Glare Ice Solution

[Doofy]

My dedicated snow plow is a '91 F-350. I leave it chained up year around and when it gets icy, I just go round and round several times and scratch up the ice.

 

[Tomtint]

I don't let ice happen, I lay down 100% straight salt and doing that, dries the asphalt so no water can freeze thaw and then re freeze. Slip and falls are not worth the risk.

 

[Doofy]

I don't let ice happen, I lay down 100% straight salt and doing that, dries the asphalt so no water can freeze thaw and then re freeze. Slip and falls are not worth the risk.

Where I live, salt is ineffective below 0 degrees F.

 

[LouNY]

I don't let ice happen, I lay down 100% straight salt and doing that, dries the asphalt so no water can freeze thaw and then re freeze. Slip and falls are not worth the risk.

Plus straight salt is expensive and if used on gravel makes mud and the brine is corrosive.

 

[Tomtint]

Where I live, salt is ineffective below 0 degrees F.

Salt here can be treated and I believe it's effective to -15. They call it Magic salt. May just be a local brand.. not sure. It typically adds 15.00 per ton to the cost

 

[Tomtint]

Plus straight salt is expensive and if used on gravel makes mud and the brine is corrosive.

Getting sued is expensive.. ..

 

[Doofy]

Salt here can be treated and I believe it's effective to -15. They call it Magic salt. May just be a local brand.. not sure. It typically adds 15.00 per ton to the cost

I think we began using calcium chloride and sand at our schools. The calcium chloride melted ice down to -25F. The sand just added some grip and lessened the amount of ice melt needed.

 

[Tomtint]

I think we began using calcium chloride and sand at our schools. The calcium chloride melted ice down to -25F. The sand just added some grip and lessened the amount of ice melt needed.

Out here I think they pre treat the roads with Mag chloride. .. may be calcium..but I think it's Mag .. it's a linguistic that the salt trucks spray from saddle tanks beside the sand hoppers. .. stuff is brutally corrosive..but the streets are not frozen.

 

[Doofy]

Out here I think they pre treat the roads with Mag chloride. .. may be calcium..but I think it's Mag .. it's a linguistic that the salt trucks spray from saddle tanks beside the sand hoppers. .. stuff is brutally corrosive..but the streets are not frozen.

Same here. Our vehicles are white come Spring due to all the road salts. Only saving grace is our low humidity in the winter.

 

[PILOON]

I use a walk behind fertilizer spreader, nice one with pneumatic tires.
I 'locked' the differential and load it with crushed slag* sold as traction aid at local box store.**

2 bags seems to do me a winter at that is a mere $2-3/ bag.
I spread it fairly lightly as in reality not much is needed (I call it salt/pepper spreading)
I'll add that I have reasonably steep hills that demand a 4 x 4 vehicle.

*that 'slag' while a tad pricier outperforms any sand and even crushed 1/4 or 1/2 stone.
Most sands simply get washed away and hide under any snow while the crushed slag (and stone) remains proud for traction.

**One walk up and back pushing the modified seed spreader is all it takes after an ice or freezing rain event.

Another thing I do is drive back and forth with my CUT that is chained up with dual cross links that are studded.
That helps a whole lot and generally I can drive my KIA with the all wheel mode locked using manually selected D2.
From my front door I have 0 distance to accelerate to the hilly section so need everything on my side.

 

[Egon]

There are serrated cutting edge blades available.

 

[jajiu]

My neighbor is a masonry contractor and he gets salt/sand mix and I have a open shed at the end of my drive that he puts it in and I have a Herd spreader I load up after plowing and spread on his hill and my hill. He pays for the material and I spread it, good deal. Wish I had a better picture of it.

 

[Jstpssng]

I gave up on forcefully removing ice as last year I ended up pulling a huge chunk of asphalt with it Now I just buy bags of sand from Home Depot and spread it. I also wear cleats when I go out to feed the ducks and chickens.
====
My intention is not to remove the ice, but to make it safe to walk on. A certain amount of ice along with frozen ground and gravel surface is an OK base to work from when blowing snow and such for the bulk of winter. But not acceptable when dangerous to walk on. The combination of the cross hatch pattern, salt, sand, ashes all help to make the surface more manageable. We also use boot cleats and ski poles for stability.

Funny thing kinda sorta. Years and years ago I was the "crash test dummy" as it were for my big brothers karate classes. I learned to "fall down" without being hurt. Or at least minimal hurt. There actually is an art to that. It has helped many times over the years.

What ever it takes to keep safe.

As we get older though, landing right isn't as easy as it used to be. Combine that with the ever increasing power of gravity and it can get a little tricky. I have a nice set of creepers for walking but that doesn't help the driveway, which turns slick when it rains (as it's supposed to do tomorrow) I am currently welding something up so that I can mount box blade scarifiers for ice. I was going to build it so that I could side it onto my pallet forks and have down pressure but decided that was another recipe for disaster about the time I start siding down a hill the way that I did last year. I want the biggest bite on the rear, to keep me going straight.

Same here. Our vehicles are white come Spring due to all the road salts. Only saving grace is our low humidity in the winter.

Vehicles are white, but the frame and brakelines turn brown- actually, more of a rust color.

 

[GLyford]

I wonder how well a ratchet rake would work for scoring ice...

 

[Jstpssng]

^^^^
I've been wondering how my disc harrow would work, but am afraid that I would break it.

 

[Doofy]

The V-Bar crosslinks on my tire chains do a good job of scratching and scoring the ice glaze. After that, the colder it gets the less slick the ice becomes. Incredible traction -20 and colder.

 

[Wyobuckaroo]

I wonder how well a ratchet rake would work for scoring ice...

Yes... I have thought of that, but of all the posts about that tool, I've never seen anything said about use on ice.
No reason it would not help a bad situation, as anything is better than a dangerous surface.

What I am in the process of day dreaming to develop for a clip on bucket attachment may incorporate some of the features of a Ratchet Rake.
Time will tell by when I get around to building something and what materials are available at that time.

 

[Doofy]

Yes... I have thought of that, but of all the posts about that tool, I've never seen anything said about use on ice.
No reason it would not help a bad situation, as anything is better than a dangerous surface.

What I am in the process of day dreaming to develop for a clip on bucket attachment may incorporate some of the features of a Ratchet Rake.
Time will tell by when I get around to building something and what materials are available at that time.

I would think some hard surfacing rod "nipples" on a piece of flat barstock that can be bolted to either the bucket or any rear implement would certainly work to break the surface glaze. Cheap too.