Snow Attachments Homeowner Sand/Salt spreader buying advise

[Pixguy]

Hello Pixguy, The tube sand bags will rot and break on you at the worst time, been there, done that. ........l. Do you have loaded tires and rear chains for your mule?

Wow leonz you do like to spend my money! lol. $2700 was the cheapest I found. :wow:

I do have my rears loaded and I put chains on the rears as well.

 

[mad_planter]

I haven't had much trouble spreading the anti-skid with a rotary type spreader. I think one of the keys is to not let it sit in the spreader very long; In addition I added another agitator bar to help keep it moving.

 

[Pixguy]

I haven't had much trouble spreading the anti-skid with a rotary type spreader. I think one of the keys is to not let it sit in the spreader very long; In addition I added another agitator bar to help keep it moving.

A local spreader salesman said that be sure to empty the hopper after each use to be sure it doesn't sit very long.

 

[Rustyiron]

It might not be that expensive to have "a guy do it" that has a neighbors drive to plow, esp. if you don't demand right now service.
Tell him your doing the plowing, and when he's on his way by, and it's plowed, to sand it and there's a $20 bill taped to the garage door.:cool2:
Buying then keeping your salt/sand fairly covered, then shoveling it up into a tractor spreader all winter, not to mention the cost of the spreader and then storing it all summer……… you see where I'm going with this

 

[leonz]

Wow leonz you do like to spend my money! lol. $2700 was the cheapest I found. :wow:

I do have my rears loaded and I put chains on the rears as well.

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It is not a case of my wanting to spend your money.

I worked in a salt mine for 20 plus years and I am very familiar with corrosion issues and what salt does to machinery.

The heavy cast and machined parts in the smallest Vicon Pendulum Spreader will last well beyond a life time with a little care and you can also spread pelleted lime, powdered lime, grass seed, fertiliser, weed killer, sand and salt.

The Vicon spreaders will also retain their value and have a high resale value when or if you decided to sell everything.

Having used the Vicon towed ground driven spreaders I will tell you they work, work, work, work, and work some more and work well without whimpering.

These units were designed and tested in Europe before they were marketed here and have gained much popularity.

There is other brands of pendulum spreaders on the market and most are Vicons under the resellers paint and name,

The sealed gearbox and pitman arm are the moving parts and you do not have to deal with a spreader disc and the paddles that are welded to it.

The pendulum spreaders are designed to empty and discharge completely without extra work as the pitman arm keeps everything broken up and flowing no matter the material.


I mentioned the Vicon Pendulum spreaders as the best example of construction and design as they were the first ones.


What you are dealing with what is referred to as Mass Flow Of Materials.
Conical hoppers in casting spreaders behave just like conical storage bins that are
improperly designed to permit continuous mass flow of material.

The discharge cone is not wide enough to allow the material to simply flow and
drop in a controlled manner in one mass.

Second the conical hopper discharge point is not wide enough to prevent bridging
and rat holing of the material unless a huge agitator extends into the hopper.

The Vicon Pendulum Spreaders Pitman arm breaks up an material as the discharge opening
area for the spreader is very large and the material cannot hang up on the sides of the hopper
because of the material the hopper is made of which allows the free flow of material.
This is because the discharge opening of the hopper is wode enough to prevent material from
caking and bridging and then rat holing when the lose material below the bridged material falls away.

This is why you see wide hoppers with chain conveyors on many spreaders of all types.


Spending more money to buy a good pendulum spreader will pay you dividends for the next twenty or more winters.

The pendulum spreader have fewer moving parts, is easier to clean and there are no exposed bearings that will allow moisture to accumulate and freeze up the bearings as there are none that are exposed to moisture that will freeze up from corrosion and fail.

If you look closely at the construction of these pendulum spreaders as compared to spin casting spreaders you will see why they are better.

The more money you spend up front for a better spreader will pay you dividends in time saving and money spent as the pendulum spreadersconstruction is much more robust than spin cast spreaders.

Its a case of buying the right tool or implement for spreading fertilizer once and not having to deal with corrosion issues which is why the pendulum spreader was designed and patented and has been sold here in the United States since the early 1960's


A conical spinner spreader will clog on you simply because of the nature of gravel sand and its ability to hold moisture and the narrow discharge opening which is design compromise as the sliding gate that controls flow is sized in relation to the discharge opening
diameter. they design these things as simply and cost effectively FOR THEM to sell.

Unless your willing to use hot water and soap to wash out a spreader each and every time you use it to make sure the hopper is clean and free of built up material and greasing the open bearing on the spinner every day you use it your going to have issues.

Using windshield washer fluid in sand to keep it free flowing is a must. A metal conical hopper will act like a magnet for moisture and the material will not be free flowing unless it is kept very warm to prevent moisture build up.

An injection molded heavy plastic or fiberglass hopper will not attract moisture as it is not made from metal.

Its up to you as its your money.

You have to decide how much your time is worth and spending money on a piece of equipment that will corrode over time and freeze up and then fail in the middle of the night because you cannot open the hopper discharge plate as it is rusted shut and will make you fill the swear jar very quickly, and it will occur year after year.


I am only looking 15 years down the road as I have been there and done that with junk machinery I bought and have dealt with.


Other manufacturers/rebranded resellers of pendulum spreaders include

Land Pride

Gearmore

Solex

Bmc

Frontier

Kubota

You can buy the simplest basic Vicon pendulum spreader with a salt and sand spreading tube and be done with it. Most of the rebranded ones are either VICON or SOLEX.

You can also buy a less costly pendulum spreader as well, or a salt and sand only spinner spreader from KASCO as well.

Simple washing it with hot water will clean everything for you and keeping it in warm garage will only aid you by reducing the time needed to do this chore no matter the brand you choose but be warned spin casters with or without vibrators will have bearing failures.

Look at the KASCO salt and sand spreaders before you spend your hard earned money as they have many sizes of spinner spreaders.

Agricultural, Landscape, Skid Steer Equipment at Kasco Kasco MFG


Lay in a supply of windshield washer fluid to keep the sand flowing and some cheap liquid bleach to either mix with the sand to break up the ice or just spray it with a cheap sprayer and you will money ahead.

I dont know if WWF and chlorine bleach can be used together in sand though but using them separately will be fine.

Just to keep it in perspective for you a truck load of bulk concrete sand will cost you less than two pallets of tube or bag sand.

A good heavy water proof tarp to cover the sand pile will last you for several years
and the sand will dig out easy too-if you have a salamander/torpedo heater all the better break it up.

I always use my salamander to warm up my vehicles and the tractor before I turn the keys as it warms up the transmissions and the engine oil very nicely and its a blessing to not have to wait 20 minutes to wait on the defroster for the truck windows.

 

[powerscol]

There is nothing more caustic to a paved driveway than salt.

In Colorado and Wyoming mountain towns, they don't use it anymore because it was too expensive to keep rebuilding the roads. It's sand only and a better effort to get the snow off the roads and let the sun work it's magic.

Salt is bad, don't use it.

Sorry to tell you this by CDOT is now using home brewed salt brine. They have large tanks of salt and water to make the brine. They were using mag chloride and other stuff but price went up. They have always had 10% to 15% salt in the sand to keep if from freezing. Hope this helps - so wash the underside after a good snow here.

Now to clear my drive after plowing I use my plastic fertilizer spreader behind my riding lawn tractor/mower and spread the local HD or Ace ice removal stuff (mag chloride/salt pellets) - all works the same