# Ice control basics....



## eggy (Mar 3, 2000)

Well guys its almost 99.9% go for snow plowing and ice control for me this season. This will be are first year for this and as noted in the snow plowing aea, I have been asking lots of questions. Upon ice control, we sometimes have only ice events here,this might seem silly but how far in advance do you pre treat lots? And if the forcast turns out wrong do you still bill?? What brand of ice control product do you reccomend?(non liquid) what is a idea price to charge ?( I do understand this will be hard) Price per square foot , yard? pound of applicant? My clients will be my current lawn care customers mainly smaller lots such as gas stations, smaller retail stores, banks, etc. All advice is greatly appreciated! Ohh yes a few other things when do you salt? When the forcast calls forice lets say 50% chance or greater???? Or ??? Also how about rain changing to ice what reccomendations?????? o=


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## SlimJim Z71 (Nov 8, 2000)

Here are my thoughts... if I'm going to pre-treat, it's usually done at the last possible minute. If it turns out that the storm misses us, yes I still bill. We are in a business where we have to rely on the weathermen/women, mother nature, and our instincts... none of which are very reliable. I have a clause in my contracts stating that we wil use our best judgement when it comes to situations like that, BUT... the bill will still be mailed.

I've been using rock salt, but I'm going to switch over to Magic-O this year. I want a "black" lot when I'm done.

Pricing... hmmmmmm.... you're going to kind of have to wing it on this one. Part of it depends on how you buy your salt. I could say to charge $100 a ton, but if you spend $120 for a ton of bagged salt, that wouldn't work too well. I basically charge about $20 a bag for rock salt. I don't know if that's good or bad, but it's worked so far.

As far as when to salt... the best time is when it's just starting to get icey. But... that's not always feasable. You just have to use your own judgement. Rain changing to ice, now that's a tough one. You don't want to salt too early, because the rain will just wash the salt away. But, if you salt to late, then you've kind of shot yourself in the foot... again, just use your best judgement.

Good luck! Hope this helps.

-Tim


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## Taconic (May 18, 2001)

I gotta agree with Tim he is right each storm is different and when you to apply product is tricky. Not to early as if it changes to rain you will lose your salt,not too late or you will not be able to stop the ice from bonding to the pavement. Magic can take alot of the guess work out of the decision though as it will last longer and stay in place longer than straight salt. Salt will dilute quickly as it turns to a liquid and your dilution of solution is critical. With Magic already on the salt it will slow down the delution rate of salt giving you more punch and melting capability and using less salt
John Parker 845-485-4200


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## John DiMartino (Jan 22, 2000)

Eggy,in addition to pretreating for ice events,I pre-treat for snow too,in high traffic areas,you need to have some salt down or it will all pack to ice quickly.This is where magic salt is awesome,to me it is the best for pretreating snow storms.You put it down,and have a 3" trigger,when you plow,everything will scrape up,the ground will stay slushy,the magic will keep the bond from forming ,no matter how many trucks/cars run it over.In residentials this isnt as important,but for commercial/industrial sites,and cond's,you need to pre-treat for snow too-unless the temp will be above freezing,right after,and no traffic.Your going to have to experiment as to when to go out and pre-treat.I still to this day second guess myself sometimes,but I always error on the side of safety,and keep your records current,incase you need them.Good luck


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## eggy (Mar 3, 2000)

Thanks to everyone for your help!!!! This is all new to me!


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## plowking35 (Dec 21, 1999)

Eggy
Give me a call at 860-859-0739 and I will be happy to talk snow and ice control with you. It just takes to long to type it all out here.
Dino


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## ACA L&L (Jan 5, 2007)

plowking35;26021 said:


> Eggy
> Give me a call at 860-859-0739 and I will be happy to talk snow and ice control with you. It just takes to long to type it all out here.
> Dino


blast from the past


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