Best Ice Melt for a Pile of Frozen Anti Skid

[anomad]

Yeah, I'm spending a lot on the project. If it keeps me at home on the property for a few more years instead of moving to town or an assisted living community, I consider it money well spent.

Half joking, but I want to mount 4 weed burners to your backhoe and melt it all while mixing in salt. I have heard salt on a gravel drive can make a mud problem?

 

[bdhsfz6]

Half joking, but I want to mount 4 weed burners to your backhoe and melt it all while mixing in salt. I have heard salt on a gravel drive can make a mud problem?

Joking aside, I sometimes wish I could use a big torch to melt off the entire road.
The older I get, the more likely I am to spend money on a problem rather than expend my waning abilities.

Yes, salt is hygroscopic and attracts moisture which can lead to surface issues on a gravel road. I usually don't use enough to cause a problem, and it helps control dust in the dry season.

 

[bdhsfz6]

I have been considering this:

Skid Steer Ice Scraper with Down Pressure, Pivoting Center Point, and Replaceable Notched Disc - Move Forward, Backward, and Side to Side for Efficient Snow and Material Removal | Titan Attachments

Ideal attachment to remove ice, snow, manure, and hard packed materials from driveways, sidewalks, parking lots and walking paths.

palletforks.com

I do something similar to break up road ice. I use a SSQA to 3pt adapter and mount my York rake on the FEL. I back drag the ice using the rakes scarifier teeth. It's slow work though and takes a lot of time to do the whole road.

 

[shooterdon]

I do something similar to break up road ice. I use a SSQA to 3pt adapter and mount my York rake on the FEL. I back drag the ice using the rakes scarifier teeth. It's slow work though and takes a lot of time to do the whole road.

This coming year I am going to try these carbide studs for snowmobiles:

Amazon.com

Use a 2x2x1/4 angle iron drilled to hold the studs on the bottom flange and bolt the side flange of the angle iron to a SSQA plate or a holder on the pallet fork frame.

 

[MossRoad]

Joking aside, I sometimes wish I could use a big torch to melt off the entire road.
The older I get, the more likely I am to spend money on a problem rather than expend my waning abilities.

Yes, salt is hygroscopic and attracts moisture which can lead to surface issues on a gravel road. I usually don't use enough to cause a problem, and it helps control dust in the dry season.

 

[John_Mc]

I do something similar to break up road ice. I use a SSQA to 3pt adapter and mount my York rake on the FEL. I back drag the ice using the rakes scarifier teeth. It's slow work though and takes a lot of time to do the whole road.

I just lower the scarifier shanks on my box blade to start breaking up the ice. I do this both on the gravel and the paved portion of my 1/4 mile driveway. When things are hard enough that I'm not getting good penetration on the ice, I'll raise four of the shanks, concentrating the weight on the two remaining shanks. One year, I did add more weight to the box blade, but I have not found that necessary most of the time.

 

[John_Mc]

What material to mix in I can’t suggest except my town mixes rock salt in with sand for the roads here. Very corrosive though. Maybe calcium chloride is better albeit more expensive and then there’s question of ratios.

Calcium Chloride is significantly more corrosive than rock salt.

Rock salt's effectiveness diminishes the lower the temperature. It's generally considered ineffective below about 15˚F or so. Calcium Chloride is effective down to lower temperatures, but just not worth it, in my book. I do not use it on our driveway, and our town does not use it for wintertime road service (they do sometimes apply it to gravel roads in the summer to help retain the fines and keep the dust down when things are very dry.)

 

[bdhsfz6]

For those who use shipping containers, can one be used to store anti skid? Are the floors of these things strong enough to take that much weight and the abuse of loading & unloading the material?

I realize it would require ventilation to control condensation and mixing salt or calcium would cause corrosion.

Keeping the swing out doors clear of snow could also be an issue. I figure I could leave them open and just drape a tarp over the opening. That would also help with ventilation.

 

[LouNY]

My brother knew an individual that was going to try using one for salted sand. He reasoned that if it only got 5-8 years of use it would be cost effective.
If your loader in compact enough to fit into the conex it would be an interesting idea. It would be difficult to get it filled much past half full with the slump of "dry" sand unless one was using a conveyor or flex auger to fill with then you would still be only able to get it 2/3's full.
Using the swing doors would require a moveable ramp system to get in or out. The floors are sturdy enough to use fork trucks to unload them.

 

[bdhsfz6]

My brother knew an individual that was going to try using one for salted sand. He reasoned that if it only got 5-8 years of use it would be cost effective.
If your loader in compact enough to fit into the conex it would be an interesting idea. It would be difficult to get it filled much past half full with the slump of "dry" sand unless one was using a conveyor or flex auger to fill with then you would still be only able to get it 2/3's full.
Using the swing doors would require a moveable ramp system to get in or out. The floors are sturdy enough to use fork trucks to unload them.

The idea is to only keep enough material in the container for a single season. The rest of the unsalted material would be stored outside in a pile. Doing it that way, I could get by with a 20" container.

My L6060 is 94" tall and should clear the door of an 8' high container.

 

[anomad]

The idea is to only keep enough material in the container for a single season. The rest of the unsalted material would be stored outside in a pile. Doing it that way, I could get by with a 20" container.

My L6060 is 94" tall and should clear the door of an 8' high container.

I wonder if a container with the side opening doors would be easier to manage?

 

[John_Mc]

I wonder if a container with the side opening doors would be easier to manage?

I've never heard of such a thing. Is that real, or an AI picture?

I'm guessing the latter, since the doors are too narrow to cover the long opening, nor does there appear to be any means of fastening them shut. It also seems like an awfully long span to have he roof unsupported on one side.

 

[shooterdon]

There are plow contractors here who will salt/sand a driveway.

If that service is available in your area get a quote and pencil it out. Looks like you are going to have over 15k invested in your DIY option for something you might need 12 times a year. That $15k wound generate $1500 per year if invested and then you are spending another $500 a year in sand, salt, fuel etc.

Cost here is about $150 to do a long driveway. But say it costs you $200. Is it worth the hassle to save $400/year?

I know my significant other would not be pleased to have a hillbilly shed or container being an eyesore

 

[dodge man]

I’m guessing there is a door behind the door that folds out and covers all the opening.

 

[anomad]

I've never heard of such a thing. Is that real, or an AI picture?

I'm guessing the latter, since the doors are too narrow to cover the long opening, nor does there appear to be any means of fastening them shut. It also seems like an awfully long span to have he roof unsupported on one side.

Side opening containers are real. If you look at the container stack in the upper right of that photo you can see what they look like closed.

You can also find them with roll up overhead doors on the sides. Those are a retrofit though.

 

[RayIN]

Yeah, this topic has been done to death, but I have a specific question that hasn't been discussed much. I'm hoping the "experts" here with experience can offer some help.

Over the Summer, I built a storage bunker from concrete blocks. I filled it with a fine stone mix that a local quarry sells for anti skid. I covered it with a heavy duty vinyl tarp and secured it tightly with bungees so no rain or snow could blow in. The material was completely dry when I placed it in the bunker but it still froze over to a depth of almost a foot under the tarp. I had to break it up with the backhoe to load the spreader. After I finished spreading, I reloaded the spreader with dry material from under the frozen layer. The spreader has a cover and it was parked inside an unheated barn, but it froze up again inside the hopper. I have no idea where the moisture is coming from.

It looks like I'm going to have to add ice melt but how do I mix it? Can I just spread it on top of the frozen pile and hope it penetrates down far enough to prevent freeze ups? What ice melt is best for this? I'm not overly worried about corrosion, since the spreader hopper is heavily galvanized and all the moving parts are stainless steel. Cost is always a factor as well as possible vegetation damage, but the road is gravel with no concrete or asphalt to worry about.

Next season, I'll mix ice melt into the material as I load the bunker, but what do I do with the existing frozen 23 ton pile?

Thanks in advance for any ideas or solutions!

Liquid ice melt like the state uses.

 

[LouNY]

Side opening containers are real. If you look at the container stack in the upper right of that photo you can see what they look like closed.

You can also find them with roll up overhead doors on the sides. Those are a retrofit though.

With loose material the fill capacity would be very low.

 

[RayIN]

Just to add to the topic I buy calcium chloride in 50 lbs bags. This is one of the best ice melt. When I open a bag to use it it contains big solid clumps of material which have to be crashed...

Like most anything not metalic, it draws moisture, actually it attracts moisture, like the old table salt we had to mix with rice to keep from clumping.
Remember what happens to a bag of premix concrete in a year_ even when in a plastic bag.

 

[bdhsfz6]

There are plow contractors here who will salt/sand a driveway.

If that service is available in your area get a quote and pencil it out. Looks like you are going to have over 15k invested in your DIY option for something you might need 12 times a year. That $15k wound generate $1500 per year if invested and then you are spending another $500 a year in sand, salt, fuel etc.

Cost here is about $150 to do a long driveway. But say it costs you $200. Is it worth the hassle to save $400/year?

I know my significant other would not be pleased to have a hillbilly shed or container being an eyesore

All valid points.

I have looked into hiring out the work several times over the years and my math is quite different. Yes, there are contractors, but none nearby. The businesses I did contact all want a yearly contract. Due to the steep slope and curved roadway, if you start from the bottom, you have to back up the hill while spreading. Only one I talked to would even touch the job and he wanted $1800/yr. Then there is the timing issue. How long would I have to wait before a contractor finally showed up.

Keep in mind some of the $$ I've spent can be recouped through equipment resale or reuse. The concrete blocks I used to build the bunker can be reused for other projects and the gravel anti-skid used to choke off loose sections of the gravel road. I purchase gravel for road maintenance every couple of years anyway.

If I do get a cargo container, it could easily be reused for equipment storage. It would be located 1/4 mile away and not visible from the house or road.

I also don't know where I could get a reliable 10% / yr. return on a $15K investment.

 

[LouNY]

I have never even bothered to get a price for having a contractor plow my driveway. It is quite steep and long a person is going to tear up equipment and the driveway trying to plow up the hill. Without chains it is very difficult to plow and you will get stuck with a pickup or 2wd tractor occasionally. I have a considerable sum tied up in driveway maintenance equipment.