# auger or chain feed? Pros and cons



## Shoreline (Nov 21, 2009)

Looking into upgrading to V box spreader. Not sure whether chain or auger feed would be best. Planning to use untreated bulk rock salt and possibly adding a wetter system as well. 

Thanks for your thoughts,
John


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## dodgegmc1213 (Aug 21, 2011)

auger. less moving parts, less bearings, don't need to keep it oiled like a chain, and no salt in your truck bed.


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## gtmustang00 (Feb 23, 2010)

I prefer chain. The only auger spreader i have used was saltdogg and i hated it. Not much material would come out, even wide open.


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

The only thing better about an auger is it doesn't fill the box of your truck or cover your chassis with salt. Augers are more prone to freezing and settling then chains. We only oil our chains twice a year, start of season and end of season. JMO


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

What kind are you looking at? Electric or hydraulic?

My experience is based on an auger and I will never, ever buy either an auger drive V-box or electric spreader again. 

The auger is limited to how much salt comes out the discharge opening, which for me wasn't even close to enough. The auger motor in mine (Meyer\Swenson MDV) was such a piece of crap that they ended up sending me a brand new one with a conveyor chain. I shoveled that thing out 3 times last year because it would not spin. I carried a pipe wrench with me because I would have to use that to get the auger started........frequently. 

In a way, I am thankful they never got it figured out, because I never would have been happy with the amount of salt that can be applied with an auger drive. Especially compared to a hydraulic spreader. 

Also, the spinner motors on the Swenson\Meyer are crap. They do not have enough power to spread wide enough (12' max) and enough salt to do a job in one pass under certain conditions. We have to do 2-3 passes compared to 1 with a hydro. Not to mention, the spinner motors will not last. We are on our third one since late last February or March. 2 this year already. 

IMHO, if you get any type of lake effect, and you drop any amount of salt per event, you will not be happy with an auger drive. You might be mildly happier with an electric\conveyor type model.


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## Shoreline (Nov 21, 2009)

Mark, what brand and model of spreader have you been happy with?


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

LOL, all my Monroe spreaders have been great. 

I have one 14 YO Monroe Muni V-box that has had minimal maintenance. 2 chains, a handful of leaky spinner motors and some hoses. Bearings are original. And we have spread thousands and thousands of tons of salt through it. I also have a Monroe UTG with dual augers that works fantastic. I had 2 Monroe RDV's on 550's but one was rusted out and was replaced by a stainless dump box and the UTG mentioned and the other was on a Ford 6.0 that I couldn't afford to keep. 

From other guys that have had bad experiences with electrics and don't have the need for full hydros, apparently the gas ones are a good way to go. I fully realize that a lot of guys here are very happy with their electric spreaders and I am not doubting them, I am just saying that in my operation they do not work. And want to make you aware of the potential issues. 

For the reasons Dave stated, I don't know that an auger system will ever work "great". And you are very limited on the amount of salt going through the hole. 

FWIW, the only reason the electric spreaders are not at the top of my worst purchase ever list is because I used to own 3 Ford 6.0s. Down to 1.


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## Triple L (Nov 1, 2005)

You guys should see a Hendrickson 6 yard stainless box with an auger on central hydraulics... frig that thing spins soo fast it's like a grain auger on a silo... there is no doubt in my mind it wount have trouble keeping up, I think auger is the way to go and have never had trouble with it not putting down enough salt


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## potskie (Feb 9, 2011)

I went from Monroe Gas chain to Airflo hydraulic chain to Electric snow ex auger then to Fisher Electric chain. My current salter is the best I've ever used hands down except when handling clumps the hydraulic just crushed them or blew the gate off the truck trying 

I hated that auger. I could count three between when I pressed on and salt coming off the spinner. I could also read a book while waiting for the thing to empty at the end of the night. Drove me nuts. The Fisher I've got now is instant salt and can move a lot fast, open the door and crank it up. 

I will never choose to use another auger drive again I hated that experience.


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## blizzardsnow (Feb 3, 2009)

We run both. I prefer the chain drive. Yes it requires more maintenance but at least it'll spread the salt if temps drop into teens unlike the auger driven saltdogg. Salt needs to be very dry and fairly warm for it to work right.


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## johnhenry1933 (Feb 11, 2013)

I have a chain drive (hydraulic) sidewinder by Monroe. Nothing beats it.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

potskie;1732334 said:


> My current salter is the best I've ever used hands down except when handling clumps the hydraulic just crushed them
> 
> My hydros crush them. Very, very, very seldom get blocked. Actually, my Monroe Muni never does unless the salt freezes.
> 
> ...





blizzardsnow;1732346 said:


> We run both. I prefer the chain drive. Yes it requires more maintenance but at least it'll spread the salt if temps drop into teens unlike the auger driven saltdogg. Salt needs to be very dry and fairly warm for it to work right.


Yup, emptying, being picky about salt, inability to crush chunks, packing the auger and not enough power to get it spinning, limiting the amount of salt it can feed=never again for me.

I'd rather replace a chain every year than put up with the crap an auger makes you go through.


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## Shoreline (Nov 21, 2009)

Thanks for all the info guys, chain drive it is when the time comes.


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## allseasons87 (Nov 29, 2011)

Love our drag chain spreaders. Any excess material that is conveyed to the front of the spreader gets dumped into a low profile rubber maid storage container and dumped back into the hopper


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## chachi1984 (Feb 10, 2012)

I like our chain/conveyor it will eat through anything. does leave some mess and you should grease the bearings once a week. most gas v box spreader are all pretty similar.

looks at the snow way gasser seems like a pretty good v box


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## dodgegmc1213 (Aug 21, 2011)

all I know is my saltdogg works great, puts plenty of salt out sometimes to much and I only have the lower slots open about 3-4 inches. I ran wet and dry salt worked fine. now if I know the temp is gonna fall below freezing in a storm I run empty to prevent freezing up of salt. when its in the 30s in a storm I have the salter full and it sits all storm turn it on at the end no problem. now chain is good we run a downeaster gasser. but again samething gets really cold that salt freezes in there. we had it freeze a few years ago took a pipe wrench to it got it loose turned the clutch on went for a sec and snap there goes the bed chain.


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## r.renterprises (May 28, 2013)

I love my hiniker stainless v box electric. Second year running it absolutely no problems used to run snow wolf had lots of otoblems with the gas motors. They guy I bought mine from now is running 3 like mine and no gas units. They work great and are priced competitive


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

dodgegmc1213;1732743 said:


> now if I know the temp is gonna fall below freezing in a storm I run empty to prevent freezing up of salt.


I guess I am not understanding these statements. 99% of the time we are plowing\salting the temps are below freezing. Most of the time snow is falling and accumulating because it is below freezing.

If I had to run empty spreaders until we were done plowing because it was going to freeze in the hopper I wouldn't bother having plow\salt truck combos. Or I would just get real salt spreaders.


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## dodgegmc1213 (Aug 21, 2011)

Mark Oomkes;1733036 said:


> I guess I am not understanding these statements. 99% of the time we are plowing\salting the temps are below freezing. Most of the time snow is falling and accumulating because it is below freezing.
> 
> If I had to run empty spreaders until we were done plowing because it was going to freeze in the hopper I wouldn't bother having plow\salt truck combos. Or I would just get real salt spreaders.


whats the point of having salt in the hopper during the storm anyway? ok just some weight but it can freeze up. theres no point to salt during the storm your just wasting product, unless you have a a lot of traffic and need to salt. all we do is pretreat and then salt when the storms over. yes snow falls at and below and sometimes alil above freezing. so if its gonna be around 30 or so during the storm and the salts not soaked it will be fine in the hopper and you got your weight. but when it getting into the teens and single digits with 30-40 mile wind and real feel is in the negatives, we don't even pretreat and we run empty, once its over and time for clean up then we load up and salt. but just because we choose to run empty sometimes doesn't mean were not gonna have plow/salt truck combos. what you gonna do waste money on another truck to salt with??


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## jrs.landscaping (Nov 18, 2012)

dodgegmc1213;1733266 said:


> theres no point to salt during the storm your just wasting product, unless you have a a lot of traffic and need to salt.


??????

So do you salt heavy traffic lots during the storm or not? We do, sometimes that's the only way to clear hard pack on high traffic areas during the storm. I wouldn't call it a waste, using a couple tons of salt vs scraping with buckets........


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## dodgegmc1213 (Aug 21, 2011)

jrs.landscaping;1733280 said:


> ??????
> 
> So do you salt heavy traffic lots during the storm or not? We do, sometimes that's the only way to clear hard pack on high traffic areas during the storm. I wouldn't call it a waste, using a couple tons of salt vs scraping with buckets........


what im saying is if you have a lot of traffic to keep the snow chewed up with the salt for example grocery store, mall where people are walking that's the only reason I see people salting during the storm. like DOT workers the have the traffic of people traveling to keep it some what decent, sometimes it doesn't even work. but people like me who do condos or town homes, theres not a lot of traffic to keep it chewed up, so putting salt down is a waste since your just gonna plow it away, and if it becomes hard packed snow then at the end of the storm we salt the crap out of it and let the sun help it and let people drive on it chewing it up.


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## OldSchoolPSD (Oct 16, 2007)

Both of my salt doggs had major bridging issues this last storm. The baffles were still at the factory settings. I opened them up all they way and I hope that fixes it. If not I think I am going to fab my own baffles out of stainless expanded metal and see how that works.

This was with strait salt that was fairly wet due the the operator scraping the spillage up off the ground and putting it back in the dome.


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## chachi1984 (Feb 10, 2012)

dodgegmc1213;1733290 said:


> what im saying is if you have a lot of traffic to keep the snow chewed up with the salt for example grocery store, mall where people are walking that's the only reason I see people salting during the storm. like DOT workers the have the traffic of people traveling to keep it some what decent, sometimes it doesn't even work. but people like me who do condos or town homes, theres not a lot of traffic to keep it chewed up, so putting salt down is a waste since your just gonna plow it away, and if it becomes hard packed snow then at the end of the storm we salt the crap out of it and let the sun help it and let people drive on it chewing it up.


same for me I do a few big lots but they don't get a lot of traffice, only right in front of the store . so for me pre salting is a waste in some areas.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

dodgegmc1213;1733266 said:


> whats the point of having salt in the hopper during the storm anyway? ok just some weight but it can freeze up. theres no point to salt during the storm your just wasting product, unless you have a a lot of traffic and need to salt. all we do is pretreat and then salt when the storms over. yes snow falls at and below and sometimes alil above freezing. so if its gonna be around 30 or so during the storm and the salts not soaked it will be fine in the hopper and you got your weight. but when it getting into the teens and single digits with 30-40 mile wind and real feel is in the negatives, we don't even pretreat and we run empty, once its over and time for clean up then we load up and salt. but just because we choose to run empty sometimes doesn't mean were not gonna have plow/salt truck combos. what you gonna do waste money on another truck to salt with??


I was going to respond to this, then figured why bother.

The only thing I will touch on is that the "real feel" or wind chill has absolutely nothing to do with salting or pavement. Air temp doesn't even play into the equation that much. We aren't salting the air or the wind chill.


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## johnhenry1933 (Feb 11, 2013)

Hah. Again the matter comes up.

It is good to respond politely, is it not Mark? I had to chuckle at your patience and reserve.

It is a common misconception: windchill effect on inanimate objects (none, for those that don't know, other than possibly cooling an item quicker, but never below the ambient temperature).


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## dodgegmc1213 (Aug 21, 2011)

Mark Oomkes;1734017 said:


> I was going to respond to this, then figured why bother.
> 
> The only thing I will touch on is that the "real feel" or wind chill has absolutely nothing to do with salting or pavement. Air temp doesn't even play into the equation that much. We aren't salting the air or the wind chill.


But its the cold air temp that effects the pavement temp, so if the air is really cold (15-0) that pavement isnt gonna be much warmer. So again plain rock salt wont do anything since it only works to 15°, so pretreat is not needed because once it starts snowing its gonna accumulate right away


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## Whiffyspark (Dec 23, 2009)

dodgegmc1213;1734111 said:


> But its the cold air temp that effects the pavement temp, so if the air is really cold (15-0) that pavement isnt gonna be much warmer. So again plain rock salt wont do anything since it only works to 15°, so pretreat is not needed because once it starts snowing its gonna accumulate right away


No itll work. Espically in areas that are high traffic

We treat whole lot before,during, and after. Every site is different. Our lot doesn't want ice/hard pack anywhere


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## dodgegmc1213 (Aug 21, 2011)

Whiffyspark;1734118 said:


> No itll work. Espically in areas that are high traffic
> 
> We treat whole lot before,during, and after. Every site is different. Our lot doesn't want ice/hard pack anywhere


Yes in high traffic areas. See I dont have that even tho im doing road ways in a town home community and condos theres not alot of traffic and I know salt wont work there before or during.


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## Whiffyspark (Dec 23, 2009)

dodgegmc1213;1734124 said:


> Yes in high traffic areas. See I dont have that even tho im doing road ways in a town home community and condos theres not alot of traffic and I know salt wont work there before or during.


It will help if you spread it before.

We had almost no traffic during and it melted in a matter of 10 minutes


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

dodgegmc1213;1734111 said:


> But its the cold air temp that effects the pavement temp, so if the air is really cold (15-0) that pavement isnt gonna be much warmer. So again plain rock salt wont do anything since it only works to 15°, so pretreat is not needed because once it starts snowing its gonna accumulate right away


Yes, but there can be some wildly different pavement\air temp differences.


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## PArdgerunner (Mar 4, 2008)

Any spreader will jam up and clog if the salt inst kept dry and unfrozen, dump off every now and then and keep your salt mix inside and dry. Electric tailgate and v box spreaders work well and my experience actually cost alot less in the long run, repairs are cheaper and down time is less


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## Flawless440 (Dec 6, 2010)

I love the new Boss VBX 8000.. chains. Large Led display, lets you know if motors are running hot and cools them, if top gate is open, swing spinner to side to dump salt in a pile, large led lights that are great for plowing when backing up, poly box is a great size, on a 8' bed still lots of room for sidewalk salt, buckets etc.. Red color and slick design, volt meter.. Lots of other features.. i'm blown away.. Price cheaper than western and Swenson


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## chachi1984 (Feb 10, 2012)

PArdgerunner;1734584 said:


> Any spreader will jam up and clog if the salt inst kept dry and unfrozen, dump off every now and then and keep your salt mix inside and dry. Electric tailgate and v box spreaders work well and my experience actually cost alot less in the long run, repairs are cheaper and down time is less


for sure I had to dig out my v box a few too many times.


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## A Man (Dec 24, 2007)

I don't have much experience with smaller 1-3 yard spreaders however we recently set up our first Hydraulic Drive Auger spreader and I have to say so far so good. It's driven by a hydraulic motor into a planetary so I have no concerns of it not having enough torque to drive the auger. I was concerned the planetary would be so strong it would just tare the auger apart until I saw it in person and noticed the auger is 1/4" thick 5" Diameter with 7/16" thick flighting.

I really like the even flow of material, no gate settings to tamper with. We just set the ground speed up at X pounds per Acre and send the operator on his way. I also really like how clean it keeps the bottom of the truck.

I would have preferred the dual auger option allowing us to spread sand however $4k was a little much considering we have 4 other spreaders that can do the job.

I think we will always own some chain drive units however I'd like to get a couple more 5-8 yard auger drives for next year.

Mark, what brand of dual auger drive did you go with?


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## dieselboy01 (Jan 18, 2011)

subscribed


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## JD Dave (Mar 20, 2007)

Truck looks really good Aman.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

A Man;1737292 said:


> I don't have much experience with smaller 1-3 yard spreaders however we recently set up our first Hydraulic Drive Auger spreader and I have to say so far so good. It's driven by a hydraulic motor into a planetary so I have no concerns of it not having enough torque to drive the auger. I was concerned the planetary would be so strong it would just tare the auger apart until I saw it in person and noticed the auger is 1/4" thick 5" Diameter with 7/16" thick flighting.
> 
> I really like the even flow of material, no gate settings to tamper with. We just set the ground speed up at X pounds per Acre and send the operator on his way. I also really like how clean it keeps the bottom of the truck.
> 
> ...


Dang you guys know how to do it right up there. That's an awesome setup.

And apparently I was mistaken on the auger feed.

I didn't have a dual auger, just a Swenson\Meyer MDV electric auger. Supposedly they have the issues fixed now. Doesn't really matter, I'll never go with another electric spreader. Still having issues with the conveyor feed. I'm pretty much screwed, I can't afford to have the truck down to get central hydros installed and a spreader is 90 days out. I really thought that other than the pattern issues, the problems were over with. Not the case.

In this case, I am sticking with "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". I know what works. I know the maintenance involved. I'm OK with it.


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## Triple L (Nov 1, 2005)

Triple L;1732238 said:


> You guys should see a Hendrickson 6 yard stainless box with an auger on central hydraulics... frig that thing spins soo fast it's like a grain auger on a silo... there is no doubt in my mind it wount have trouble keeping up, I think auger is the way to go and have never had trouble with it not putting down enough salt


The kw aman posted is what I was talking about, you guys would change your mind after you seen that thing....

Would a electric vibrator pack still be nice Adam? Just to get that last little bit salt out or is it fine?


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## A Man (Dec 24, 2007)

Triple L;1738373 said:


> The kw aman posted is what I was talking about, you guys would change your mind after you seen that thing....
> 
> Would a electric vibrator pack still be nice Adam? Just to get that last little bit salt out or is it fine?


Good question, we've had it for almost a month now and I still haven't run it so I'll have to get back to you. As far as I know it's empties completely without issue.

We've run about 60 Tonne threw it and I'm really happy with how clean the truck and main auger bearings are. I really think this spreader may be spreading salt longer than I will.


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## Poorboys (Sep 4, 2013)

Aman can you get a back view. I'm still learning about Salting and pre treating and stuff. What are the tanks for on the side of it?


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