Spreading just a tiny amount of road salt?

[dodge man]

Most of the time I’m using salt on just a glaze of ice on my drive. I’m probably using 20 to 30 pounds on roughly 6500 sf of pavement. It’s not enough to get it 100% clear but makes it safe to drive on. If it was heavy ice or packed snow, that amount of salt wouldn’t do much.

 

[JethroB]

What does all this salt do to bordering grass come Spring?

 

[toolslinger]

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but it seems to do absolutely nothing at my place in PA. That said, I'm not dealing with a manicured lawn, its a mix of whatever grasses, clover, and other things you find in a wild lawn. Always has done far better than the monoculture lawns I deal with in NJ, but even those haven't taken too much of a hit from ice melt. (the curbside median struggles, but I don't know if that's from the road salt, sidewalk salt, or just general crap soil there)

 

[newbury]

Point well taken.

However, the situation I sometimes find myself in is that I use the tractor to clear some of what's out there, especially if it's snow on top of ice. Then I want to treat the ice. I wouldn't mind having a more powerful way of doing this last step, given that I'm out there already.

If ice were the only thing, I'd typically hand spread salt on the walks and around our parking and turnaround area, and let it work a little, then start hand spreading down the hill and working my way down as traction improved.

Why not affix a 5 gallon bucket where you can easily reach it and for spot treating spread by hand. Last year I did that, put the bucket on the hood where I could easily reach it. I'd stop, stand up, scoop up some sand/salt mix, toss where it looked it was needed.

 

[LouNY]

Look at the grass along side the roads and the highway medians,
that grass does quite well.

 

[Blue Mule]

I bought this one and it works pretty darn good!

 

[SmallChange]

Why not affix a 5 gallon bucket where you can easily reach it and for spot treating spread by hand. Last year I did that, put the bucket on the hood where I could easily reach it. I'd stop, stand up, scoop up some sand/salt mix, toss where it looked it was needed.

I used the lawn spreader the other day.

But the time before that, I did what you're suggesting. I put a 5 gallon bucket full of salt (which I really can barely lift because I'm old and have a bad back) in the bucket. I've done something like this for years. Before I had the FEL I had a couple stout buckets slung onto my counterweight; they had a flat side so they hung better. Now I think they've got old tow chains and cobwebs in them.

Somebody here mentioned keeping salt away from their tractor. Salt is awfully hard on them, it's true. What I did after this use was to pour about 2 gallons of hot water over the floor and over that end of the bucket, to get rid of whatever spilled and whatever I tracked onto the machine. I did this uphill from all the salt, then put it in the barn.

I wish I had pavement outside the barn door, sloping away from the barn, and a hot water hose available in the barn all winter long.

If wishes were nickels I could buy a tractor with a cab.

 

[jyoutz]

What does all this salt do to bordering grass come Spring?

That’s why I use fertilizer instead of salt

 

[RickB]

That’s why I use fertilizer instead of salt

Granular fertilizer is pretty much a carrier and a couple salts.

 

[LouNY]

That’s why I use fertilizer instead of salt

Have you ever looked at a fertilizer spreader after a few years?
Fertilizer is quite corrosive.