I am thinking of buying a spreader for my Sportsman. I will use it for salt in the winter, fertilizer on my food plots in the spring, spreading seed on these foodplots, and for spreading corn for the deer. Does anyone have any suggestions on what brand to buy?

Thanks,
Jaybee

If you are cost conscious, and would use a pull behind, Scotts makes a real good one that can handle 40lbs. (as I remember), and is adjustable to the amount of dispersment.

I got mine at Lowes, and paid no more than $39.00 for it.

I would like to have one that mounts to the rear. The pull type will not withstand the amount of work and the distance of travel between food plots.

Cabelas has one, but rather pricey at $199. It mounts to the rear rack, holds 15 gallons, and says it can be used for all the applications you mentioned-seeding, salting, feeding deer. You can take a look at it at www.cabelas.com. Also, I believe Cycle Country makes one of similar style that does the same thing, possibly cheaper.

As for the pull behind types, Rubbermaid makes a 175 lbs. pull behind that uses a solid axle and holds up very well to rough conditions. I really don't care for the way they disperse the seed though, as they do tend to clog due to bridging of the seed, or salt, whatever, and occassionally you'll get uneven application rates. The cabelas spreader uses a 12 volt attached motor to spin the shaft, which may improve things, just depends on how much you want to spend.

Best of luck in the search,

Mike

Northern Tool (aka Northern Hydraulics) has a couple, but they ain't cheap.