Are there any ways to load bulk salt without a bobcat? Does anyone have a trick or meathod that would allow buying and using lose bulk salt without a bobcat? Gabage cans, forklift anything. It may be hard but the savings per lose ton vs bagged over the course of a winter could pay for a Bobcat in a few short years. ANY IDEAS
We use 300 gallon plastic totes cut the top out have them load them at the bulk site they weigh around 3000 lbs. Then the work load 5 gallon bucket out it to load tailgate spreader
If you have a forklift with a spinner/rotater you could shovel the barrels full then dump in your truck
It's going to get real old real quick
I do have a forklift. Loading 13 bags of salt at a time in a tailgate spreader has gotten old. That's what has me switching to the insert spreader but I would love to use bulk/lose salt. I don't mind the work if it saves plenty of money. What is a spinner/rotater? How does it work.
I've seen them on the docks. They can grab the bait buckets with a clamp, raise the load, then the bucket rotates 180* to dump the product. By the time you sourced the equipment, controls and lines, and plumb it in you would likely be looking at a big chunk of change.
Do you have a yard that sells bulk and can fill you? That's what I did the first year.
You could probably make a bucket pretty cheap and you mast tilt should allow you to dump the salt out.
They make buckets for forklifts or you could even look into 3point hitch buckets for ideas.
The other idea is to make a loading dock type setup. Excavate an area to back into and then shoveling a load isnt hard cause you don't have to throw the salt up. or you could get a bucket on the forklift and then just scrape it out into the salter.
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2005 Chevy 2500HD/6.0/4:10 rears/plow prepped
7'6" meyers plow with wings
Western 1000 spreader with vibrator spreading bulk
Plenty of shovels
Licensed and Insured
Loose salt would be bulk salt not purchased in a 50lb bag. You can buy bulk salt either way. Dumped in a pile by the ton or pre bagged in 50lb bags. I just call any salt not bagged loose.
I using about 14 tons an event. My hands and shoulders are worn out working with bags. My supplier loves me but I'm sick of the expense and labor.
Don't know what resources you have but, many years ago I had a friend with a make shift sandblasting setup. He had the same challenge w/ filling his pressure pot. I'm only mentioning this because Kentucky has lots of barns...He had one w/ a walk out basement w/ the first floor having the traditional ramp to the main floor. Basically he would have his sand delivered & dumped on the first floor over the top of a manual levered sliding chute he made which was gravity fed to his pot down below...the same concept would work to fill a truck. All you need is a barn w/ a basement or an elevated something. Good luck.
Loose salt would be bulk salt not purchased in a 50lb bag. You can buy bulk salt either way. Dumped in a pile by the ton or pre bagged in 50lb bags. I just call any salt not bagged loose.
I using about 14 tons an event. My hands and shoulders are worn out working with bags. My supplier loves me but I'm sick of the expense and labor.
So you are saying you were using 560 50lb bags per event and you were hand loading all of them.
Loose salt would be bulk salt not purchased in a 50lb bag. You can buy bulk salt either way. Dumped in a pile by the ton or pre bagged in 50lb bags. I just call any salt not bagged loose.
I using about 14 tons an event. My hands and shoulders are worn out working with bags. My supplier loves me but I'm sick of the expense and labor.
If you are using 14 ton per event, it is time for a loader of some kind, and storage bin and couple of tri axles of salt. You be able to pay for that loader in know time if you pic up an older model unit with the money you will save in bagged product.
That speader would be running non stop to put down 14 tons in eight hours
Depending on the truck, you'd be back somewhere loading skids in the truck seven times a night.
I have a Boss tailgate that holds 8-900#, I did put down 4-5000# per night with it for ONE year. #$@% that ever again. I stored pallets inside and loaded the truck with a fork lift, the best possible situation and not on your life ever again.
14 ton thru the most cost effective bed spreader IMO, the poly salt doggs - you'd still be loading that 6 times a night heaping it full.
14 ton a night is roughly probably 1g a night in profit GROSS, rent a skid steer, one night of salting will pay the rent for the month.
OK - just seen your other post about eight trucks with tailgate spreaders, I just knew you couldn't be putting that all thru one......
Last edited by framer1901; 09-26-2012 at 06:39 PM..
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