# Liquid de-icer,, cost and type also freeze point??



## lee157 (Dec 4, 2003)

I am looking at building a spray rig for ice pre treatment.

I have read some of these liquids can freeze in concentrated form,,, Can you cut them with water to avoid this???

If so does it spray better??

How do you buy it,,,,,, gallon jugs, 5 gallon buckets, barrels???

Who has best pricing?

Can you make your own from pellets?

What works best for pre treatment????


YES I KNOW LOTS OF QUESTIONS,,,,,

Should keep the thread busy though and help everyone out.

Lee


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## Chip Ice (Dec 13, 2005)

*some info*

We buy ours in 50 gallon plastic drums in liquid form. We don't dilute it and the instructions say DO NOT dilute it. I can't imagine the stuff we use ever freezing solid, but if it was going to it would have to be -50 F. It is flammable if that makes any difference to your proposed rig.

The ratio of the stuff is 65% glycol 34% water and 1% 'other gunk'.

What we buy is actually specced as Type IV Propylene Glycol Anti-Icing Fluid for Aircraft. It's the stuff that is heated and then sprayed on aircraft, but we don't heat it first and it works great. The only trick is, if you spray an area that is bordered by snow or ice, and you overspray into the snow or ice... then you are going to have problems. The snow and ice at the borders will melt and dilute your sprayed antifreeze more and more until you hit that point where it's all going to freeze solid unless you remove it first.

There is also a product called Geomelt which is made from corn by-products which is supposed to work similarly.

If you are starting small and don't want to buy 50 gallon drums, google up this stuff called IceClear. It's a little pricey but it works well and tracks less than the green stuff we use. Also I'm guessing you can smoke around it without going up like a human torch.

Almost forgot a VERY IMPORTANT CAUTION: you need to know if the liquid you are using is poisonous to animals and find out if there are going to be animals present at the site! Most of the same rules apply to some of these De-icing/Anti-icing liquids as to automobile antifreeze, so check all the labeling on what you buy. It should tell you whether or not it's going to seem 'sweet' to animals. Please don't poison anyone's dog or cat!


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## Chip Ice (Dec 13, 2005)

*some info*

If you do have pets around in your work area, you might have to use something like StormTeam from Interstate Products. I'm not trying to plug the stuff 'cause I have never used it, but they claim it is extremely non-corrosive and non-toxic. Unfortunately, FWIS this usually means 'non-effective' also but you'll have to let us all know on that.


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## RHarrah (Sep 3, 2005)

Let me ad to the build your own sprayer questions while the thread’s here.

How can the flow of the liquid be control from the cab without incurring a major expense?

I plan to use a boom in the receiver hitch. I though of rigging the boom where it could have both fan & stream nozzles that would operate independent of each other (possibly just rotate the boom to whichever pattern I need and secure it in place). Is there a spray nozzle characteristic that I should be concerned about other than fan or stream spray patterns?

What pressure does one normally apply the liquids at?


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## foggyjr5 (Nov 15, 2005)

*Liquid Ice Melt*

The stuff that i can get is $522.50 for a 55 gal drum. That comes out to $9.50 a gallon. This stuff doesn't freeze until -85F. The company that i get it from also sells it in a 5 gal bucket but that runs a little bit more.


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## szorno (Jan 3, 2002)

Lee157,
You can use an ag spray system just fine. There are other posts on that topic. Just do a search. I would suggest that you look into either Caliber, Magic liquid, or straight mag chloride. Caliber & magic ocme as a ready to spray liquid. I buy Caliber 4000 gallons at a time and get a real good price break. Around $1 per gallon delivered. But I have 2 yard tanks to do it, and they cost. If your ag sprayer has an agitate system, you can buy straight mag chloride in a flake form, and mix it yourself. That also saves a bunch of money. I don't have any way to agitate, so it wasn't an option for me. Email me if you want a dealer name for the dry stuff.


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## dubeb31 (Feb 14, 2005)

i know we get liquid magic and for about 300 gal. its like 6-700 bucks...next year we're setting up a 2000 gallon tank on our property and getting it delivered directly. it's going to cost bout 7-8k when said and done but it will save the drive to go pick it up...magic is also great for sand treatment, just spray your sand and mix, works better than sand w/ salt mix...we use a turbo turf setup...reallt meant for hydroseed but works perfectly


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## sonjaab (Jul 29, 2001)

BTW...........Magic liquid is totally non toxic.................
Made from brewing by products................
Won't kill/burn plants or grass either.

Check out http://www.magicsalt.com for info.


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## RacerBren (Nov 6, 2005)

I think they changed the site to www.magicsalt.info..


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## Mark Witcher (Feb 21, 2004)

I use Mag-chloride. Its in bulk. Delivered to me is 75 cents a gallon. I use about 150 gallons to treat a Wal-Mart super center. Driveways only, not where the cars park. Most people use a boom with straight stream nozzles ,spacing at 6 or 8 inches.
No this stuff doesnt freeze. Its very simular to what is put in tractor tires.
You can use a poly or stainless tank. No steel should be used in any part of your spray system.


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## "MR.PLOW" (Feb 15, 2005)

*Salt Brine*

Where I work we make salt brine and spray it on the road surface before the precipitation starts. It costs about 0.0011 cents per liter to make. Now i tried to explain this before and dia a poor job of it. We have a special tank to make it, but I spose u could rig something up yourself. I supplied a pic of what we use. Now as far as the right mixture. We use 21% to 23% salt brine. Works well to -8C (17F).We use it to prewet the salt coming out of the shoots onto the spinners and use it as a de-icing agent before snow and ice. www.varitech-industries.com

Good Luck and Happy Plowing


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