You’ve invested in the best lawn spreaders and can’t wait to use them on your customers’ yards or the athletic fields you manage.
But do you know how to calibrate a spreader for each lawn product you use on clients’ yards?Don’t just wing it.Instead, you can learn about calibration and putting the right amount of fertilizer, grass seed, topdressing, or weed control into your spreader’s hopper.In this blog post, you’ll learn more about calibration, including· Eliminate lawn product waste with precise calibration· 5 pro tips for accurate spreader calibration· Ensure happy customers with targeted lawn product distribution.Eliminate Lawn Product Waste with Precise CalibrationCalibration is vital when applying lawn care products to your customers’ yards. If you don’t set your landscaping spreaders to the correct spreader setting, you risk· Environmental harm· Turf injury· Patchy results and missed spots· Wasted product and money.Plus, your customers will not be happy with the results if part of their lawn is weed-free while the other part is full of them.Instead, you want to provide expert-level applications, whether grass seed, top-dressing, or other lawn products you use throughout the season. You also want your techs to be efficient while getting the best results for your clients.Read more: Spring Lawn Care: Maximize Efficiency and Achieve Lush Lawns with Topdressing5 Pro Tips for Accurate Spreader CalibrationSo, how do you calibrate your lawn spreaders?First, realize that each lawn spreader is different, even if it’s from the same manufacturer. For example, if you buy a fleet of Spyker Turfdresser Pro Spreaders, you’ll need to calibrate each one differently.Second, you need to calibrate for each lawn product you use because· Product labels recommend specific calibrations, but you can’t rely on them· Granular products have different densities, sizes, nutrient content, and active ingredients· Each lawn care operator walks at a different speed, which affects product distribution.Third, you need to gather the following 10 materials to calibrate your spreader settings:1. Pen and paper2. A tape measure3. A bucket4. Chalk and flags5. A calculator6. The lawn product being applied7. The spreader you’re using for application8. A calibration pan or a collection bag9. 11-13 collection pans (all the same size) or boxes that measure 1 ft. x 1 ft. x 3 in. high10. A scale to weigh the product in ounces.Learn more: Spyker Spreaders Introduces the TurfDresser PROFourth, you need to know what your square footage is depending on the geometric shape that best aligns with the lawns you’re caring for, such as· Circles· Ovals· Squares· Trapezoids· Triangles.Fifth, you need to determine your spreaders’ swath reach. The product goes out in a swatch greater than the spreader’s width in rotary spreaders. This swath won’t evenly distribute lawn materials, with the least product reaching the outer areas.You must make back-and-forth passes with your spreader across a grid to ensure enough lawn product covers the area. Between passes, there must be a 30% to 50% overlap.You can learn more about calibration in this article.Ensure Happy Customers with Targeted Lawn Product DistributionWhen your spreaders are correctly calibrated, you’ll provide even coverage using fertilizer, lime pellets, weed control, and topdressing. Your customers will be pleased with the results and recommend you to their friends, family, and neighbors.Conversely, if you neglect to calibrate your spreaders properly, you’ll end up with uneven coverage and under- or over-using products that will be disastrous for your customers’ lawns.That’s a surefire way to lose clients and ruin your business’s reputation as well. Instead, take the time to calibrate your spreaders correctly.We make it easy for you to calibrate your Spyker Spreaders with our calibration calculator and these two videos:· How to Set the Spyker Dial to Get the Most Accurate Spread Rate· How to Set the Spyker Dial on Your Spyker Spreader.Get Pro Lawn Results with Spyker SpreadersNow’s the perfect time to invest in Spyker Spreaders. Our spreaders provide professional coverage, and we make it simple to calibrate them properly.Our newest spreader, Topdresser Pro, has a large capacity hopper, 1.8 Cu.Ft., meaning fewer refills and more passes. The Topdresser Pro also has the industry’s most accurate calibration—the Spyker dial has 95 settings and an easy-to-read dial.Get your Topdresser Pro today at your local dealer or the Spyker online shop.Need assistance with your Spyker Spreader? Reach out to customer support.Sources:Extension.PSU.edu, Calibrating Your Fertilizer Spreader.HGIC.Clemson.edu, Calibrating Spreaders.
