top dressing. :clapping::dancing::)
Click to expand...
And with an accessory lawn chair so you can watch the machine while IT works.
 
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