Pure ammonium nitrate can be used, it's 33-0-0, but usage amounts would be around 3 pounds per thousand square feet to target 1 pound of nitrogen.

Also, please be aware that the stuff is a significant fire risk and chemical combination risk, so I don't recommend storage of any significant amount for any period of time.

So while a decent way to feed the lawn, it's certainly not a solution for your hardened soil.

What might be is to put any clear shampoo in a hose-end sprayer, and spray it across those areas at a rate of about 6 ounces per thousand square feet. Then water it in well. You can also do the rest of the lawn at 2-4 ounces per thousand square feet.

That will loosen and soften the soil, open it to air and water, and help gather it together into more stable agglomerations.

I'm not sure of your locale. For southern lawns with southern grasses, we're moving into the season to seed them. For northern lawns, it's best to wait until summer's just coming to an end and the nights are just starting to cool off.

Post seeding, it has to be watered at absolute minimum once per day (twice is better, three times is optimal) until it fully sprouts, then back off with the watering slowly to let it adjust.

A soil test here would also be a good idea, but may or may not be something you're interested in doing. Regardless, don't throw lime at the soil without a test--there's no way to tell if you're helping or doing serious damage.

thank you, this is exactly the information i need. also if you have the time to answer one more question. can i use a drop spreader to to put the ammonium nitrate down or would a rotary spreader be optimal?

Either is fine, actually. I prefer a rotary for speed and ease of use, but there's nothing wrong with a drop spreader.