Earthway is a lawn topdressing equipment manufacturing company well known across the US and UK. Launched in 1965, they’ve consistently ranked among the top companies producing high-quality fertilizer spreaders, liquid sprayers, and other garden tools. If you’ve ever shopped for a lawn spreader, chances are that you’ve probably received recommendations to get an Earthway spreader.
In this article, we will outline standard spreader settings for their flagship broadcast spreader – the Earthway EV-N-Spread 2150 Commercial Broadcast Spreader. Also, we’ll put it side-by-side with the Scotts flagship broadcast spreader to see which is best for lawn maintenance.
Earthway Spreader Settings Guide
The good thing about Earthway broadcast spreaders is that their settings are cross-compatible. The same spreader settings apply across all models, which makes the chart below also usable for people with older versions or other variants of their broadcast spreader.
While that’s the case, even though the settings you may end up using are usually close to these below, understand that these spreader settings are only starting points. You don’t want to go ahead to apply on the entire lawn on the first try, you want to evaluate your results on the testing ground and adjust accordingly before spreading the entire lawn.
Earthway Spreader Settings Chart 1
| BAG WEIGHT | BAG COVERAGE IN SQUARE FEET | ||
| 5,000 | 10,000 | 15,000 | |
| LBS.1000 SQ Ft | |||
| 5 LBS | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 |
| 10 LBS | 2.0 | 1.0 | 0.7 |
| 15 LBS | 3.0 | 1.5 | 1.0 |
| 18 LBS | 3.6 | 1.8 | 1.2 |
| 20 LBS | 4.0 | 2.0 | 1.3 |
| 25 LBS | 5.0 | 2.5 | 1.7 |
| 30 LBS | 6.0 | 3.0 | 2.0 |
| 35 LBS | 7.0 | 3.5 | 2.3 |
| 40 LBS | 8.0 | 4.0 | 2.7 |
| 45 LBS | 9.0 | 4.5 | 3.0 |
| 50 LBS | 10.0 | 5.0 | 3.3 |
Earthway Spreader Settings Chart 2
| GRAMS/SQ METER | LBS/1000 SQ FT | SPREADER SETTING |
| 5 | 1.0 | 11 |
| 10 | 2.0 | 13 |
| 15 | 3.0 | 14 |
| 20 | 4.0 | 16 |
| 25 | 5.0 | 17 |
| 30 | 6.0 | 18 |
| 35 | 7.0 | 19 |
| 40 | 8.0 | 20 |
| 45 | 9.0 | 22 |
| 50 | 10.0 | 23 |
How to Use Earthway Spreader Settings Chart
- Use ‘Chart 1’ to evaluate the number of LBS/1000 square feet of coverage (Example: 10LBS bag with 5,000 square foot coverage = 2.0LBS/1000 square feet).
- Find the closest LBS/1000 square feet in ‘Chart 2’ that you’ve evaluated using chart 1. (Example: 2.0LBS/1000 square feet = Spreader Settings of 13).
Earthway Spreader Widths for Various Particle Sizes
| Particle Size | English | Metric |
| Small/Fine (Sand) | 5-7ft. | 1.5-2.1m |
| Medium (Half BB) | 7-9ft. | 2.1-2.7m |
| Large (Full BB) | 9-12. | 2.7-3.7m |
Earthway Spreader Settings vs. Scotts
Generally, we expect different spreader settings for different spreader brands and models, however, there’s always a preference as not all settings and spreader models are perfect for each user. In this article, we will have a quick comparison between Earthway and Scotts lawn spreader settings as a basis for which is the best to use.
First, let’s consider Earthway’s line of spreaders; the company currently markets 21 spreaders, divided into six categories – Prizelawn, 12-Volt Spreaders, Commercial Spreaders, Residential Spreaders, Professional Spreaders, and Ice Melt Spreaders.
Aside from some of the spreaders that need special calibration, most of their main flagship drop and broadcast spreaders use the same settings range, as such, the same spreader settings apply regardless of model or spreader type. Of course, for most professionals, this isn’t a big deal because they can easily evaluate spreader settings from scratch, but for an amateur or a regular user, it makes the difference as there’s little confusion when searching online for standard spreader settings.
Furthermore, the spreaders which have unique spreader settings are often used by experienced top dressers who know exactly what they want and can equally afford the extra price for purchasing the spreader settings from Earthway.
On the other hand, most Scotts spreaders come pre-calibrated and ready to use. All products in their Drop Classic and Edgeguard series are factory calibrated, only the Scotts Elite spreader requires spreader settings per material.
While this may be true, it only applies to Scotts products i.e. their fertilizer and soil treatment products. When spreading third-party products, you will need to make adjustments. More so, these adjustments vary by spreader model, making them not as cross-compatible as Earthway’s.
At first glance, it’s easy to say Earthway wins the game of spreader settings compact ability. However, the story isn’t the same for their entire line of products as Earthway sells some of their spreader settings manual separately from the spreader itself, giving you an additional cost, which isn’t the case with Scotts spreaders.
At any rate, some well-established lawn material manufacturers often provide spreader settings for both Earthway and Scotts spreaders, so settings usually aren’t a problem for both parties, even though it’s Scotts spreaders appear to be the cost-effective option.
