Cyclone Spreader Settings Chart

Cyclone is one of the most widely used spreader brands. They primarily produce lawn spreaders and seeders for lawn dressing and mechanized farming.

In this article, we will be giving a standard spreader settings chart for their flagship spreaders; the PTO models S-3 & S-1. Although they’re primarily regarded as cyclone seeders, they can equally be used to spread other soil materials.

cyclone spreader settings

Cyclone Spreader Settings Chart

While the settings by material listed below are the standard recommendations for spreading each underlying material, the specific settings you end up implementing on your cyclone spreader for your turf will depend on a variety of factors.

Ideally, you want to start with a low-end setting on a testing ground that’s no more than ¼ of the entire land/turf, then evaluate the results to get what’s best for you. This chart will primarily use only 100lbs per acre unless in special cases where the spreading range needs to be adjusted in special cases. You can adjust accordingly if your land area is less than an acre.

MaterialPTO Speed (MPH)Ground Speed (MPH)lbs. per acreGauge SettingMounting Height Spreading Disk to GroundSpreader Mounting Angle to TractorSpreader Width (Ft.)
Large Heavy Pellets540610010.536’’28
Small Pellets and Granules10003.81007.538’’16
Mixed Size Granules and Some Fines54041005.5 36’’↑or ↖16
Medium Pellets like Nitrogen5403.8100936’’30
Medium Mixed Size Granules5403.810010.536’’35
Small Light Weight Granules5403.81007.5All Heights14
Aldrin 20% Mesh5402.37.51.75All Heights10
Heptachlor54037.51.75All Heights12
Servin (Granular) (Sand Carrier)5404874.25All Heights12
Servin Franular Atteclay Carrier)10004874.25All Heights12
Simatine5402.31255All Heights10
Lespedeza Korean Unshelled 5403.8204.75All Heights26
Meadow L’oxtail5403.8125.75All Heights8
Millet5403.8103.5All Heights32
Oats5403.8329.5All Heights28
Panicgrass Blue5403.851.75All Heights22
Rape10003.853.25All Heights40
Ryegrass 5403.8256All Heights18
Rye (Grais) 5403.85010All Heights40
Sudan Grass Sorghum10008104.5All Heights40
Vetch  10006206.75All Heights40
Wheat1065511.5All Heights40
Alfalfa5402.3102.536’’24
Birdsfeet Trefoil 5402.341.535’’24
Barley5403.84510.25All Heights36
Bluegrass Kentucky5403.8204All Heights10
Bromegrass 1000343All Heights10
Clover1000641.75All Heights30
Fescue, Kentucky 110003.8105.25All Heights15
Ladino1000621All Heights24
Lespedeza, Sericea 5403.8203.5All Heights29

While these are standard Cyclone spreader settings for certain generic products, whatever you end up using as your settings may be entirely different due to a number of reasons such as the age of the spreader and topography of the turf.

At any rate, whatever settings you implement should be close to what’s given above.

Things to Note Before using a Cyclone Spreader (PTO Models S-1 and S-3),

Although we always encourage you to be flexible with the spreader settings, certain things don’t change. These guidelines don’t change and should be followed if you want a proper finishing of your spread and if you want your spreader to last longer.

You can determine spread width by

  • Whirling spreading disk’s speed
  • Mounting heights (for some materials
  • Volume density of granular material, size of the seed, and size of fertilizer

Not all materials have the same spreading characteristics as seen in the settings chart – The arrow indicates the proper mounting angle (if required) for individual materials. For equal spread on both sides of the spreader, point it in the direction of the arrow as indicated in the chart.

PTO spreader angles – are always for counter-clockwise rotation of the PTO and spreading disk. For Farmall Cub Tractors with clockwise rotation, PTO and spreading disk should be set to reverse arrow directions

Spreader calibration checks – first, check the lever settings; #2½ should show exactly 1/8’’ with an equal opening. Also, adjust the allen screw on the “arm” connecting the feed plate to the control lever.

Distance from the center of spreading disk to the edge of the feed flow spout – should be exactly 2-15/64’’. Adjustments may be made by loosening the four bracket bolts, adjusting the bracket, and tightening bolts.

Author

  • Danny

    Danny is a tech enthusiast. He enjoys getting his hands dirty with the features and settings of tech products and pushing them to their limits just to know how to get the best from them and how well they can endure "abuse" without breaking down. He shares his findings on this blog.

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