Chapin 8200A 80-Pound Residential Turf Spreader

Should have read the reviews first, because they are right on. On top of the issues with the bar along the bottom and the handle, the auger/mixing system is not effective at emptying the bin. Not sure if the angle you have to hold it at to prevent the bar from dragging, but emptying the last 2-3 lbs of material requires you to shake the spread back to front to move the material to the opening. Already mentioned by others, but the conversion from Scott's to this machine is way off. I guess that can be figured out by trial and error over time, but the first two times using this I have very uneven coverage because of tweaking the setting. It is disappointing as at this price point I expected improved performance.

The model 8200A was apparently designed by someone who has never used a spreader and the company did not bother to test it on turf. If they had they would have found that the stand sticks down to far and constantly catches on the turf making it hard to push and prone to tipping requiring you to hold down on it causing the stand to drag through the grass making it even harder to push. There is no way in **** you could put 80 pounds of anything in this unit and use it. The folding handle is very poorly designed, the “ thumbscrews” are too small and too close together to get very tight and regardless how tight you make them the handle still wobbles back and forth. It’s too bad because with a little actual engineering and product development this could be a good unit. I bought this unit because I got tired of buying the cheap Scott’s units that had to be replace every three years. I should have stuck with the cheap junk at least it worked for three years, not sure about this unit. I will be modifying it to fix the handle and stand, but I won't be buying any more Chaplin products. One last thing, while the “manual” shows a sample spread pattern, no where does it tell you how far the unit throws. Seems like they tried to make one unit do everything but ended up with a unit that won’t do anything.

Friends, I have to be honest. I am disappointed with the Capin 8200A Residential Turf Spreader. It is very unstable on turf and especially on hills. The handles are not wide enough to control the instability. The stand upon which the spreader sits when loading fertilizer is too long when walking on turf; it gets caught in the grass constantly when trying to maintain a horizontal position especially when walking downhill. The Scott's to Spreader conversion chart is wildly inaccurate. The gear box mechanism clicks often, so I am wondering how long it will last. The instructions did not provide specific guidance about what hardware to use when attaching the auger. One cannot pull the unit backwards while loaded because it will spin the auger off of the gear box assembly. While this spreader is likely good on asphalt or concrete roads to spread salt, it is not well designed as a residential turf spreader. I am left wondering how much testing went into this spreader as a turf spreader prior to marketing as such. My guess is not much. Disappointed.

There is not one thing about this machine that works. Gear Box made grinding noise right out of the box. the little flap to keep fertilizer from going to the left side doesn't work, what a Joke. Pushing the spreader with 50 Lb fert is like pushing a ton uphill, on a bumpy hill.And to top it off the feeder gate doesn't always close when you let go of the handle, what a mess.

My first use of this spreader put down way too much HALTS. Chart said 3 on Scotts is 11 on Chapinr. I had 14000 sq ft of product on 6000 sq ft. Guess I need to do my own conversion chart by spreading x sq ft of product over the recommended area. What a PAIN. Couldn’t Chapin at least confirm their conversion chart is good. Or provide owners with a gauge to calibrate the opening??