Treating salt in the spreader

[Alan]

This is primarily aimed at John Parker, he's the resident Magic expert in this group. But I thought that maybe the answers would be of benefit to the group at large.

This winter we'll be salting with two trucks, one pickup with a 10 cu ft tailgate hopper and the other a 5 yd dump with an undertailgate spreader. I have storage for 12-15 tons of salt. I do NOT have a way to load bulk material at this time. I fill the bin and load out of the bin with an auger, which I have to scoop salt into when loading the spreader.

In the past what has worked was to keep salt in the bin for use in the small hopper, scooping 700 lb loads isn't too bad. When a storm was imminent I would get a load on the dump truck as well. Use the dump for applications that required a lot of material and the tailgate hopper for touch up as we were plowing. Anything left at the end of a storm would get put in the bin for future use. In a pinch I could load the big truck out of the bin, but it took a while.

This year I'll be using Magic on the stored material. Adding it as the salt is augered into the bin works great, mix is nice and uniform.

Bulk salt will still be untreated, so I want to come up with a way to treat as I apply. I know I can spray onto the spinner and pretreat that way but I'm not sure that is all that efficient.

I considered putting a tank and pump on the truck and shooting on Magic as the truck is loaded but that seems rather hit or miss, although the feed augers would tend to mix it in if there were no real big dry spots.

My latest hot flash would be to add Magic into the feed augers as I run the spreader. Though about a positive displacement pump that I could drive off the feed augers. That would be self regulating, with the right pump I could inject X amount of liquid per turn of the feed augers, as material rate was increased so would liquid rate. The augers would incorporate the liquid and the mix would be uniform.

Opinions and comments, please.

 

[n y snow pros]

Magic Ideas

Alan i wish i was half as knowledgable as you when it comes to creative ideas no one i know holds a candle to you! Here is the scoop on the Magic,to run saddle type tanks on your spreader is not as efficient as coated salt.The reason being that the coated salt with magic is best when it has had atleast 2 days to cure on the salt.The Magic when applied using saddle type prewet systems causes some of the magic to shoot out missing the salt and going on the roadway or everywhere else.This happens with calcium or mag or any other product which is applied this way.Magic is the first chemical to take contractors to the next level of efficient snow removal by placing liquid directly on salt prior to a storm as opposed to during a storm.If u use a prewet system the magic will work better than all other chemicals and work even better when the salt is treated before the storm.i can honestly say it works better than any other liquid because it is the only product which has a residual effect where it will come out of the pavement for the next storm .Most chemicals work on contact and r then completely used up and a reapplication is required.Oh the and the best is it makes your salt NON CORROSIVE and eats rust.

 

[Alan]

NY Snow Pros wrote>>The Magic when applied using saddle type prewet systems causes some of the magic to shoot out missing the salt and going on the roadway or everywhere else.<<

That's why I was thinking that if I could mix it in the augers it would eliminate the overspray problem of most pre-wet systems.

Piggybacking the drive off the feed augers would shut off liquid flow anytime the spreader was shut off. It should be relatively easy to calibrate the flows of salt and liquid to get 8 gal/ton.

Does the Magic actually work better after the two day wait or is it just that it sticks to the salt better?

Incidentally, I'm workign on getting tankage enough to make it worth the trip down to your place to pick up Magic. As heavy as that stuff is I'll be limited to how much I can carry back.

 

[jaclawn]

I am just a small time operator, and use bagged salt. I have not found a local source of bagged magic, but would like to give it a shot, as I am always looking for better products/ideas.

I use a tailgate salter. Could I load a bag of salt, then spray it with magic, then load another, then spray...? Could I fill the hopper then spray, letting it trickle down? I understand that the magic works better after it sits on the salt for a while, could I do this the day before a storm, and have the day old magic ready to go for my first hopper full?

I was thinking along the lines of using a backpack or hand can type sprayer to coat the salt.

Is magic available in small quantities? Any suppliers in SW PA?

 

[Alan]

applying small qauntities of Magic

As hokey as this sounds, for a small pile, use a garden watering can, it spreads the stream of material out nicely. The stuff spreads some, but my experience with a small pile is that it will tend to run down through the pile rather than spread out horizontally.

 

[n y snow pros]

Alan the Magic just has a chance to bond with the salt better if u wait 2 days but its effectiveness is the same.The 2 day rule is just to really maximize the coating of the salt so u dont get any runny or pooling of the magic in the pile and the salt gets a chance to become more tacky and therefore stick to the road better.If you are serious about coming down with some type of tank i would be happy to meet you half way just tell me when and how much Magic its $ 1.85 per gallon.
thankyou for your business John 914-485-4200

p.s. Jaclawn if you want more info on where to get Magic give me a ring we also carry it in 25 and 50 lb bags for 8.50 per bag