Spreader 3 point Spreader for Sand and Salt?

[westbrooklawn]

Has anyone tried to use a cone type fertilizer/seeder spreader to spread sand for ice management on drives and parking lots? I am wondering if it would feed all right or if it would freeze, clog, etc. Anyone have experience?

 

[kingoflawns]

I use my sitrex fs 150 for icemelt & rocksalt, it works great. I think it would work for sand if it was bone dry! Don't even try if the sand is wet!

 

[westbrooklawn]

King -

Thanks for the feedback... I was afraid it was wishful thinking to expect it to work with sand...

 

[drm]

Some of the salt spreaders are designed to spread sand also but they tend to be the larger/more expensive models. I would think that you would need a spreader with a heavy mixing blade in the hopper to break-up the clumps.

...Derek

 

[JoeL4330]

Just bought cheap receiver hitch sand/salt spreader, and have a clamp-on receiver on my FEL (I have snow blower on back) ...haven't used it yet, ice magically melted when I ordered it and no snow or ice since.

 

[Deerlope]

JoeL4330, I been looking for just such a sander. Could you tell us a little more about the one that you just bought?

 

[ksmmoto]

I have a Cosmo spreader I bought at TSC. I haven't even set it up yet, but will soon. I am planning on buy 80 lb bags of sandblast/pool filter sand for ice. My local lumberyard has it for about $3.00 bag. Much easier than digging sand and keeping it dry!

ksmmoto

 

[Deerlope]

In this part of the country just sand does not work well because the wind blows it away. We have to use a salt/sand mix to keep the salt/sand in place. Also it keeps the sand from freezing when store out side and under cover. Cover keeps the rain from washing the salt out.

 

[hwp]

The unit Joel4330 has is probably a big brother to the Buyers "SUV" unit I have. The only issue I have with the SUV unit is that there is no aggitator, which means that it does not work well with sand unless the sand is very dry. It works great for salt though. When I have to salt my driveway, I load it up with 30 round mouth shovelfulls of salt and away I go. That is just enough salt to do my driveway. I buy salt (and sand) by the cubic yard. I have the remote control for the spreader mounted in the cab so I can turn the it on or off when I want, such as turning around at the end of the driveway. My unit is a few years old and Buyers now has a unit with a smaller motor, but I don't know how well it works. One problem with the current generation of dc motors is that the fields are glued in place. When the fields come loose, you have to buy a new motor. I had that happen this fall and it cost me $400 for a new motor! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

 

[Deerlope]

I found a web site that you can buy an agitator for around a 100 bucks. its made for units with plastic hoppers such as yours.