# Onboard weight sensor for material usage.



## CK82 (Sep 17, 2005)

Hey Fellas,

I am looking for some insight on how one monitors the amount of bulk salt being used at any particular site. Do you use an onboard weight sensor? I know some spreaders such as the SnowEx I believe can monitor the amount of product being used. Are there any relatively inexpensive weight sensors or options to keep track of material being used?

Thanks!


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## JimMarshall (Jan 25, 2013)

You could always get the DOT scale truck to follow you around from lot to lot. They seem to follow me a lot.


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## newhere (Oct 13, 2009)

We would All be using them if there were.


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## Maleko (Sep 20, 2004)

I think that would be a great idea though.


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## Derek'sDumpstersInc (Jul 13, 2014)

JimMarshall;1927745 said:


> You could always get the DOT scale truck to follow you around from lot to lot. They seem to follow me a lot.


I believe I will continue to use my "guestimate" method before I flagged them down and requested a "nice handwritten form with my weight on it."


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## G.Landscape (Oct 20, 2011)

I did talk to a scale manufacturing company at a trade show last year and he mentioned they have been tried but since the trucks bounce around so much there isn't a reliable way to keep a scale calibrated. Best thing to do is rig a timer so you know how long your salter is on for. Then as long as you know it takes say 30 seconds to fill a 50lbs pail you can do the math. It's essentially what the snow ex thing does.


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## Golden Boy (Mar 15, 2007)

The snowex device, once calibrated, only counts the revolutions of the auger and figures out how much yardage of salt is applied.


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## mtnbktrek (Oct 25, 2013)

1yd of salt is roughy a lil over 1 ton 

That's our way


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

G.Landscape;1927838 said:


> I did talk to a scale manufacturing company at a trade show last year and he mentioned they have been tried but since the trucks bounce around so much there isn't a reliable way to keep a scale calibrated. Best thing to do is rig a timer so you know how long your salter is on for. Then as long as you know it takes say 30 seconds to fill a 50lbs pail you can do the math. It's essentially what the snow ex thing does.


Maths! Is there anything it can't do?...

How do the loader scales work and stay calibrated?


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## mtnbktrek (Oct 25, 2013)

Mr.Markus;1927888 said:


> Maths! Is there anything it can't do?...
> 
> How do the loader scales work and stay calibrated?


Gotta make sure the loaders don't bounce...


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## STARSHIP (Dec 18, 2000)

Use a stopwatch. Load up X amount of materials in your spreader, and divide out by Y (the seconds/minutes) at each place. You will know pretty close how many tons or yards were applied at each place. Obviously if you change your auger and/or spinner speed, it will effect the rate, but it would still be closer than sticking your finger in the air and coming up with a wild ass guess. I use excel to do all of the calculations for me.


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## mtnbktrek (Oct 25, 2013)

STARSHIP;1927926 said:


> Use a stopwatch. Load up X amount of materials in your spreader, and divide out by Y (the seconds/minutes) at each place. You will know pretty close how many tons or yards were applied at each place. Obviously if you change your auger and/or spinner speed, it will effect the rate, but it would still be closer than sticking your finger in the air and coming up with a wild ass guess. I use excel to do all of the calculations for me.


Please a sample calculation?


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## STARSHIP (Dec 18, 2000)

I will use yards as the unit of measure for this example:

Say your Bobcat bucket holds 1/2 yard, and you load 7 scoops in the hopper (3.5 yards)

You run your route, and in the end it takes a total of 1541 seconds to do the route (I use excel to input the minutes and seconds at each place, convert the minutes to all seconds, and total it all up. Then use excel to divide the total yards into the seconds)
Site A 55 sec = 55 seconds
Site B 2 min 36 sec = 156 seconds
Site C 2 min 26 sec = 146 seconds
Site D 12 min 5 sec = 725 seconds
Site E 1 min 29 sec = 89 seconds
Site F 4min 40sec = 280 seconds
Site G 1min 30sec = 90 seconds
______________________________
Total 1,541 seconds

The calculation is .0022712 yards per second (3.5 yards/1541 seconds). Apply this to the above seconds at each site and you will have a pretty close to accurate figure for each place. Then if you bill according to materials used, you can apply your rate.
Site A 55 sec = 55 seconds x .0022712 = .125 yds x your rate
Site B 2 min 36 sec = 156 seconds x .0022712 = .354 yds x your rate
Site C 2 min 26 sec = 146 seconds etc, etc.
Site D 12 min 5 sec = 725 seconds
Site E 1 min 29 sec = 89 seconds
Site F 4 min 40 sec = 280 seconds
Site G 1 min 30 sec = 90 seconds

Does this help give you an idea of what I am talking about?

Edited to add: If you apply at the same rate all night, this works very well. If you open the gate a little more or less at the beginning of the night to adjust for weather conditions (ice, colder temps, etc.), it will still work great and be accurate. If you adjust your rate during the night, that's when things will become inaccurate. We determine the conditions we want to apply before we start our route that day, and basically keep it that way for the entire route.


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## mtnbktrek (Oct 25, 2013)

Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just do flat rate on smaller sites? And on larger sites just charge by the 1/2 yard or yd? I mean if you salt as much as we do that's a lot of info to hang onto for billing. And I know you will say "nah I use excel" but I use excel too and it is a lot of unnecessary info. If you salt the same sites every time the numbers are going to be close enough to just flat rate it.


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## CK82 (Sep 17, 2005)

Guys thanks for the replies. I do and have used the timer method once our spreaders are caliberated on the amount of material dropped. Problem is, the salt does not always flow the same. I was hoping for an onboard scale of some sort. I have just started researching them, no costs yet, however I am sure there not cheap. Checking the weight would be when the vehicle is stopped. Well, I will continue with the timed way x amount of product dispersed per second or minute, for the time being anyway. Our properties are mainly per time salting charge, however its imperative to know how much product is going down.

Thanks


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## framer1901 (Dec 18, 2005)

The do make scales, for air suspensions - Right Weigh load scales. We thought about it, never did it - more thinking of going with a techier controller like a Dickey John.


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## G.Landscape (Oct 20, 2011)

framer1901;1928509 said:


> The do make scales, for air suspensions - Right Weigh load scales. We thought about it, never did it - more thinking of going with a techier controller like a Dickey John.


Their website says its accurate to 250lbs, I can be that accurate justby looking at the hopper. I suppose then your dealing with +/- 50,000 lbs when it's ok, but a 2 yard hopper spread over a bunch if small sites would be useless. It's the right track and cool too see.

I have no idea how the loader ones work. I was just going by what the Canadian scale guy at landscape Ontario was telling me.


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## potskie (Feb 9, 2011)

You could dole out an arm, leg and first born and get a dickey john system.


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## MR. McBEEVEE (Nov 21, 2008)

*Loader*

The loaders that I have seen, scoop up the salt then, while the bucket is still raised, they have to pause for a few seconds. Then the built in scale can weigh the material with no movement.


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## snowman55 (Nov 20, 2007)

Looked at loader scales. Likely putting one on a miniloaoder next year. Reads the hydraulic pressure on lift ram to figure out weight.


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## framer1901 (Dec 18, 2005)

I wouldn't think you'd put a 2yd spreader in a truck with an air suspension but you never know.

More often than not, you ought to get consistent flow out of a 2yder with an auger - thru at least the first half the load. Chunks would cause problems though. Just calibrating based on time will get you plenty close, doing roughly the same thing every night will keep you close - and all that is free...

Dickey John type setups require a mortgage payment, 6-7k by the time you are in it. We were going to go this route, we have the rexroth valve, for an 8yd vbox - we wanted to experiment with pre treating and know more accurately what we were putting down. 10ton per night in one truck is bigger room for error, spreading 500ton per year and only being off by 10% is a mere 50ton and 4k at last years prices. 

The air scales, even at 250# accuracy ain't bad for a 5-10ton load, you'd get a good understanding of what you put down that night, I'd think. I never got a straight price for them but understood it was 3-700 bucks, peanuts for that volume.


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## STARSHIP (Dec 18, 2000)

mtnbktrek;1928158 said:


> Wouldn't it be a lot easier to just do flat rate on smaller sites? And on larger sites just charge by the 1/2 yard or yd? I mean if you salt as much as we do that's a lot of info to hang onto for billing. And I know you will say "nah I use excel" but I use excel too and it is a lot of unnecessary info. If you salt the same sites every time the numbers are going to be close enough to just flat rate it.


You can do that. We have both types of salting customers, per time, and materials used. Either way, I like to know how much I put down at each place. With the stopwatch and spreadsheet, it is easy to record and figure out for billing, so it works great for us.


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## White Gardens (Oct 29, 2008)

You know, there are load sensor systems out there that would work and get you measurements withing an acceptable range.

I was looking up products for such a purpose before I found this thread.

What I've found is load sensors you could mount between a V-box and the body it's mounted on. Basically load sensors for truck bodies.

Some of the units I've seen are in the 1000-2000 dollar range, and are used on tandom trucks, garbage trucks, etc.. 

To me a small price to pay when knowing your exact usage and billing accordingly.

In my case, with an under tailgate spreader, I would have to come up with a different option, but there are some out there.


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