Yes agitator has major design flaw how did the engineers miss that in their testing? Easier fix i came up with was 2 large tie wraps together tightened underneath existing agitator and then cut to length. They are sitting maybe 1 or 2mm above bottom of hopper. It's perfect and only costed .20c.
i have this same spreader, an easier solution is to get 3/4 pex pipe and cut two pieces about 1 3/4 length..slide each piece on to the agitator then spray a little foam sealer inside the tubing to make sure it stays put..works like a champ
@@USArmy91222 I got the flex pipe, and cut 2 pieces to size. When I put them on the agitator they touch the bottom of the hopper. Should I spray the Great Stuff inside the tubing and hold up the pipe or should the pipe remain touching the bottom of the hopper? After doing the modification and using the spreader with about 15 lbs of fertilizer I do not recommend modifying it this way. The spreader was extremely difficult to push and could not be pulled backwards. I guess the weight of the material on top of the agitator caused it to be a bear to push. I would surmise this would be putting alot of stress on the gear box also. On the upside, it was very easy to undue the modification and put it back to stock. This mod would probably work if ONLY using materials like lightweight granular fungicides, pre-emergents, and insecticides.
Great tips in this video, especially the tip about the slope. You lost me at the modification though, looks like a lot of work. I just wrap rubber bands around each end of the agitator and that seems to work pretty good for me.👍🏽
Tbh to much to do… for the money they need to make that mod from factory (commercial maintenance here) problem I had tire never held air blew the tube plus inner plastic spent to much to make it work with after market never lined up 🤬
all you have to do with the cheesy scott’s spreader is to extend the hopper. i used those old wood panels from the 80s the wood panels you find in basements . I shaped it to fit right into the container. i added 18”. When i was done, i just lifted it out of the hopper . All for free . Build time 5 mins.
I bought this spreader last Fall. What a mistake that was! For the life of me, it is absolutely useless. Grit is constantly getting stuck between the spreader plates. Constantly. I can't do two rows without a complete misfire. And Echo customer service is worthless. I highly recommend users to look elsewhere for another model that doesn't use this design. Outrageous that this device can be manufactured and distributed with such a serious design flaw. Oh, and I have my own agitator mod & it works amazingly well. I used stainless steel zip ties. Too bad the rest of the spreader is a stinking hair-puller. Never in my life would I have sold this.
I tried a similar mod with zip ties and found it way too hard to push with a full load! I put smaller zip ties on, and it seemed to fling the material around when it got low, not necessarily into the hole… 🤷🏻♂️ The other thing is that when you bounce it around, the edge guard falls haha. I’ll have to experiment some more next season. I’m on Long Island, I’m guessing by your accent you’re central mass or southern NH?
@@nextleveldiy my initial thought was just a small bungee cord… low tech I know. The stop that holds it is just a metal tab that flexes over some sort of cam thing. Maybe a shim in there or something. All I can think of. If you come up with something keep me posted!
I had the same issue with the edge guard but it was a super easy fix. Just take a pair of channellocks and give the little metal spring a gentle pinch to make it more pronounced. Works absolutely perfectly.
I would not buy again. While it has some nice features, unwanted discharge of material on to lawn due to poor gate design makes it unusable. Echo suggests cleaning but that is not the cause. I keep clean as recommended but granular material easily jambs the gate open.
I can't believe Echo has raised the price by over $50 in the last year.
Yes agitator has major design flaw how did the engineers miss that in their testing?
Easier fix i came up with was 2 large tie wraps together tightened underneath existing agitator and then cut to length. They are sitting maybe 1 or 2mm above bottom of hopper. It's perfect and only costed .20c.
NICE MOD !👍
i have this same spreader, an easier solution is to get 3/4 pex pipe and cut two pieces about 1 3/4 length..slide each
piece on to the agitator then spray a little foam sealer inside the tubing to make sure it stays put..works like a champ
That sounds much easier. What kind of foam sealer do you recommend?
@@arbyc8736 it's called "great stuff" foam sealer and it's sold at the Home Depot..the pex pipe is also sold at the HD
@@USArmy91222 I got the flex pipe, and cut 2 pieces to size. When I put them on the agitator they touch the bottom of the hopper. Should I spray the Great Stuff inside the tubing and hold up the pipe or should the pipe remain touching the bottom of the hopper?
After doing the modification and using the spreader with about 15 lbs of fertilizer I do not recommend modifying it this way. The spreader was extremely difficult to push and could not be pulled backwards. I guess the weight of the material on top of the agitator caused it to be a bear to push. I would surmise this would be putting alot of stress on the gear box also. On the upside, it was very easy to undue the modification and put it back to stock.
This mod would probably work if ONLY using materials like lightweight granular fungicides, pre-emergents, and insecticides.
Great tips in this video, especially the tip about the slope. You lost me at the modification though, looks like a lot of work. I just wrap rubber bands around each end of the agitator and that seems to work pretty good for me.👍🏽
Tbh to much to do… for the money they need to make that mod from factory (commercial maintenance here) problem I had tire never held air blew the tube plus inner plastic spent to much to make it work with after market never lined up 🤬
all you have to do with the cheesy scott’s spreader is to extend the hopper. i used those old wood panels from the 80s the wood panels you find in basements . I shaped it to fit right into the container. i added 18”. When i was done, i just lifted it out of the hopper . All for free . Build time 5 mins.
I bought this spreader last Fall. What a mistake that was! For the life of me, it is absolutely useless. Grit is constantly getting stuck between the spreader plates. Constantly. I can't do two rows without a complete misfire. And Echo customer service is worthless. I highly recommend users to look elsewhere for another model that doesn't use this design. Outrageous that this device can be manufactured and distributed with such a serious design flaw.
Oh, and I have my own agitator mod & it works amazingly well. I used stainless steel zip ties. Too bad the rest of the spreader is a stinking hair-puller. Never in my life would I have sold this.
I tried a similar mod with zip ties and found it way too hard to push with a full load! I put smaller zip ties on, and it seemed to fling the material around when it got low, not necessarily into the hole… 🤷🏻♂️ The other thing is that when you bounce it around, the edge guard falls haha. I’ll have to experiment some more next season. I’m on Long Island, I’m guessing by your accent you’re central mass or southern NH?
I've had the same issue with the edge guard. Trying to find a way to tighten that up.
@@nextleveldiy my initial thought was just a small bungee cord… low tech I know. The stop that holds it is just a metal tab that flexes over some sort of cam thing. Maybe a shim in there or something. All I can think of. If you come up with something keep me posted!
I had the same issue with the edge guard but it was a super easy fix. Just take a pair of channellocks and give the little metal spring a gentle pinch to make it more pronounced. Works absolutely perfectly.
@@steve4hockey I’ll definitely try that. Thanks!
@@BenNawrath I've seen folks use Velcro with sucess
How much did you cut off the 2 1/4 inches
About 3/4" . Helped a lot with a full hopper
I would not buy again. While it has some nice features, unwanted discharge of material on to lawn due to poor gate design makes it unusable. Echo suggests cleaning but that is not the cause. I keep clean as recommended but granular material easily jambs the gate open.