[Lawn Lad]

I'm considering buying a hydroseeder, having never done it before. But I believe it would solve some of our seeding problems (see my thread related to straw problems).

After researching a bit on jet agitation (Easy Lawn, Turbo Turf) and talking with the folks at Turfmaker I think I'm leaning towards a mechanical agitation machine.

I'm interested to get any feedback from those that do hydroseed. Is the use of wood mulch and therefore mechanical agitation preferred? Any regrets buying the machine you have now? What would you buy differently in the future? What features have been helpful?

One feature that I like on the Turfmaker is the ability to run clear water through the hose to clear it out drawing from a clean water tank (additional ag or bladder type tank not included). The addition of a second water tank allows you to carry more water without having to buy a bigger machine and load the unit quickly with a 2.0" fill hose connected from the water tank.

Thanks for your feedback.

[Green4Me]

A turfmaker is a good choice for a starter machine. Mine is 4 years old now and works very well. We seeded two projects yesterday.
As my business grows and I get bigger jobs, especially public work, I am considering a Bowie 1500 gallon seeder. But the Turfmaker has made me a lot of money each year and am in no way disappointed. By all means go with mechanical agitation.
I use the Canfor EcoFibre w/tack for mulch. It is a very high quality product with good documentation for submitals and performs very well.

Turfmaker has been very good about answering questions and with parts when needed.

Good Luck

[Paydaze7]

i have a finn t120. love the machine. my only regret is that i didn't get a bigger machine, but then we would have had to gotten a tandem axle truck.. im not bashing jet agitation but i think mechanical is superior with mix times and mixing heavy slurries.. but if your serious about gettin into hydroseeding scratch every nickel together you got and buy the biggest machine you can... as for mulch we use a 70/30 blend. it seems to be that we get the best results with this mix..

[Lawn Lad]

I bit the bullet and bought the Turf Maker 430 this past week. I've run about four tanks through the machine thus far playing with the mix of mulch to water and application rates. It will be interesting to see the results in the next one to two weeks as grass starts to grow.

In the pictures I'm doing some spot seeding around a lawn that we topdressed the day before.

I've tried to spray all different scenarios this week to see what will come up. We've sprayed hard pack soil after a week of continual rain, we've sprayed over thin lawn areas, those have been topdressed, entirely new lawn areas and over straw where the seed wasn't germinating too well. Each time the mix has a been little different (thinner and not as much seed when going over thin new growth with straw versus heavier mulch and seed for new bare areas that were topdressed or new install).

We'll see how it turns out, but in the meantime the new toy is a lot of fun!

[Lawn Lad]

Here's another shot of the machine and in action.

[GLAN]

Best of luck

[sleepy]

Nice unit! Keep that sucker busy!

[Paul]

Over the long haul we have found that 2500 lbs of wood mulch per acre and 7 lbs of seed per 1000 sq ft seem to be that magic number for new seeding. Your unit is also good for holding down straw mulch by using tack and a bale or two of mulch for color (shows where you applied tacking agent). If you find yourself doing steep slopes, BFM (bonded fiber matrix) shot at 3000 to 4500 lbs per acre will get things growing even on the steepest slopes.

Finn additives HydroMax is one that we used a lot and found that it did increase germination during stress periods and produced a better stand of grass in less time, tho cost can be a factor. With your machine you should be able to get 200 to 225 lbs of mulch per tank. The addition of the newer tacks (Slicky- Sticky) makes things go much easier doing heavy mulch loads thru hose or tower.

[ALS]

Congrats on your new machine. I am sure that you will find plenty of work for it.


Ted

[Lawn Lad]

After working with it for less than a week I can see new opportunities already. It's going to change the way we put in lawns, do spot seeding and generally run any seeding work.

I bought a jug of "slicky sticky". The stuff is pretty cool. I haven't tried not using it, so I don't know any different. I got a couple of the crystals wet on the top of the machine and it was weird when I touch them, the goo stuck to my fingers and stretched like glue, but when I rubbed my fingers they were very slick.

I was told by Kevin at Firelands Supply (Norwalk, OH) where I bought the seeder and materials that I didn't need to put in as much Slicky Sticky as the manufacturer recommended since the Conwed mulch already has a tackifier in it. Today when I looked at a job I shot yesterday the mulch was holding the topsoil in place. It was a little on the dry side on top and looked/felt firm. Underneath it was still a little moist.

I'm crossing my fingers that pre-germinating works. I'm wondering if mixing or stirring the batch of pregerminated seed would make a difference or if just sticking seed in a bucket of water is sufficient.