another load of mix

I have been going thru this stuff like mad.Any one who sands at least in the boston area is making out well this year.Gotta love these ice storms or rain to snow mix storms they always leave being icy at the end.

 

We have gone through 78 ton so far, and just picked up another 24T today.Have used 6T of ice melt for sidewalks.Now the bad news...our contracts,for the most part are for the season.But that's 0.k., we've been smiling the last two years.

Later
D.L.

 

It still amazes me all the Ct and Mass guys married to the mix. We have switched to strait salt this year, and we have better results and no cleanup. Whats more I have learned that we save alot of money running straight salt. How? Fewer trips with the trucks. What used to take 5 loads of mix, we can do with 2 loads of salt. Less time = alot more money.
Does that mean we havent used mix at all, no on gravel lots we use straight sand, but ther isnt clean up there anyway.
Dino

 

Don't forget us Mainer's we love our salt/sand mix too.

Geoff

 

More trips somtimes equals more money, if you get paid per application.

 

Ive been making my own mix,I have a sand/salt pile,and i have been adding magic salt to it at about 50/50.This is a very hot mix and does a great job.This way there isnt a ton of sand,but enough to aid traction and its something they can see,so they think they got something for their money.Sand is still used a lot here too,they want to see sand,and i honestly think it offers much better traction than just salt,so thats what im doing.It is also much cheaper to mix it myself than run straight magic salt,so its a win-win for me.Driveways,sidewalks and walkways are still salty only.

 

Coastal areas where you are have the mild temps where straight salt is worthwhile. Go inland where youre dealing with 20F temps and salt doesnt work as well and the sand is needed to provide some sort of traction.

Straight salt will destroy carpet, hardwood floors, aluminum steel etc as fast if not faster than sand, not to mention damage to plants and such.

 

Ditto to what Dino said.

We are using Magic salt this year and applying about 1/3 to 1/2 less material then when we were using a mix.(approx. 2000 tons applied so far)Keep in mind we don't have any dirt lots or roads.
Results: bare pavement,even in cold weather,no messy sand tracking in to our customers stores, or dust flying around when it dries up.
Good luck to all and happy plowing!

P.S.Any Sima member going to the National Pavement Show in Atlanta,Tammy is looking for help at the booth.Please give her a ringgg.

 

JD Plower, you miss the point entirely. You get more apps per load with straight salt, hence less trips to reload.

And lawnguy,, I guess that NW Vermont must not be far enough inland. I don't use mix much, I WON'T use mix much because salt is cheaper overall and does a better job of making bare pavement. If I want to build bunkers I'll go to work for a golf course.

[Edited by Alan on 01-17-2001 at 09:25 AM]

 

"We are using Magic salt this year and applying about 1/3 to 1/2 less material then when we were using a mix."

Ok, so we will use the 1/2 as much figure. Now I will also be conservative and figure that Magic salt costs 3x as much as mix (I pay 29/ton for mix, can get straight salt for 65/ton, and by the looks of things maybe bulk Magic if its available locally will go for $90/ton?) So I was using 10T of mix per storm ($290 cost) now am using 1/2 as much magic salt ($450 cost) you shelled out $160 more, plus the extra labor to re-treat afterwards. (My guess is bulk Magic cost considerably more not considering it needs to be shipped if not available locally. Or bought by the bag, labor to open bags handling etc).

Somebody explain to me how this can be cheaper and make you more money? Real numbers please. Esp when you will have to go back and re-treat 3 hours later when the runoff re-freezes? With a sand mix there is grit in the ice to make re-treating unnecessary in all but the most heavily trafficked pedestrian areas.

Who is responsible for replacing the dead/damaged plantings in the spring? The less damage argument for straight salt is BS pure and simple.

With all due respect this smells more like a sales pitch everytime I read these straight salt discussions.