# Need a spreader, small truck...bulk salt



## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

My business has grown & I've found myself in need of a salter. I have been hand spreading bulk salt treated with magic liquid (self treated). I've come to the conclusion I will need a vibrator for whatever Salter I choose. 

I'm considering a Curtis fast cast 550 with a gas engine. It's the small 1/3 yard hopper. I like this one for multiple reasons....small, still have some bed space, can remove with 2 people & can run bulk. 

Also, a sNoway 6' TG spreader. Adjustable spreader direction! Motor up & away from the salt & a belt will go first before a motor or transmission. Will need a vibrator tho. Also it's a one man job to install or remove. This would be perfect for one L shaped property on the corner of a very busy intersection!!

Both are affordable for me & yes the money is a deciding factor....as is weight & ability to spread what I need. 

Anyone have any opinions???


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## allseasons87 (Nov 29, 2011)

aloe;1889896 said:


> My business has grown & I've found myself in need of a salter. I have been hand spreading bulk salt treated with magic liquid (self treated). I've come to the conclusion I will need a vibrator for whatever Salter I choose.
> 
> I'm considering a Curtis fast cast 550 with a gas engine. It's the small 1/3 yard hopper. I like this one for multiple reasons....small, still have some bed space, can remove with 2 people & can run bulk.
> 
> ...


Get as big of a Salter that you can fit/afford. You can grow into a bigger Salter, but not a smaller one. Also, go electric. Just my opinion.


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

allseasons87;1890095 said:


> Get as big of a Salter that you can fit/afford. You can grow into a bigger Salter, but not a smaller one. Also, go electric. Just my opinion.


My truck is an 05 tacoma. Think those are the biggest or close. The engine on the Curtis is blown & comes with a replacement engine at no extra cost. Was considering an electric motor swap


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## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

allseasons87;1890095 said:


> Get as big of a Salter that you can fit/afford. You can grow into a bigger Salter, but not a smaller one. Also, go electric. Just my opinion.


I was going to say that also BUT it is nice to have a big one for a 1ton etc and a smaller one for a smaller more limber pickup as an option. If you are going to be a one truck show and not grow then yeah go as big as you can now.


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

For now I'm a 1 truck, 1 man show. May need to hire a laborer this season tho. Toyota will be replacing my frame soon! So I'm on the fence about selling this truck as it handles the narrow drives & small comm. lots easily.


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## JustJeff (Sep 9, 2009)

Saltdogg 3/4 or 1 yard v-box hopper spreader. They're designed for 1/4 ton trucks such as yours.


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## THEGOLDPRO (Jun 18, 2006)

Where in new york are you? I have a fast cast 550 for sale, everything works as it should, also has a spare motor from a tiny pressure washer I had.


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## RMGLawn (Jan 2, 2012)

If you don't want a Vbox look into a Salt Dogg TGS07. I have one on my f150 and really like it. I built a wood box to have bulk dumped in my bed then shovel it into the salter


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

THEGOLDPRO;1890183 said:


> Where in new york are you? I have a fast cast 550 for sale, everything works as it should, also has a spare motor from a tiny pressure washer I had.


Albany area. Travel to eastern LI frequently.


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

Harleyjeff;1890172 said:


> Saltdogg 3/4 or 1 yard v-box hopper spreader. They're designed for 1/4 ton trucks such as yours.


Almost bought a snowex sp3000 on eBay. Guy was just south of me. I asked if he would sell it locally & he said no. Next day, sold locally :/


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

RMGLawn;1890300 said:


> If you don't want a Vbox look into a Salt Dogg TGS07. I have one on my f150 and really like it. I built a wood box to have bulk dumped in my bed then shovel it into the salter


I saw one on CL. It looked a bit bulky...wasn't sure if it would have been too much hanging off the receiver. With saltdogg.....are their entry level salters different quality from their others like the TGS07.


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

Here is the one I saw. It really does look huge!!!

http://albany.craigslist.org/grd/4782182193.html


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## THEGOLDPRO (Jun 18, 2006)




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## THEGOLDPRO (Jun 18, 2006)




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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

Looks nice!!


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## THEGOLDPRO (Jun 18, 2006)

The only reason we took it out was we upgraded to a 2 yard


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

THEGOLDPRO;1890622 said:


> The only reason we took it out was we upgraded to a 2 yard


That hopper looks huge!! I'm guessing these small v box spreaders don't get removed until the end of winter.


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## THEGOLDPRO (Jun 18, 2006)

Plows and sanders stay on trucks till April.


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## snowplower1 (Jan 15, 2014)

i have a saltdogg shpe 2000 that runs bulk salt, its pretty big, i bought it last year knowing i didnt need to fill it so i only filled it halfway, this year i almost doubled my salting route so now i fill it all the way, if the truck can handle a larger salter i would do it, but if not just buy a tailgate spreader. They're easy to use and the saltdogg aloe posted is one of the ones i have and it works great! i just would recommend buying a off the market controller immediately.


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

I like the V box for obvious reasons. I also like the TG spreaders bc they can be removed. Idk, guess I'll have to look at them both.


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## RMGLawn (Jan 2, 2012)

That spreader you posted is nice however it doesn't have a vibrator. The TGS07 is essentially a vbox. It has a vibrator and auger like the vboxes.


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## frue (Dec 17, 2007)

With the truck you have a tocoma I would by a snowex 575. That in bed will be way to much for your truck that's not even talking about how much salt you can haul legally. 

Your truck with a plow and hauling salt is illegal.


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

frue;1892701 said:


> With the truck you have a tocoma I would by a snowex 575. That in bed will be way to much for your truck that's not even talking about how much salt you can haul legally.
> 
> Your truck with a plow and hauling salt is illegal.


Lightweight plow, 250#. Tacoma payload is over 1000#. Obviously I wouldn't run the salted fully loaded. I really like the ode of the small v box. Truck looses a bit of its everyday drive ability tho.


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## JTVLandscaping (Jan 1, 2010)

How are you carrying your bulk salt now?


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

JTVLandscaping;1893955 said:


> How are you carrying your bulk salt now?


Totes & 5 gallon buckets. Mostly spread by hand. Picked up 2 new lots that make spreading by hand an all night process. Did those lots with the walk behind. Still a pain in the a**

Usually a max of 350-400#. Then load up again before the next storm


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## JustJeff (Sep 9, 2009)

If you only need 300-400 pounds of salt, any tailgate spreader will work for you, but if you have any plans of getting bigger anytime soon, I'd go with one of Saltdogg's smaller V-Box spreaders. A 3/4 or 1 yard spreader will be big enough to probably suit your potential future needs for quite awhile, and still leave you some space in the back for a shovel or whatever else you may want to carry. A more important question though, how do you load your salt? By hand?


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## terrapro (Oct 21, 2006)

aloe;1893986 said:


> Totes & 5 gallon buckets. Mostly spread by hand. Picked up 2 new lots that make spreading by hand an all night process. Did those lots with the walk behind. Still a pain in the a**
> 
> Usually a max of 350-400#. Then load up again before the next storm


400lbs Yeah use a tailgater...you want one? It even has a vibrator and everything.


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

Harleyjeff;1894055 said:


> If you only need 300-400 pounds of salt, any tailgate spreader will work for you, but if you have any plans of getting bigger anytime soon, I'd go with one of Saltdogg's smaller V-Box spreaders. A 3/4 or 1 yard spreader will be big enough to probably suit your potential future needs for quite awhile, and still leave you some space in the back for a shovel or whatever else you may want to carry. A more important question though, how do you load your salt? By hand?


Yep, all by hand....5 gallon buckets & a shovel


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## JustJeff (Sep 9, 2009)

Well, loading a hopper by hand from the ground can be a real pain in the ass, but if you had eight bags of bagged salt in the bed you could load it from the bed and it wouldn't be a big deal. That would give you your 400 lbs, and still have the capacity to grow larger without having to change spreaders anytime soon. I guess I'm just a "bigger is better" kind of guy. I always try to buy bigger to begin with because I always seem to grow into it. You've got to get what works for you though.


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

Harleyjeff;1894583 said:


> Well, loading a hopper by hand from the ground can be a real pain in the ass, but if you had eight bags of bagged salt in the bed you could load it from the bed and it wouldn't be a big deal. That would give you your 400 lbs, and still have the capacity to grow larger without having to change spreaders anytime soon. I guess I'm just a "bigger is better" kind of guy. I always try to buy bigger to begin with because I always seem to grow into it. You've got to get what works for you though.


True. I like that small Curtis v box. Another reason to stay with bulk is that my salt costs are extremely low. Bagged product would raise it significantly.


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## Flipper (Nov 1, 2001)

I ran a 6ft Snoway electric on my Toyota.

http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=40997


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## aloe (Nov 5, 2011)

Flipper;1894967 said:


> I ran a 6ft Snoway electric on my Toyota.
> 
> http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=40997


Nice setup. Def. not a setup an 05+ can run without a lift kit. Should have kept my old 96. 4" suspension, 3" body. No rust on the frame. Just a weird stutter I could never diagnose. Years later I think it may have been the igniter or a bad/clogged cat. Traded in at 253K on my current 05


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## Flipper (Nov 1, 2001)

That was stock suspension height on mine. I ran airbags. Spreader weighs about 500lbs. I only needed to air the bags when I went over 1/2 yard of salt.


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## billythekid (Jan 31, 2014)

i just got into the snow business. I bought a used snow ex bulk pro SP1575. Holds enough to probably do the route you talked about. It weighs about 160 empty, slides into a 2 inch receiver, and from my one salting experience it was very easy to use and very accurate. Ran bulk like a champ. I would recommend this unit for a tailgate spreader.


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## Kodiakguy (Sep 11, 2009)

Toyota replacing your frame? Maybe not if they see a v-box in it and a plow on front, you might want to carefully and quietly look into that.

Weight is an issue with the small trucks. A v-box will weigh 300-500 pounds. Plow for that size truck 500-600. So your at 800-1100 lbs without loading salt. What is your trucks rated payload? 1500 lbs? So thats what, 400 lbs of salt you can carry before your overloaded? Sorry, but you need a bigger truck, adding a v-box to that one will brake its back. Those small light duty trucks were never meant to do that kind of work on a regular basis.


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## bosman (Oct 20, 2008)

Like Harleyjeff said, Saltdogg 075 would be perfect for that truck. The TG07 and the curtis stick out pretty far from the truck. You can remove the chute of the 075 and still have access to trailer ball. It will hold 12-1500 lbs in the hopper and still give you room in the bed for everything else. And yes you can install and remove by yourself by standing it on its backside. Think about what would happen if you were rear ended or back in to a pole with the TG07. The curtis looks like a real nice unit (exept for the gas engine), but there is no way you can lift that by yourself.


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