Spreadind sand and antislip gravel

[Phil48]

So far there has being 4 major meltdown this season! Weather was a bit crazy and our 1/4 mile private entry is now a giant bobsleigh ride:laughing:

Still I dont want to spread salt, stricktly antislip gravel or sand...

Is this spreader tought enough for gravel or sand??? I can get one easy and cheap! I worry a bit about the inside meacanic?

Walco Faza spreader FS400

exemple:
2013 180360 FS500 Walco Faza spreader

Thanks
Phil

 

[jgayman]

I would contact Walco to see if the spreader is rated for spreading gravel or sand. Some are but most aren't.

 

[Rustyiron]

My concern with those fairly cheap drum spreaders would be it's ability to break up "clumpy" or frozen sand and feed it properly to the spinner. "Bank run" sand, or really any sand I've seen for sale in bulk (dump truck) is at the very least, damp. Do you have a warm place to store it?
"Herd" makes a unit that is for sand, I've seen a few around on C/L but never checked one out in person. I have a friend that we sort of trade favors with, he has a spreader in his PU truck and is in & out of my 2000' lane in minutes.

 

[leonz]

What ever you decide on be sure to pour some windshield washer fluid on the sand load to keep it free flowing to the spinner.

if the agitator is large enough you should have no issues BUT if the spreader has
no agitator in the hopper above the spinner I would not buy it UNLESS and only UNLESS you have warm loose sand to use stockpiled in a warm garage.

If the base of the cone is not as large as the spinner outside diameter you will have issues and plugging.

You would be better off buying a Vicon pendulum spreader or one of the brands of pendulum spreader that is a clone of the Vicon units.

 

[Peter 315]

I use a Agrex 3 point hitch spreader for sand (dry bagged) works great

 

[Wolfy]

I have a Herd model 750. It is very well built and works excellent. It is carbon steel though, so I do not load salt into it. Even when running the tractor engine at idle, the Herd will throw the material in a 15 ft width. Gravel or chip stone or whatever you load into it...They also make models 550 and 1200.

 

[PILOON]

So far there has being 4 major meltdown this season! Weather was a bit crazy and our 1/4 mile private entry is now a giant bobsleigh ride:laughing:

Still I dont want to spread salt, stricktly antislip gravel or sand...

Is this spreader tought enough for gravel or sand??? I can get one easy and cheap! I worry a bit about the inside meacanic?

Walco Faza spreader FS400

exemple:
2013 180360 FS500 Walco Faza spreader

Thanks
Phil
View attachment 541964

Had a similar unit and with a few mods it did the trick 4 me.

Since sand and or crushed aggregate is denser than seed U will want to modify the spinning agitator by either shortening or stiffening the arms.
Avoid salt or calcium as they will corrode everything,
Sand and crushed stone need to be really dry. (wet stuff clumps up or freezes)
Otherwise a decent solution and still can be used to seed as was designed for, just needs some adaptations.

Biggest problem is U need a second tractor with a FEL to load, that or a shovel and good arms. LOL.

Currently I don't use anymore in favor of a simple walk behind that I modified in a similar way.
My drive is not all that long and a mere 20-30 min task.
What I did need to do on the walk behind was to 'lock' the differential in order to have enuf traction to spin the spreader, otherwise works great.
I do prefer to use crushed stone rather than sand as sand usually gets washed away while crushed stone sort of stands proud above any slight ice layers..

 

[Phil48]

Thanks a million!! You guys are the best!

The Herd model 750 is indeed a beautifull piece of equipement, but out of my reach. Almonst 4 time the price...

I double check with Walco Faza, no problem for the FS300 to spreed sand or anti-slip-gravel material. I just bought it 525$ CND along with 20 pouch of 40lbs of anti-spli gravel (bagged and dry) I'll keep those bag in my shed / alwalys empty the spreader after each time. And hope for the best! The saleman told me that I might have to weld stronger "wing" deflector, but also told me to try it before "might work well as is!?!"

Thank again for the help - very appreciated

Phil