Pedestrian spreaders, tested for rate and spread.
We test the pedestrian and small spreaders that grounds teams use: on golf courses, at football and rugby clubs, racecourses and schools, and for turf growers. It fits in alongside the maintenance you already do on your machines.
Rate first, then the spread
On turf, the first question is usually the rate. If 25 bags should do that pitch, does it, or do you run short before the last corner?
So we check how much comes out as well as where it lands.
- The rate
What the setting actually puts out with your own fertiliser, against the rate you’re after.
- The spread
A tray test across the full width, on smaller trays (about 30 × 25 cm) that suit the narrower widths of amenity spreaders, and a check that both sides balance. Single-disc spreaders in particular throw unevenly if they’re not set right.
- The machine
The parts that wear or work loose on pedestrian spreaders, before they show up as stripes on the turf.
- Sprayers too
We NSTS test sprayers as well, so both can be done on one visit. See sprayer testing.
What we find on pedestrian spreaders
The faults we see most often, before they show up as stripes on the turf.
- Play in the shutter mechanism, so the rate wanders
- A rate setting that doesn’t match the shutter opening
- Rate stops fitted on the wrong side of the handle
- Drive wheels not properly attached, or an uneven drive to the disc
- Tyre pressures that don’t match
- Banding: stripes of fertiliser across the turf
Smaller trays for narrower widths
Amenity spreaders work at much narrower widths than farm spreaders, so we test them on smaller trays, about 30 × 25 cm, instead of the 50 × 50 cm trays we use on farms.
Smaller trays give a finer picture of where the fertiliser lands across a narrow bout, and of whether the two sides balance.
To keep ICL at the forefront of the industry, we utilize the service from Spreader & Sprayer Testing to rigorously evaluate our products and provide the calibration data we use every day.
Making or selling amenity fertiliser or spreaders? We run amenity fertiliser trials, with settings and rate tables for the spreaders your customers use.
Questions.
Does a pedestrian spreader need an NSTS test?
Not if it only spreads fertiliser: the inspection rules cover equipment that applies pesticides.1 Pedestrian kit that does apply pesticides has no formal test either, but a competent person must inspect it and record the inspection.2 We test for the rate and the spread, because that’s what shows on the turf.
Why do you use smaller trays?
Because amenity spreaders work at narrower widths. Trays of about 30 × 25 cm give a finer picture across a narrow bout than the 50 × 50 cm trays we use on farm spreaders.
Can you test our sprayer on the same visit?
Yes. We NSTS test sprayers as well, so both can be done on one visit. See sprayer testing.
Book your spreaders in
Tell us how many spreaders you run and what you put through them, and we’ll fit the test in around your maintenance.
- The make and model of each spreader
- The fertilisers you use, and have some on site on the day
- Whether you’d like your sprayer tested too
Or email info@spreadcheck.com. We’ll ring you to fix a date. Nothing is booked until we’ve spoken.
Sources
- HSE, Guidance on the requirements of the Plant Protection Products (Sustainable Use) Regulations 2012, section 1.10, updated October 2025.
- NSTS, Sprayer (liquid) test requirements, accessed 2026.