Spreading just a tiny amount of road salt?

[KennyG]

Just get a ground drive tow behind spreader.
Such as this;
https://www.amazon.com/Chapin-Inter...ocphy=9004960&hvtargid=pla-677946821170&psc=1

Or you get get a bit of overkill going
View attachment 728462
I actually did this spreading calcium flake in the summer for dust control.
I had run out of gasoline for the little lawn tractor.

I have exactly the same spreader but it doesn't look quite as silly behind my small tractor. I still can't reach the shutoff handle from the seat thought.

 

[toolslinger]

Well that escalated quickly... We went from someone wanting to spread a couple bags of salt to multi ton salt/sand users, and brine systems...
I'm going to tag along because I'm in the same boat... Usually once, or possibly twice a year, I need to do salt/calcium. If the weather isn't brutal, I'll use salt, but when it goes cold, I switch to calcium... We have played with sand, cinders, wood ash, you name it... It adds some grit to be sure, but it doesn't really aid melting much, and of course, once the ice does go, you have sand, or cinders sitting like jagged marbles on the drive...

I've used walk behind spreaders, and they work fine on flat ground. The drive where I need to do this has a nasty steep, curved section, and then meanders on over to the house. Naturally the steep curve lives in shadow for the most part, so that's the real ice location even when I can scrape down to the pavement. I've salted that by hand, but it would be a damn bit safer doing it from the chained up tractor seat... (yea, I have good yak trax, but I'd really rather not depend on that)

I do like the idea of a small tailgate spreader on the rear scraper... I don't believe it would work with my current blade, but I will have to upgrade that to wider when I switch from the 8N to the MF 135 in a year or two...

The little towable is nice as well, and would work just fine behind the Case 444 once I get chains on that... They're surprisingly pricey when I looked casually... I don't really mind spending the money if they'll hold up to the ice melt service, but I really don't want to have to buy one every other year... And sadly, no, I don't have a heated indoor space to clean the spreader in between uses...

The plan would be to load only a bag at a time, and run it out. The bags are small enough that, that shouldn't be an issue, and I don't end up with a solid chunk of salt/calcium in the spreader next time the weather goes south...

Oh, and look outside... We're having an ice storm today... Just perfect...

 

[LouNY]

Yep, the same here. Freezing rain and snow flurries. I'm going to wait till this afternoon before I go out.
Likely use the York rake to scratch and break the ice up a bit then may have to load the sander and sand the driveway.

 

[Hay Dude]

We had a small snowfall here on Thursday.
Have one what I call “concierge customer” who MUST be treated specially when it comes to snow removal or she might get ”offended”.
I have my big macho salt spreader I could deploy on her driveway, but I just throw an 80lb bag of salt and my Brinly walk behind spreader onto the back of my truck (with my “XL hands” of course) and salt their driveway.
Its much easier on the driveway, one less cold start on the tractor and one less intrusion into the environment with a pre-emissions diesel tractors engine exhaust.

 

[dodge man]

I take an old Folgers plastic coffee can and just spread salt by hand. My driveway is about 600 feet long and I can do it in less than an hour.

 

[dennis103]

I use my Scotts speedy seeder, crank the flow all the way up.

 

[SmallChange]

I've used walk behind spreaders, and they work fine on flat ground. The drive where I need to do this has a nasty steep, curved section, and then meanders on over to the house. Naturally the steep curve lives in shadow for the most part, so that's the real ice location even when I can scrape down to the pavement. I've salted that by hand, but it would be a damn bit safer doing it from the chained up tractor seat... (yea, I have good yak trax, but I'd really rather not depend on that)

Yep. That's my driveway!

Also I paved it summer before last, and I had these nice aggressive Aquiline chains for the rears (and filled rears and a ballast box) but now am afraid to use them on the beautiful paving, so I'm not chained up. We had some iced up wintry mix last winter and I did OK without chains, but am worried how much of a chance I'm taking....

 

[toolslinger]

I hate the idea of damaging the paving... After my father put a gorgeous paver driveway in, he took the chains off his tractor, and said never again. That lasted exactly 1 season.
The drive I'm working with now was paved back in '92 or 3 I believe, and it's worn badly now. I've got breakthrough to gravel base in a couple spots. While I want to fix that, it isn't the top of the list, and I can get by with cold patch and a plate compactor for a couple more years...
When I repave, yea, I'm going to cringe the first time I take a machine up it with chains... But there's exactly no way I'd chance sliding down the hill in to the road over scratching it up. We got 30 years out of the last paving job... If I get another 30 when I do it, I don't think I'm going to have to worry about it again...

 

[i7win7]

If you have to use salts, use the calcium or magnesium versions as they are less corrosive than sodium. Yes, they are more expensive.

Sorry, must disagree. Sodium chloride also known as table salt is the cheapest and way less corrosive than Calcium. Salt good to about 17 degrees, magnesium blends -20 to -25, calcium down to -40. Calcium draws moisture from the air and controls dust by keeping it damp.

 

[RickB]

Debating the relative corrosiveness of common salt and calcium chloride is the very definition of splitting hairs.
Calcium works at much colder temps, salt is cheap. You pays your money and takes your choices.