WTF? $150 for a spreader?  That's a lot of clams to lay down, especially for a homeowner.  But it's worth every fr'king penny.  Why?  Because it works like a charm.  The pneumatic wheels make handling a breeze even with a full load.  And it broadcasts like a mofo saving time and effort.  Used to take me 45 minutes to treat roughly 12,000 square feet with my $50 spreader (owned for 15 years, I might add). Now it takes 30 or less and with the wide dispersion, missing areas is a thing of the past.  I paid $199.00 and purchased locally at a Tru Value Hardware store.  This seems to be the usual retail selling price.  However, they assembled the unit at no cost.  If you're even fairly handy with tools and have some time, save yourself some bucks and buy from Amazon.  The instruction manual advises that using the spreader is most effective when walking at a moderate pace (approx. 3 mph) and I found this to be accurate.  I learned that there is definitely a qualitative difference between spreaders.  Maybe that's why many landscaping professionals use Earthway.