# Air Flow Mini Spreader, Anyone have any feedback



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

So i have not had much luck finding any iformation about the mini air flow spreader, other than what there website says. Website says it spreads everything which is what we do, everything but sand. Were looking to buy a tailgate spreader that spreads bulk (ice slicer),bagged rock salt (ice melter),and the bagged ice slicer which is crushed to a finer material than the bulk. I like the design of the air flow and think its a spreader we would benifit from using. I cant seem to find anything on plowsite about anyone ever having one or using one. If anyone knows where to buy one online or could shed some light on the air flow mini spreader......thanks, this spreader searching has me seeing red. I also am considering the snow ex 1575 but cant find anything that says it spreads bulk and bagged material well. we dont want to have material flowing out the hopper from lot to lot.......thanks again


----------



## JeffNY (Dec 19, 2005)

what do ya want to know? Its a good salter. spreads bulk, spreads bagged. keep the chain oiled.
Air Flo's website has the dealers listed, I bought mine used on c-list.


----------



## fercho1 (Feb 9, 2011)

we run one also and so far have not had any problems


----------



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

finally got a dealer on the phone, the variable speed control was an additional 526$
unit was $2500 shipping $250

dealer agreed to the unit, with on off only and shipped to us for $2600

this sound fair?

hard to spend that kind of money on never seeing or uding one, but feel good aout what has bee said here about it....we run ice slicer and bagged rock salt, ice melter.
can have it here in 4-6 days, thought that was nice.....other spreaders we were looking at were meyer blaster, and the snow ex 575, and 1575......hoping this one is what we were looking for. Thanks guys for info, I kow everyone is busy.


----------



## JeffNY (Dec 19, 2005)

You made the right choice.


----------



## P.L. (Dec 15, 2007)

I have two and have had nothing but good luck with them. I bought them both used for under $200 and rebuilt them with new motors ect. I spread straight salt, wet sand and ice melt through them with no problem. I don't have a speed controller just an on and off switch and feel it works fine that way. In my opinion they are they best tailgate spreaders on the market. The other thing I like about them is that they are stainless steel. If something breaks it can be fixed, you can't fix broken plastic nearly as easy.


----------



## cet (Oct 2, 2004)

I have 2 of them. You will love it. Great little salter.


----------



## cj7plowing (Feb 7, 2009)

snow exs are junk all they do is swell up like a tic with rust and rot, no matter what you spray them with. I am in the market for a 6.5 stainless spreader and at the price you got I would jump on one.


----------



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

finally some good feedback, thanks guys, i appreciate vthe feedback, its hard to research all the spreaders and make a choice based off the internet without being able to see it touch it and actually ask questions to actual users of the spreader!! Thanks again, excited to get it in.


----------



## JeffNY (Dec 19, 2005)

cj7plowing;1236185 said:


> snow exs are junk all they do is swell up like a tic with rust and rot, no matter what you spray them with. I am in the market for a 6.5 stainless spreader and at the price you got I would jump on one.


AirFlo.

I've put about 8t through my new 6.5' and its been great!


----------



## mdb landscaping (Sep 29, 2000)

We have an air flo tailgate sander that we put calcium choloride pellets through for sidewalks etc. It works perfectly for spreading ice melt on our sidewalks and parking garage roofs. You just have to choke down the back door appropriately.


----------



## Cutter1 (Jul 28, 2000)

best mini out there. Bullet proof. Had about 6 over the years.


----------



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

mdb landscaping;1236382 said:


> We have an air flo tailgate sander that we put calcium choloride pellets through for sidewalks etc. It works perfectly for spreading ice melt on our sidewalks and parking garage roofs. You just have to choke down the back door appropriately.


what do you mean by "choke down the back door"

does this involve adjusting the spinner, or something with the flow of material.


----------



## mdb landscaping (Sep 29, 2000)

The back door has a set screw that allows you to raise and lower the chute door that controls the amount of material hitting the spinner. When running ice melt through, you will want to choke it down more than if you were putting sand or sand/salt through the spreader. I was fortunate enough to find our spreader on craigslist for $600.00 I dont think the guy knew what he had.


----------



## P.L. (Dec 15, 2007)

I installed mine in the back of the truck almost like a v-box, much like the one in the last pic. I made my own support coming out of the trailer hitch. It's way better than either of airflos ,mounts and most of the tailgate spreaders out there. It's up out of the way and barely sticks out past the bumper. I have a pic of it some where on here if you look.


----------



## cet (Oct 2, 2004)

P.L.;1237011 said:


> I installed mine in the back of the truck almost like a v-box, much like the one in the last pic. I made my own support coming out of the trailer hitch. It's way better than either of airflos ,mounts and most of the tailgate spreaders out there. It's up out of the way and barely sticks out past the bumper. I have a pic of it some where on here if you look.


Do you put bulk salt in the back of your truck. How do you keep it in.


----------



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

cet;1237089 said:


> Do you put bulk salt in the back of your truck. How do you keep it in.


dont know if this helps, but we usually have a few bags of ice melt for walkways, we lay the bags down to make a barrier of sorts then have the bulk salt piled up in the front of the bags.......works good, the bulk doesnt usually move but doing this makes me feel good about it in a way..


----------



## P.L. (Dec 15, 2007)

Right now I just spread bagged products, bulk rock salt and ice melt. I also use some sand and salt mix on a few properties and I keep it in 5 gallon pails. I like this set up because I only treat a few properties. Usually in a storm I go through about 15 bags of salt/ice melt and 6 pails of sand and salt, I keep about double that amount in my truck. I leave the hopper empty until I need to use it and then I fill it up on site. I like being able to choose what I spread for each site. On all of my paved (mostly small parking lots) areas I spread straight salt or ice melt and on gravel or stone areas (mostly hilly driveways) I usually spread the sand and salt for traction. If i had a large v box I would have to put down what ever was in it, I like the fact that I can mix and match. I also like the fact that I only put in what I need because at the end of the storm the hoppers empty and ready to be washed out. All the left over material in the truck is in bags or buckets and the back of the truck is clean and usually just needs to be reorganized. I plan on mounting my second unit on the back of my dump truck and figure I could just load a yard or two of sand and salt in the back with the ice melt on top and load as needed. For the accounts I have and my buisness it's a perfect spreader and I have no need for anything else.


----------



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

P.L.;1237516 said:


> Right now I just spread bagged products, bulk rock salt and ice melt. I also use some sand and salt mix on a few properties and I keep it in 5 gallon pails. I like this set up because I only treat a few properties. Usually in a storm I go through about 15 bags of salt/ice melt and 6 pails of sand and salt, I keep about double that amount in my truck. I leave the hopper empty until I need to use it and then I fill it up on site. I like being able to choose what I spread for each site. On all of my paved (mostly small parking lots) areas I spread straight salt or ice melt and on gravel or stone areas (mostly hilly driveways) I usually spread the sand and salt for traction. If i had a large v box I would have to put down what ever was in it, I like the fact that I can mix and match. I also like the fact that I only put in what I need because at the end of the storm the hoppers empty and ready to be washed out. All the left over material in the truck is in bags or buckets and the back of the truck is clean and usually just needs to be reorganized. I plan on mounting my second unit on the back of my dump truck and figure I could just load a yard or two of sand and salt in the back with the ice melt on top and load as needed. For the accounts I have and my buisness it's a perfect spreader and I have no need for anything else.


sounds like you got it down to a T......looking forward to utilizing all myproduct, and not wasting half of it down the road.....very excited to get this bad boy spreaer, just hope she lives up to my expectations, wish i could see all of them working at one time......great idea, new forum for videos of salt spreaders spreading diffrent material.......that would save alot of time for guys like me that cant talk to deaqlers directly.......all over the internet.......

snow ex forum:575:spreading bulk:wet sand:ice melter:#1 rock salt ice melt;
1075 same thing, or something along those lines, video examples of what happens when you spread this and if it flows out all the time like some of the buyers tailgate spreaders.........
325 same thing

western: pro flow
500
1000
and so on, you all get the idea.....

actual guys that own them showing what they can do, that way when they wanna see what another spreader can do they can see it instead of someone giving advice that sometimes translates into a diffrent outcome all together.......just a thought, probably too much for that to happen.


----------



## keitha (Dec 30, 2001)

Hers is an OLD post on them.
http://www.plowsite.com/showthread.php?t=69830&highlight=airflow
Depending on how you mount, may want to consider some
spinner protection.

I believe you'll be happy.

Keith


----------



## mslawns87 (Nov 15, 2011)

Im looking at buying the air flo mini. It is 2 years old and the guy is asking 2k.. what is a reasonable price?


----------



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

sorry did not see this until now, new i paid around 2500 give or take a few bucks, this spreader is what i wanted for all those years, its tuff, spreads everything, and i mean all of it, easy to use, work on, looks kool, i mean i love this spreader. depends on how old uniut is, how he cared for it, typical depreciation of equipment is on a 4 year scale, so if its 2 years old, worth maybe 1500- to whatever your qwilling to pay, its steel......again just my .02 but call a dealer, and ask what it ciosts to get one, base your offer from there.....good luck.


----------

