Winter Maintenance on Slippery Private Roads

[bdhsfz6]

There are four property owners that share maintenance expenses on our 1.25 mile, very steep private road. We all share the plowing chores but I'm the only one with a spreader. Right now, two of us burn coal and I spread ash when the road gets slick. Yeah, I know, coal ash is considered toxic but we handle it as such using a cabbed tractor, masks, gloves and goggles. There have been no issues during the 40 years we've been using it.

The two of us with coal stoves are switching to heat pumps this year and the coal ash will no longer be available. In the past, I've experimented with various aggregates but they are expensive and difficult to store. If stored in a pile outdoors, it freezes up and gets covered with snow which makes tarp covers difficult to remove. After fighting to remove the cover, sand, cinders & fine gravel have to be broken up with a hammer. The chunks then get caught in the modified ag spreader I use. Mixing with calcium or rock salt helps but it's expensive and difficult to effectively mix with the aggregate.

Right now, we store the lightweight ash in 30 gal cans which are weather resistant and can be dumped into the spreader. Heavier aggregate needs to be loaded with a shovel. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal for many but the youngest property owner is 70 and the oldest is 85.

I realize this topic has been discussed many times but I keep hoping for some new ideas, tricks or equipment.

For those who maintain private roads, what aggregate do you use and how do you store & spread it?

 

[IndyIan]

There are four property owners that share maintenance expenses on our 1.25 mile, very steep private road. We all share the plowing chores but I'm the only one with a spreader. Right now, two of us burn coal and I spread ash when the road gets slick. Yeah, I know, coal ash is considered toxic but we handle it as such using a cabbed tractor, masks, gloves and goggles. There have been no issues during the 40 years we've been using it.

The two of us with coal stoves are switching to heat pumps this year and the coal ash will no longer be available. In the past, I've experimented with various aggregates but they are expensive and difficult to store. If stored in a pile outdoors, it freezes up and gets covered with snow which makes tarp covers difficult to remove. After fighting to remove the cover, sand, cinders & fine gravel have to be broken up with a hammer. The chunks then get caught in the modified ag spreader I use. Mixing with calcium or rock salt helps but it's expensive and difficult to effectively mix with the aggregate.

Right now, we store the lightweight ash in 30 gal cans which are weather resistant and can be dumped into the spreader. Heavier aggregate needs to be loaded with a shovel. I know this doesn't sound like a big deal for many but the youngest property owner is 70 and the oldest is 85.

I realize this topic has been discussed many times but I keep hoping for some new ideas, tricks or equipment.

For those who maintain private roads, what aggregate do you use and how do you store & spread it?

What is the road surface? On my hilly gravel driveway I plow with a rear blade and no shoes, so its always got some gravel exposed and then the sun melts the rest. The hills for the most part aren't shaded by evergreens and I am going to keep it that way by selecting for deciduous trees near the driveway.
If I do get a sheet of ice going, I stud up the tractor tires and rip the ice with 3-4-5-6 scarifiers on the box blade.

If you have the proper outdoor tap, I wonder if you can dissolve salt or calcium chloride in water and dribble it down to make two tire tracks? Put a plastic barrel on a pallet on the 3pt and drive in and out after you plow? I wouldn't bother with the aggregates in winter unless you build a proper storage shed to keep them dry.

 

[Rustyiron]

"Up here" you can buy a dump truck load of salt sand. It's mixed sand and salt just as you described.
I imagine the your group of 3 all would like to stay there forever and having a small 3 sided building to keep the majority of the weather off of a pile of salt sand should make things much easier for everyone.

 

[bdhsfz6]

What is the road surface? On my hilly gravel driveway I plow with a rear blade and no shoes, so its always got some gravel exposed and then the sun melts the rest. The hills for the most part aren't shaded by evergreens and I am going to keep it that way by selecting for deciduous trees near the driveway.
If I do get a sheet of ice going, I stud up the tractor tires and rip the ice with 3-4-5-6 scarifiers on the box blade.

Gravel road but steep and well shaded. I do rough it up with the scarifier on my stone rake sometimes but it doesn't melt off that well. Most of the time, it packs down and re freezes.

 

[bdhsfz6]

"Up here" you can buy a dump truck load of salt sand. It's mixed sand and salt just as you described.
I imagine the your group of 3 all would like to stay there forever and having a small 3 sided building to keep the majority of the weather off of a pile of salt sand should make things much easier for everyone.

A storage building would be ideal but costly. The taxes on such a building would also hurt.

 

[dodge man]

I think the only answer is mixing some salt in. You will probably still have to tarp it.

 

[stumblinhorse]

Doesn’t sound like you use that much ash. You can buy salt at the feed store for about $7 a 50# bag. Buy when you need it and use a lot less than coal ash. It will work a lot better.

 

[Topzide]

I think that making a brine solution to apply to the road would help a lot. If to much salt in one place can cause a soft spot and then pot holes! 55 gal barrels or even a 275 gal tote for the brine. If all neighbors have tractors, all would be able to carry for their turn.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I think that making a brine solution to apply to the road would help a lot. If to much salt in one place can cause a soft spot and then pot holes! 55 gal barrels or even a 275 gal tote for the brine. If all neighbors have tractors, all would be able to carry for their turn.

Not a bad idea. I guess I'll need a sprayer to apply it.

 

[JJT]

I don't store much more than a few 5 gallon buckets of sand/salt mix. When I need it I simply stop at the town garage and get what I need, it's never frozen.