Snow and rain to Mud!

[ruffdog]

Mud here too. I'm hoping we get some cold temps before snow so the ground can freeze. Almost a week with highs in the 20's is coming up...yes!

 

[leonz]

Send some of that cold this way please. I have not dug out the sorrels yet due to the mud until the ground has snowpack or is frozen like it was last week. WE USE TOO MUCH SALT and that really messes with the air temperature.

 

[ruffdog]

Send some of that cold this way please. I have not dug out the sorrels yet due to the mud until the ground has snowpack or is frozen like it was last week. WE USE TOO MUCH SALT and that really messes with the air temperature.

I agree...we should cut way back on salt and use sand when needed.

 

[CobyRupert]

I went for a jog last night, temps were in the mid-40's, no snow anywhere, looked like fall.

Woke up to winter! ....again.

Got just enough of the white dusting to look like winter, and temps are below freezing and staying there, and frost is coming back.

Send some of that cold this way please. I have not dug out the sorrels yet due to the mud until the ground has snowpack or is frozen like it was last week. WE USE TOO MUCH SALT and that really messes with the air temperature.

Salt messes with the air temperature? Huh? Joking?

I and my rusted cars agree: "We use too much salt!" Grrrr!!

Buy some snow tires and learn to drive people!!

 

[LouNY]

I and my rusted cars agree: "We use too much salt!" Grrrr!!

Buy some snow tires and learn to drive people!!

We can certainly agree on that.

Especially when you look at how much of the small town and county budgets are dedicated to snow removal and salting.

The highway departments seem to all prefer salt to sand, they do have two reasons for that.
1) when using salt the spring cleanup is so greatly reduce to be inconsequential.

2) So many drivers have it in their minds that they are entitled to a clear snow free driving surface.
a) That way it is the storm or the highway departments fault and not there's for accidents and getting stuck.
b) Every storm it is the storms fault for the auto accidents, and that includes fog, wind, rain that is always the fault in news reports TV and paper.

The local towns around here the majority of the tax payer funded budget is highway and the majority of that is winter storms material and labor.
I'd like to see the towns and counties go back to plowing on regularly scheduled hours NOT overtime, plowing less frequently, using more sand and very little salt.

And here I can really cause an uproar, in the winter during and after a storm, with the ground snow covered if you do not have snow tires or chains on you get ticketed, especially if you get stuck and or block the road, or involved in an accident.

 

[leonz]

I agree with you completely Lou.

We have so many accidents and fatalities because almost every one expects to drive just like its summer time and they still tailgate you.

I really hate it when these car places brag about all season tires and how much money they save joe motorist by not buying winter tires; FOOOLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

These truck drivers use all season tires too and that only adds to the mess as they depend on clear roads.

 

[oosik]

Here in NE WA state I've had about 2" of snow and quite a bit of rain. Its always that way here - this time of year. One very short section of my driveway becomes muddy. Everybody asks - "where have you been four wheeling this time of year" when they see my Jeep. They are somewhat surprised when the answer is - - my driveway

 

[oosik]

I know that in snow country salt is used to melt ice & snow. However - unless the sand is in a covered and possibly heated building - salt is mixed in with the sand to keep it "fluid" and usable. When I lived in Anchorage - salt use became such a controversial/political HOT TOPIC that the public works dept constructed heated buildings - like big barns - where the sand was kept. They no longer needed to mix salt with the sand to keep it usable.

This was all because the only place where they could get sand was from an open pit situation and the mined sand was always soaking wet. If stored in the open or unheated buildings it would freeze up - pretty solid - without salt mixed in.

The Director of Public Works became a local hero for this solution.

 

[leonz]

They whine about using sand down here in New York as "they must clean it up out of the storm water catch basins" and the tax payer has no say about it because they follow the Federal Highway Administration rules and regulations about maintaining highways where they demand that the highways are treated so that the user can travel at highway speeds on a "wet" surface without any restrictions.

This is their go to argument every time someone talks about how much salt is used and how much damage it causes.


I tried for years to market my deicing patent for 11 years as I proved it reduced salt use by 75%. As far as my personal opinion goes the Salt Institute, the States of New York, Iowa, Pennsylvania and many others have no interest in protecting the taxpayer as they do nothing but waste salt, money and labor increasing our tax burden. In my opinion they also love to prevent any investigation by denying Freedom Of Information Requests when inquiries occur and sheild these employees from any possible inquiry unless someone has a lot of money to spend to hire legal representation to help with this further.
Every time you hear a commercial about salt on your AM radio station for your water softener or making your roads safer by using salt it is a commercial paid for by the Salt Institute whose members mine salt as well as produce evaporated salt products and solar salt products.

I can say this as I used to work in the salt business and I have seen the waste of our tax dollars first hand when they spread rock salt at the rate of 200+ plus pounds per mile where they could be using sand and one tenth of the salt they are using.

They use more than that around here and I can say that with complete clarity as I see it spilling out of the salt spreader every time it goes by.


The salt spreaders they use being spinner broadcasting spreaders with an auger feeding the spinner spreader waste salt where a pendulum spreader would reduce this salt waste because the pendulum action of the delivery system limits the throwing width to a very narrow area SAVING MATERIAL MATERIAL AND TAX DOLLARS.

They are also very easy to calibrate and use much less salt where as the auger or chain conveyor delivery system wastes salt.
They would not waste sand in any case as it is much more economical to use than salt.

When it snows around here they have a habit of making six or more passes to plow and salt the roads in a short period and I just shake my head and my fist seeing this money wasted.

They have no interest in using modern road graders for plowing snow to accomplish the same task like they do in Europe.

They being the State of New York are wasting as much money and salt as the county did when they were paid per mile to plow and salt the secondary state roads.
It has also been proven that they use so much salt that the fresh water draining into and out of our streams into the local lakes and rivers is as salty as sea water.

All I see is waste when it comes to winter road maintenance when snow tires and sand for traction would save tax dollars which comes out of our pockets. They willingly fail to admit that the salt and other deicing crap they use ruins the infrastructure that they have to repair a few years down the road costing you and me money in increased tax dollars due to waste.

 

[MikeR 2018]

Hey all hope everyone had a grand ole Thanksgiving and getting ready for the Christmas season. Just checking in from the Great northeast,( upstate new York) that is. We have had a few couple inches of snow at different times and one plow able, 8" snow fall. In between everything is mud, mud every where, can't go off paved drive with tractor without causing landscaping work in the spring, yep I did that. Have to put on muck boots just to walk the dogs, boots on boots off, mud and more mud everywhere. Ok now that I got that out of the way I do feel a bit better, ha until I have to put the boots on to go into the mud again! The local farmers can't get into their fields to finish harvesting, one has 500 acres of corn and another has 1,500 acres of soy beans, sorry for them as it looks like a wasted crop. At least the critters will benefit.
Devil Dog

Same here in Central PA. Plus I'm in a small valley at the bottom of mountains on 3 sides. All the water bubbles up in my place. Glad that the freeze finally got here. Frozen mud is better. I'm dreading early spring.