# Storing Bulk Salt



## Mike247 (Feb 8, 2010)

This is going to be my first year using bulk salt. I recently just purchased a Western Tornado. I have a friend who takes care of a church site in which we have permission to store bulk salt there. With that said we can't make large bins like we would like to. Can we just put it on the asphalt and just cover it up with a heavy duty tarp? I always here that there should be a base of concrete, etc. I just know we wouldn't be able to do that there.


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## leigh (Jan 2, 2009)

Mike247;2055209 said:


> This is going to be my first year using bulk salt. I recently just purchased a Western Tornado. I have a friend who takes care of a church site in which we have permission to store bulk salt there. With that said we can't make large bins like we would like to. Can we just put it on the asphalt and just cover it up with a heavy duty tarp? I always here that there should be a base of concrete, etc. I just know we wouldn't be able to do that there.


You sure can.Lots of guys in my area keep their salt onsite at their large jobs.Try to keep it upstream of the water flow.Might get a little chunkiness around edges,just have to run over and break up.You'll be fine,keep it as dry as possible.


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## Derek'sDumpstersInc (Jul 13, 2014)

See if they will ok a shipping container. You can rent one for the winter months and keeps everything inside completely dry. Works great, that's what I have done the past couple years with mine except I bought my container, so it stays there year around.


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## IA snoman (Aug 31, 2003)

derekslawncare;2055655 said:


> See if they will ok a shipping container. You can rent one for the winter months and keeps everything inside completely dry. Works great, that's what I have done the past couple years with mine except I bought my container, so it stays there year around.


Derek, where did you get your shipping container? I am looking for one for the same reason. Is there anything I should know or look for before buying a container? What size do you have and will a skid loader fit into one?


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## Derek'sDumpstersInc (Jul 13, 2014)

IA snoman;2055950 said:


> Derek, where did you get your shipping container? I am looking for one for the same reason. Is there anything I should know or look for before buying a container? What size do you have and will a skid loader fit into one?


I bought mine from a company called Mobil Mini. They are a national company, so they very well may have a local branch near you as well. BEFORE you buy, do a quick Google search online about "buying a used shipping container." There are several good things to look for, primarily, that you want yours to be made from Cor-Ten Steel. I had never even heard of this before researching, but it is a special steel used in building SOME shipping containers which makes them less prone to rust, something you definitely want if your plans are to load it full of road salt. Yes you can drive a skid-steer right in. My Case SV250 fits with room to spare even after adding the roof strobe. Another thing I would suggest is that you look into getting a HQ (high cube) as it gives you another foot in height. This isn't necessary to get the machine in, but would allow you to stack higher. The main issue that I have in mine is that I am only able to raise my loader arms about 4 feet before they hit the top, so that extra foot in height would sure be nice to have. I bought mine just before the start of last winter, so I didn't have a lot of time to be choosy. Also, last winter the only bucket I had for my loader was my 84" snow bucket which was an extremely tight fit and necessitated calling a mobile welder to come out and seal up the sides on two different occasions after I got a little crooked and gouged the side wall of the container. This winter I will have a standard bucket which should hopefully keep that from happening. Up until last winter, other than renting a bobcat a couple times for yard projects, I hadn't ever run one, so I was very novice in my skills. I bought a standard size 20 footer. Two things I wish I had done differently is to look for the HQ and also possibly get a 40 instead of a 20 footer. One other thing to consider is that Mobil Mini has custom extra wide containers that are 10 foot instead of 8 foot wide, but they are only available in two lengths, 18 and 25 foot, standard height and are NOT made from the Cor-Ten steel, which I felt was higher priority. Hope this is helpful. Good luck and let me know what you end up with.


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## IA snoman (Aug 31, 2003)

Derek I have been checking into containers and Mobil mini is one of the companies I am waiting for a call back from. Can u post me some pics of your container and set up. Also, how much salt are you putting in your 20 ft container. I have to store about 24-25 ton. What did your container cost?


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## JB1 (Dec 29, 2006)

Also keep a eye on Craigslist, I have a 20 footer and put 30 tons in it.


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## Freshwater (Feb 28, 2014)

I'm pretty sure there's a couple containers for sale on plowsite right now.


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## Brian Young (Aug 13, 2005)

IA snoman;2070836 said:


> Derek I have been checking into containers and Mobil mini is one of the companies I am waiting for a call back from. Can u post me some pics of your container and set up. Also, how much salt are you putting in your 20 ft container. I have to store about 24-25 ton. What did your container cost?


You should be able to fit 22-25 tons in one. We used on a few years ago and a tri axle held roughly 23 tons and it worked out perfect. I'm looking to buy one and the guy wants 3k for a 40ft one that's like new. If you buy one I would line the inside with treated 4x8 sheets of plywood, the salt gets crusted in the grooves and is a pain to clean out.


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## hickslawns (Dec 18, 2004)

Good idea on the plywood. Salt most certainly does fill up the grooves. 

We have 3 20' boxes and one 40' high cube. The 40 stays put. One 20 sits at our retail location. The other 2 20' boxes sit on job locations. We only keep them where we have a skid loader to load and where the customer allows us to keep them. 

End of the season? Empty any remaining salt from the 20's and fill the 40 at the shop and 20 at the retail location. Then we hire a rollback truck to haul them to our third location we use for cold storage. We clean them out and store salt spreaders in them during the summer months. Costs us roughly $75-100 per box to haul each way. Basically $300-400 per season to drop on location and bring back.


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## AllHands (Dec 16, 2015)

hey derek, great advice on the rolloff container. I like it, i am actually considering buying one now. Question for anyone who knows, what if your only loading options are a large wheel loader( which wont fit), or a 40hp new holland TC40 tractor w loader bucket. Will the tractor fit inside one of these? (no cab)


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

You'd have to measure your tractor at the widest and your door.
I have used a kubota 4760 ( no cab ) to get into a van body without issue.


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## Derek'sDumpstersInc (Jul 13, 2014)

AllHands;2077060 said:


> hey derek, great advice on the rolloff container. I like it, i am actually considering buying one now. Question for anyone who knows, what if your only loading options are a large wheel loader( which wont fit), or a 40hp new holland TC40 tractor w loader bucket. Will the tractor fit inside one of these? (no cab)


You said roll off, but do you mean shipping container? A roll off is a dumpster (no top). I'm not familiar with your tractor, but judging by hp, I'm guessing it's not that big, so if it doesn't have a cab, I'm sure it will fit. Just measure your machine, as Mr. Markus said, to be sure before making a purchase. Don't know how fast you are wanting to buy, or where you are located, but my 20 footer will be for sale spring 2016, after this winter is over.


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## snow plow ny (Dec 18, 2015)

*Regulations and Restrictions?*

Hello all,

First post here - just like to say thanks for having me. Very informative information here. I was wondering if there are any regulations nationwide/and statewide regarding the storage of bulk salt? I am a newbie and have just recently started a small business for snow plowing and have not been able to find the necessary resources to answer these questions. Thanks for any help in advance.

www.snowremovallongisland.com


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## Derek'sDumpstersInc (Jul 13, 2014)

snow plow ny;2077126 said:


> Hello all,
> 
> First post here - just like to say thanks for having me. Very informative information here. I was wondering if there are any regulations nationwide/and statewide regarding the storage of bulk salt? I am a newbie and have just recently started a small business for snow plowing and have not been able to find the necessary resources to answer these questions. Thanks for any help in advance.
> 
> www.snowremovallongisland.com


There are laws at both the state and federal levels governing the proper storage of bulk salt (and the fines associated with pollution as a result of improper storage). I have no idea what your state regs are, check with your DNR. As for federal, I believe that would be governed by the wonderful EPA. The biggest factor is that you do not store in a manner in which would allow for any runoff into the surrounding area when it rains or the snow melts. This is why the shipping container is such a good system. It keeps your stockpile dry and contains it at the same time.

And by the way, welcome to the business and to PS. You will find that this site provides both a good source for info as well as a good laugh from time to time. Both are useful. Again, welcome and good luck.


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## MR. McBEEVEE (Nov 21, 2008)

*sensitive to cold*

Just adding my opinion from experience. I did notice, when using the containers, if the temps get pretty cold, the salt seems to freeze pretty quick because air gets under them. As compared to piling it on concrete and covering with a tarp it seems the pile stays more insulated from the ground. Obviously, it still freezes near the tarp but busts up pretty easy.


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