# only useing sand???



## jlong (Sep 12, 2008)

is this actually and effective practice....excuse my stupidity but i am actually quite new to the industry. In my opinion it is a way of saving a couple of dollars while increasing your risk of someone falling or a vehical accident. I was quite shocked while bidding on a chain of resturants in town that they actually came back to me and asked if I would use straight stand to cut the cost??? I didn't get the bid. Then my fathe enformed me that after the last snow the company doing his factory was shoveling "blocks" of frozen sand onto the parking lot after plowing the snow...In my opinion it is idiots like this that are destroying the priceing of this industry


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## dirtmandan2 (Nov 2, 2007)

we sand when its really cold, for the last week its been below zero, not exactly good salting weather. We also sand a couple of gravel lots.


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## cjasonbr (Nov 18, 2005)

nope. The idiots ruining the pricing are the ones that don't charge enough, who most often don't pay for insurance etc etc.

Years ago i planned on running some kind of ice-melt in the spreader but nobody was interested in it, everyone wanted sand. The reason being is price. I went to home depot last week and both sand and ice-melt was up about 100% from last year. 50# sand was 3.50, 50# ice melt was 16.00!!!!!

So really it comes down to salt costing 4.5x more than sand, depending on the deal you can find.. Often times when i plow there isn't much of anything left on the ground anymore anyways, so sand it plenty sufficent.


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## hydro_37 (Sep 10, 2006)

We have put down just under 4 tons of sand this year so far. Only time we mix in salt is if the customer wants it.


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## Ropinghorns (Oct 16, 2008)

Here in OKLAHOMA where we don't know any better, we use sand and get along fine. Customers do not know anything about salt either. When it snows it is a different story. We clear it off with tractors and skidsteers. But ice is sanded.


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## Snowaway (Sep 10, 2008)

cjasonbr;681349 said:


> nope. The idiots ruining the pricing are the ones that don't charge enough, who most often don't pay for insurance etc etc.
> 
> Years ago i planned on running some kind of ice-melt in the spreader but nobody was interested in it, everyone wanted sand. The reason being is price. I went to home depot last week and both sand and ice-melt was up about 100% from last year. 50# sand was 3.50, 50# ice melt was 16.00!!!!!
> 
> So really it comes down to salt costing 4.5x more than sand, depending on the deal you can find.. Often times when i plow there isn't much of anything left on the ground anymore anyways, so sand it plenty sufficent.


Wow, I paying just under 6 dollers for a 40 lbs. bag of ice melt from Home Depot here. Brand name Road Runner.


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## lowcostlawns (Nov 30, 2007)

For our two huge HOA's we do they will not allow any salt on the properties! So we have to mix in magnesium chloride to help the sand from freezing and clogging up! It sucks by we have to get the job done. I wish I could just put down a salt sand mix, its so much less of a pain in the ass!


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## cjasonbr (Nov 18, 2005)

Snowaway;681939 said:


> Wow, I paying just under 6 dollers for a 40 lbs. bag of ice melt from Home Depot here. Brand name Road Runner.


Yea. I bought a few 50 lb bags of Road Runner from Wally-mart for $7 too. Not quite high grade stuff though. I think it says "now contains mag. chloride" on the bag or something like that. Who knows how much mag it actually contains.

The bags that Home Depot had were bags of pro-grade straight mag and calcium chloride.


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## TurfSolutionsMN (Dec 12, 2007)

How do you guys keep your sand from freezing


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## Superior L & L (Oct 6, 2006)

we used a little sand last year ..........holly crap that stuff is messy. It was chlorinated sand so it did melt a little but we quit using it cos it would clogg drains and make lots look like sand boxes


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## Jay brown (Dec 26, 2005)

i put down 9 ton for a small town last week, and it was the first time i had ever done sand....it went okay for chat streets, but i would never use it on commercial because of the mess it leaves and the mess it tracks into the stores.....screws the finish on floors too...


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## adksnowo (Dec 14, 2005)

We use salted sand. Salt is ineffective on gravel surfaces, which is what we do. Salt is about 20%, sand 80%, keeps sand form freezing & clumping. Gotta keep it dry though. Local town only uses sand, right out of the sand quarry.


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## Ropinghorns (Oct 16, 2008)

If it makes a mess maybe you are using too much!!!!!!!!


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## procut1 (Jan 21, 2004)

Sand?

Ive heard of that being used years ago but Ive never actually seen it in person.


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## nick858 (Jul 17, 2006)

We use sand. The county mixes in some salt, Im guessing maybe 10% at the most, just to keep the sand from freezing. Nobody here will pay for salt, and most times the ice has to sit on the lots for a week before they will even sand, just to make sure it doesnt melt first. The county will load our 2 yard sander for 30 bucks, just pull up under the loader and go. We do about half gravel and half paved lots, it makes a mess of the lots and the floors, but you wouldnt get a single call if you priced out salt here.


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## SnowMatt13 (Jan 8, 2003)

Around our area its salt, salt and more salt.
It's fun watching IDOT try and burn 1" of snow off the road when its 10 degrees out.....and they do. I could sweep up what's left over and re-spread it.


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## cretebaby (Aug 23, 2008)

nick858;696911 said:


> We use sand. The county mixes in some salt, Im guessing maybe 10% at the most, just to keep the sand from freezing. Nobody here will pay for salt, and most times the ice has to sit on the lots for a week before they will even sand, just to make sure it doesnt melt first. The county will load our 2 yard sander for 30 bucks, just pull up under the loader and go. We do about half gravel and half paved lots, it makes a mess of the lots and the floors, but you wouldnt get a single call if you priced out salt here.


What part of Iowa are you in?


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## nick858 (Jul 17, 2006)

I guess you would say north central, Eldora. We are about 45 min NE of Ames


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## procut1 (Jan 21, 2004)

It is interesting to see how different areas use material differently.

In this area very very rarely do you see sand used....Its all straight salt.

Then again thats why we;re taxed out the wazoo.

A couple municipalities that are hurting financially you see sand used. 

I dont think NY could go back to the old days. People have gotten used to their roads being bare pavement a couple hours after any storm.


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## procut1 (Jan 21, 2004)

It is interesting to see how different areas use material differently.

In this area very very rarely do you see sand used....Its all straight salt.

Then again thats why we;re taxed out the wazoo.

A couple municipalities that are hurting financially you see sand used. 

I dont think NY could go back to the old days. People have gotten used to their roads being bare pavement a couple hours after any storm.


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## DEWFPO (Dec 15, 2008)

I use dry sand only in bags from lowe's. I spread it thinly and it hasn't caused any problems but it can be messy to walk on, Traction on steep inclines that are iced over is amazing. 

DEWFPO


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## Turbodiesel (Aug 5, 2008)

By using tons of sand , are you responsible for cleaning out the inlets?


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## DEWFPO (Dec 15, 2008)

Turbodiesel;698836 said:


> By using tons of sand , are you responsible for cleaning out the inlets?


I'm not sure who your asking this off, but I don't use 'tons' of sand and there are no inlets around here.

DEWFPO


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## Turbodiesel (Aug 5, 2008)

dewfpo;698869 said:


> i'm not sure who your asking this off, but i don't use 'tons' of sand and there are no inlets around here.
> 
> Dewfpo


oh..........


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