Customer Reviews for Solo 421-S Portable Spreader

Extremely well made German product, takes 5 minutes to assemble and to understand how to adjust. The build quality is evident in the smooth operation of the gears when you turn the handle. My wife used a Scott's hand-held spreader while I used this nuclear weapon and she was jealous! We were spreading Snapshot for weed control. Saves a lot of time.

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22 of 22 people found this review helpful

This spreader is a bit pricey, but it is worth the money. Very well designed and works smoothly. Easy to operate and clean. However, the part that is a bit troublesome is finding out where to set the hopper discharge. The product I bought did not reference the Solo. I called Do My Own Pest Control, Solo, and the company that made the product I was spreading. No one could offer a setting. All three said I would have to just experiment. Honestly, I don't know if I spread too much product (insecticide) or too little. Had it not been for this issue I would have rated it 5 Stars.

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17 of 18 people found this review helpful

I've used this for fire ant bait, fertilizer and clover seed, and it even worked for oats. It worked well each time, and it was easy to clean. The little side flap could be put in the bell/whistle category, but I ain't griping.

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12 of 12 people found this review helpful

The directions that came with spreader were very lacking in what no. to set for spreading the Talstar PL Product... Kind of trial and error... but when the cost of the product is this much it makes the test settings somewhat costly.. Not sure I would purchase again.. to spread the product I bought.. Using my small hand held grass seed spreader is much easier..

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11 of 21 people found this review helpful

Spreader worked perfectly right out of the box. Some assembly required (handle). Put down 280 pounds of product, without a problem. Delivery of product, right on time. Used the next day.

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10 of 10 people found this review helpful

this spreader is worth the money. Iv'e been doing yard care for years. It makes the job easy. It spreads product evenly. works with pre- emergent, fertilizer and even some grass seed.

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2 of 2 people found this review helpful

I absolutely love this thing. I used a granular product this spring instead of my usual liquid spray and I chose this spreader to apply it. This method was actually way easier than using a sprayer. I used to it on over 200 accounts and it worked fantastic. It's like having your own personal granule Gatling gun strapped to your chest.

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2 of 3 people found this review helpful

Overall the quality of this is very good, but the design is a little odd. I used it to spread Bifen L/P Granules around our building perimeters. No problem in that function, but of course once you stop cranking the material flow still goes on the spreading disk. So when you start back up, you have an unexpected quantity disbursing out. There is a manual close lever that could be used "every time" you stop cranking, it's just getting in the habit I suspect.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Have about 5000 square feet of lawn/garden beds. I've used this so far to spread mole repellent, lime pellets, lawn fertilizer and potash. Be prepared to calibrate the spreader settings for any application yourself as you wont find nice answers on google. There is a learning curve for walking speed, spreader setting and handle crank speed. For my size lawn I am mostly satisfied with the purchase, but I would not want to use this for anything much larger or if I needed to apply a really large amount of product. Good: * The build quality feels solid, though there is a lot of plastic. * compact enough to fit on a high shelf out of the way between seasons * left/right/center adjustment is nice Less Good: * you will get dirty using this thing, especially if you are applying something dusty * it feels awkward to use, but maybe it stems from my strap problem (below). It may be too large to use reasonably if you are short (I am 6"2' and the crank felt too low unless i had the spreader at an angle and the strap as short as it would go) Bad: * whats up with the strap? The box makes it look like maybe its supposed to go around your shoulder not your neck, but these (seemingly cosmetic) rubber things make it impossible to make long enough to do that even though there is enough material. I ended up making it as short as possible and kind of putting it around my neck. Not very comfortable but my lawn is small. Its one of the reasons I wouldnt recommend for larger applications/lawns. I may cut the rubber things off next time and see if that helps. * when spreading the lime pellets (large grains) I had the spreader set to the widest setting and several times the grains got stuck causing the handle and spreading mechanism to lock up. I was able to shake it around and get it going again each time without having to put it down but it made me worried I was causing damage. I will probably just have to do a lower setting and make multiple passes next time.

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1 of 1 people found this review helpful

If a "detented" secure feed adjustment had been installed on this would give it 5 stars. As is you have a small slide-able adjustment "stop" for the feed lever. This could establish Max opening for your contents, however the tiny screw adjustment stop is hard to tighten went you want a small feed opening. Not much better for larger feed openings. And worst of all since you can not see this lever when wearing spreader you have to control by "feel". Again this could have been easily rectified by SOLO with some simple engineering to make the feed lever easier to set and maintain. As is, have to constantly make sure lever is open and no resistance to maintain setting means finger must always be on lever, not just when you want to close feed to stop. A flawed unit, but handy.What happened to German engineering?

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1 of 2 people found this review helpful

Beautiful tool that works with ease. Well balanced, easy to control the flow rate. Great for landscape beds.

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I have only owned two other handheld spreaders in my life. One was the type with a canvas bag and the other is a Scott's Wizz battery operated spreader that I purchased at the last minute. This Solo 421-S is very well made and engineered. What I like most about it is the large hopper capacity. The Wizz I bought is made for small areas, but I needed to spread large area. I had to refill it many times with grass seed. This Solo holds a good amount and does a great job distributing the seed. Highly recommend.

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When I found the portable spreader on your web site I was tickled tohave have found it. I had a seed spreader , it did not work very well for ant bait. So I kept my eye out for somthing that would work better . Then I found the solo421-s on your web site and like I say it tickled me so I ordered one and the fire ants can hang it up . Every one who has problems with Fire Ants would be very happy with this tool . I just put out 50lbs of Ant bait 4 days ago 25 lbs for sister and 25lbs for my self.Like I said I am very happy with my spreader and the Talstar bait that I use .

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0 of 1 people found this review helpful

32 year Landscape Construction Contractor. I've yet to find a walk behind spreader that feeds grass seed reliably. The Solo 421S solved the problem. Feeds consistently, reliably. Does not disturb your perfect grade like the weight and tires of a walk behind. With no wind, the lateral coverage is as good or better than a walk behind. Can really whip the heavier fertilizer pellets out. The flow adjustment is sensitive and takes a few attempts to dial in. The center adjustment has some impact on the left to right dispersion of your seed or fertilizer. Holds about 10 lbs of seed. Maybe 20 of fertilizer. Waterproof cover is helpful in wet weather. About 1/4 the price of the professional walk behind spreaders I own. Nothing the think about. Get one!

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