DIY poor man gravel road dust control

[bigtiller]

Lignosulfonate is crudely nicknamed tree sap in my area of the world.
I used it for a few years for dust control until the guy applying it moved to far away for it to be profitable for him.

I thought it was just as good as anything else we have used, with the added benefit of being environmentally friendly.

 

[grsthegreat]

Did some searching, and math, and 55# of lignosulfonate powder is $191. That should make approx 500 gallons of ready to spray mix. At an application rate of 0.3 gal/sy=1000 square yards or 9,000 sq ft, or a single lane, about 12 ft x 750 ft; or two lane, 18 ft x 500 ft. It recommends reapplying every 3-9 months.

Now, you Do need to wet the surface before applying, so

Very interesting…
Wondering how to mix it. I may try this next year. Maybe get one of those large steel encased totes and design dome kind of spray system. I doubt this would work using my field weed sprayer?

 

[paulsharvey]

Very interesting…
Wondering how to mix it. I may try this next year. Maybe get one of those large steel encased totes and design dome kind of spray system. I doubt this would work using my field weed sprayer?

At a 1 to 9 mix rate, by weight, im thinking its probably kinda snotty? Now, mind you, I did 5 minutes of searching, didnt watch any videos, and got the application rate from Google AI. Before I spent the money, I would certainly look into it more.

On application, something like a water buffalo or a tack wagon would be perfect; but ive seen spray rigs for other stuff rigged up with everything from barrels, IBCs, and old propane tanks.

 

[nickmags]

So I have been thinking about this now. I have a friend who owns a few restaurants, I can get probably 10-15 gallons of used fryolator oil a week ( veggie oil ) my questions would be 1 , how many gallons would a 2,000 foot x12' wide road require. 2, how much filtering of the old oil would be required and would it clog a sprayer. 3,.. How long would it last keeping dust down. 4 , . What sprayer would work best.

I can't tell you how much you would need to do nearly a half mile of drive, I just do it till it's done. What I do is get used cooking oil, mostly already in 4-5 gal jugs. I have a 50 gal three point sprayer with foldable boom. I change out the fimco spray nozzles to a much bigger one - (yellow to grey) I filter the oil using spray gun paint filters to remove as much of the gunk (usually corn meal) as possible. Then pour the oil (about 10 gal.)in spray tank, add dawn dish soap to make an emulsion, add water (20-25 gal.) stir the mix until cloudy- then spray.

I can usually get about two tankfulls sprayed out before I have to stop and clean the spray nozzles. Seems no matter how much I filter, never seem to get all the fine fry breading out. Often I have to stop, and stir the mix, oil wants to separate. Keep an old broom handle on the front of the tractor when doing this. I can get about 250 feet per tank, and sometimes I go back over the worst fine dust areas more than once. I have about 1/4 mile of shared drive, and a neighbor with three teenage drivers (they only know two speeds, and in one, the key is off)

Seems to keep the worst of the dust under control for about 3-4 months, usually the worst of the summer. Drive has packed a bit in the 3 years, but grading really messes with that. Two issues - Smells like fries for a couple of weeks, and cleaning/flushing the tank to get oily film out is a pain.

 

[ding beep]

calcium chloride works well in summer up here

 

[Tomtint]

calcium chloride works well in summer up here

Is that basically just road salt ?

 

[Mtsoxfan]

My town spray calcium product. Once a year, sometimes 2. We have sun on our road in front of house all day. It's dusty dry after a week or so. Our road isn't looked after very well...

 

[bmaverick]

Do you have a coal burning power plant in the area? Typically you can buy a truck load of spent coal cinders to put down. My parents did this with the electric power plant as the material was free.

In some northern states, to avoid using salts on the road, they would mix 50/50 with salt and the cinders. This combo melts snow/ice and offers traction.

Black cinders stay put. They allow the water to pass-thru. They don't generate dust nor blow away. Cinders can hold a great deal of weight as well. In many cases preferred over crush-n-run.

Another option to add to your list.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Put down flint 1.5" to fines screened gravel next time. After a bit it won't dust up.

 

[paulsharvey]

Do you have a coal burning power plant in the area? Typically you can buy a truck load of spent coal cinders to put down. My parents did this with the electric power plant as the material was free.

In some northern states, to avoid using salts on the road, they would mix 50/50 with salt and the cinders. This combo melts snow/ice and offers traction.

Black cinders stay put. They allow the water to pass-thru. They don't generate dust nor blow away. Cinders can hold a great deal of weight as well. In many cases preferred over crush-n-run.

Another option to add to your list.

View attachment 4323562

Do they still sell that? E-Z Base was a big hit for a few years around here (well NE of here), till they found the dust was basically asbestos, and then other problems. Power plant stopped selling it, and now I think its buried in a land fill?