Snow Attachments Sanding Help

[LedgeFarmer]

I know we just finished winter, but it's never too early to start thinking about winter, right? I have about 1/2 mi of steep driveway that I need to sand/salt a dozen times each winter. I have a 60hp cab tractor with a snowblower to handle the snow. I'm thinking about getting a sander for this job. Has anyone out there ever mounted a hydraulic drive sander on the FEL? Thanks for the help.

 

[3238dpw]

Here are 2 that are slick. They act as a bucket and you can scoop salt up then turn it on to spread. Cost is high though.

Skid steer sand shooter, skid steer attachments for sale

Skid Steer Material Spreaders

 

[George2615]

You could also use a PTO driven salt / sand spreader. We use one at work for sidewalks and it spreads wide enough for a driveway. Our hopper holds about 500-700 lb. and I'm sure would be less expensive than a hydraulic driven unit.

 

[crazyal]

Is there a reason why you would like to use a fel mounted spreader over a pto driven spreader? For about 1/4 the cost of a hydraulic ss type sander you could get a Herd 3pt sander. I think Herd got bought out by Kasco. I keep toying with the idea of buying a 750s, you probably could even get the next size up and put enough salt/ sand in it to do the whole driveway.

 

[LedgeFarmer]

The only reason to use a front mounted sander is to avoid taking off the rear mount snowblower to put the sander on. I also love the idea of not loading the sander by hand with the drive in type. Price will be the issue though, ouch! 4k? I think I'll keep shoveling by hand for a couple more years while I pinch pennies. Thanks for the advice.

 

[jpm]

i use a 4n1 bucket to sand my drive. the biggest problem is the sand gets frozen when you need it the most but i would have the same problem with a sander

 

[Scooby074]

. I think Herd got bought out by Kasco.

Looks that way... Hope they dont wreck Herd's reputation. Looks like they killed the Herd model with the extra agitation designed specifically for spreading sand/salt (sry, cant remember the specific model number),maybe they didnt, but i couldnt find it on Kasco's website.

 

[leonz]

I know we just finished winter, but it's never too early to start thinking about winter, right? I have about 1/2 mi of steep driveway that I need to sand/salt a dozen times each winter. I have a 60hp cab tractor with a snowblower to handle the snow. I'm thinking about getting a sander for this job. Has anyone out there ever mounted a hydraulic drive sander on the FEL? Thanks for the help.

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Hello LedgeFarmer,

The issue of spreading salt and sand is not difficult with the right unit.


The hydraulic spin casters are very pricey and they require the flow of

the rear remotes as the front end loader hydraulics flow is too low.


The other issue is the need for a power beyond valve/priority vavle

for a front mounted spreader like this as a high volume remote valve

circuit for a snow blower attachment is what is required.


You will be money and aggravation ahead by purchasing the smallest

Vicon pendulum spreader with the salting/sanding spout attachments

or one of the larger units with the caster wheel attachments that

can be moved by hand easily, and can be loaded from ground level

easily as the hopper is very low when it is on the ground.


The Vicon Pendulum spreader is a non clogging spreader with a

cam arm agitator and the fiberglass hopper will not rust out on you either.


The Vicon Pendulum spreader alos has the ability to limit the spreading width

of the material that is cast out eliminating waste and overspread and allowing

you to spread more sand within a limited width aiding traction.


It will be much less money that the skid steer scoop spreaders as well.


If you mix your salt and sand together with a 1 pound salt to 10 pound

sand ratio you will have no problems.


The other option is simply to use less salt/no salt and pour windshield washer

fluid in the sand as you shovel it into the spreader and it will not freeze.

Using the windsheild washer fluid right out of the bottle does work for this very well.



I use sand and only sand and I keep the sand warm in a heated area and use only bagged sand

myself and have no issues with frozen sand but using the windshield washer fluid right

out of the bottle is something that works and works well with sand that is in a cold area as the alcohol

in the windshield washer fluid right out of the bottle keeps it free flowing.


I always use a kerosene fired salamander to heat everything up and it would work for your spinner spreader

to break up the clumps quickly.

 

[LedgeFarmer]

Thanks for the advice LeonZ. I'll definitely check those out.

 

[3238dpw]

How much area do you need to salt?

 

[LedgeFarmer]

I have 1/2 mile driveway but I rarely have to sand all of it. Usually just 300-400 ft of steep. I've been using sand mixed with salt, filling the bucket and spreading with a shovel by hand. This requires getting out of the tractor 5-6x and running up and down with shovels of sand. I'm probably better off spending the time changing implements and using a sander on the back. The goal was to stay on the tractor for the whole process (blowing and sanding) to save time. That's where the FEL sander attachment comes in. I've got some time to think about it because the recent purchase of the L5740 has set me back a bit financially if you know what I mean. Either way looks like several grand for a quality attachment.

 

[crazyal]

I have several steep sections of my driveway I usually sand. I fill up a half dozen 5 gallon buckets and a smaller plastic pail like kid would use at the beach. I spread the sand with the pail swinging it side to side while slowly tipping the pail. It's how I remember the neighbor would feed her chickens.

I don't use salt because of the cost, sand is about $4 a yard so I just get a 15 yard load that lasts me several years. The sand will freeze but I break the crust off to make a hole to the unfrozen stuff in the center.

I have found that once the frost sets in if I don't let the snow get packed down from people driving on it before I plow I don't need to sand very often. But we also have 4wd cars/ trucks.

I bought a front mount snow blower for my GL4240 so I could put a pto spreader on the back for the season. I almost picked up a Herd spreader a couple of times over the last year (I've seen new ones for as cheap as $1300) but not sanding that often makes it hard to justify.

 

[ticolawnllc]

Would this also work for spreading compost?