# Best Current V-Box Spreader



## DGODGR (Nov 30, 2008)

Hey Guys!
I'm looking at purchasing a V-box spreader. I have not yet nailed down which truck to put it on yet. I have a Dodge gas powered pick up with an empty 8' bed, I am also considering installing it in my '12 F350 SRW (8' bed but has a tank and tool box up front), or it may go on a new truck (probably an F450 w/flat bed). The product being applied will likely be 3/8" chips. This obviously a heavy product and (during my limited research) I've heard that a chain feed would be better than an auger feed. I am currently considering a Tornado or similar. I would love to hear pros and cons, user experience, and recommendations with these types of spreaders. I have done some searching but not much info is recent.
Thanks!


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## DGODGR (Nov 30, 2008)

I would also add that I will likely only be applying 30-40 tons a season right now.


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## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

Get the chain in whatever set up you decide to go with


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Haven't used the Striker much, but it seems to be a decent spreader if you want a cup of coffee or sandwich while emptying it.

@Mr.Markus @SHAWZER

I'll second or third the conveyor setup. Something to do with my short, one and only experience with an auger feed being an absolute nightmare.


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## GMC Driver (Sep 9, 2005)

I've heard good things about the Striker/Fisher unit as well. Our last 2 came from EquiFab - both are 8' dual electric units that are working out well. We've also had good success with DownEaster products.

With a heavy product, is hydraulic driven an option? With the limited experience we've had with a hydraulic driven spreader, it is far superior in performance than the electric, especially with wet or heavy materials.


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

My striker has been good, no issues in its third season. Keep up on the greasing ,chain lube , and electric connections and itll do what you want it to do. Last year i did 160 tonne of salt and 90 tonne of sand with one.


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## Ajlawn1 (Aug 20, 2009)

Tornadoes have been good to us so far... They are pintle chain and put out plenty of salt with feed gate barely open... Hence keeping it ethical.

If you're not planning to run any sand a auger is fine... The auger is also a little easier as far as maintenance, less moving parts, no chain to keep lubed in off season etc...


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

GMC Driver said:


> With a heavy product, is hydraulic driven an option? With the limited experience we've had with a hydraulic driven spreader, it is far superior in performance than the electric, especially with wet or heavy materials.


Music to my ears...


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Ajlawn1 said:


> Tornadoes have been good to us so far... They are pintle chain and put out plenty of salt with feed gate barely open... Hence keeping it ethical.


Wow....that's like triple points...hence and ethical in one sentence.

We shirley have a different definition of "plenty".


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## Ajlawn1 (Aug 20, 2009)

Mark Oomkes said:


> Wow....that's like triple points...hence and ethical in one sentence.
> 
> We shirley have a different definition of "plenty".


I know...

Me...










Ewe...


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

I don't see the issue. Pavement is dry, it appears to be below freezing...salt away!


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## DGODGR (Nov 30, 2008)

Thanks for the input guys. I am hearing a lot about salt and sand. My application will be for steep/shady/icy sections of gravel roads. I will be putting down rock chips or crusher fines (even smaller rock chips). Crusher fines is the closest thing we have to sand (w/o paying $30/ton). Does anybody have any experience with casting this type of product? Will the poly units have trouble handling it?


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

While i dont think that youre going to see significant wear from 30 ton a season, poly wouldnt be my first choice for chips,gravel , etc. It will most likely gouge the poly pretty good over time.


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## FredG (Oct 15, 2012)

You don't want poly using aggregates stone dust etc. I never had a auger so can't really say accept most not liking them. I only pay $12.00 a ton for stone dust. In this neck of the woods we use Smith or Air flow spreaders.


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## FourDiamond (Nov 23, 2011)

We have Strikers and Tornadoes, I think the Strikers are a much better product.


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## Ajlawn1 (Aug 20, 2009)

FourDiamond said:


> We have Strikers and Tornadoes, I think the Strikers are a much better product.


What's the difference other then SS and poly?


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## FourDiamond (Nov 23, 2011)

The strikers are direct drive motors for chain and spinner, and they are very easy to clean-out. The Tornadoes have a chain from the motor to a drive pulley . Also the Tornadoes have a sloped screen so the large pieces tend to migrate down to the hinged lids, so to close the lids you need to crawl on top. The Striker has a flat screen so you can tarp the loader even with chunks on the screen, Also the Tornado lids are way too heavy. Much easier to tarp the striker. That's my opinion anyway. But for certain the two are completely different products.


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## JMHConstruction (Aug 22, 2011)

I helped a friend install his new striker, and was impressed with it. And western puts their module vertical (hint, hint BOSS!). Everything is very easy to get to, grease fittings are easily accessible, and the accessory box keeps all extra wiring for lights or whatever very clean.


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## Ajlawn1 (Aug 20, 2009)

FourDiamond said:


> The strikers are direct drive motors for chain and spinner, and they are very easy to clean-out. The Tornadoes have a chain from the motor to a drive pulley . Also the Tornadoes have a sloped screen so the large pieces tend to migrate down to the hinged lids, so to close the lids you need to crawl on top. The Striker has a flat screen so you can tarp the loader even with chunks on the screen, Also the Tornado lids are way too heavy. Much easier to tarp the striker. That's my opinion anyway. But for certain the two are completely different products.


New Tornado's are direct drive feed chain... And actually the sloped top makes it alot nicer compared to flat top due to shedding the chunks away vs. resting on top. I've had VBX and Salt Mutts get so full of chunks they would not load anymore without cleaning the grates off... This is a huge plus in my opinion...

As for the lids they are actually better for keeping material out of the beds upon overloading and spilling... I cannot remember the last time we've tarped or closed the lids... Haven't had a Striker so was curious the big difference...


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## Mr.Markus (Jan 7, 2010)

Another difference is in the shute design. 
The tornado flow hits an open spinner, the striker spinner is enclosed and can jam on chunks that make it past the gate. Not a big deal if you have good material.


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## DeVries (Nov 27, 2007)

Our Strikers have been great. We had the hopper on our Boss replaced after the first season under warrenty, the poly cracked. This season it seems as if the legs on it shrunk as it doesnt fit in the metal frame that bolts to the truck like it did in past years.
My vote would be a chain drive stainless salter thats been on the market for at least 3 years.


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## Triple L (Nov 1, 2005)

Strikers are belt drive spinner just to correct everyone...

They are good but spread width is pitiful compared to a boss vbx... Best spreader hands down but reliability leaves lots to be desired


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## Ajlawn1 (Aug 20, 2009)

Triple L said:


> Strikers are belt drive spinner just to correct everyone...
> 
> They are good but spread width is pitiful compared to a boss vbx... Best spreader hands down but reliability leaves lots to be desired


I think @FourDiamond was only one that said they were direct drive on the spinner... Tornado's are also belt driven on the spinner. So in a nutshell it's SS vs. poly with Strikers and Tornado's...


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## Fourteen Contracting Inc. (Jul 5, 2019)

Ajlawn1 said:


> I know...
> 
> Me...
> 
> ...


Is this in Vancouver?


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## tpendagast (Oct 27, 2012)

DGODGR said:


> Thanks for the input guys. I am hearing a lot about salt and sand. My application will be for steep/shady/icy sections of gravel roads. I will be putting down rock chips or crusher fines (even smaller rock chips). Crusher fines is the closest thing we have to sand (w/o paying $30/ton). Does anybody have any experience with casting this type of product? Will the poly units have trouble handling it?


What you're talking about is common/standard in Alaska (pea gravel or what we call f chip)

torwell sander/spreaders handle this product the best 
But we do see a fair number of tornados and they do fairly well

the auger feeds will get bound up and bend as the chip rock holds enough moisture to freeze below 20 f

remember to either treat with brine at 5 gallons per ton 
Or add in bags of rock salt to make sure the chip Rock will stay flowable and not bust your pintle chain or auger


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## grnleafgrnscape (Nov 30, 2013)

Love my hiniker vboxes. Very well made and very reliable. Had one going on 4th winter and other is on its 2nd. 
Both are augers and and can dump just about as much as I could with gas motors and pintle chain vbox soreaders


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## Tberrylawn (Jan 15, 2016)

I've been running a boss vbx 8000 been a great Salter with only one minor break down in 6 years. This year I added a second Salter, that is a torwell. reason I went with it was the price found a dealer who was just trying to unload them. Picked up a brand new 6 ft poly unit for $1600 (I'd love to know the actual retail price of this unit, I gotta believe its north of 4k). I have came to love the torwell. It moves so much material it's crazy. I'd highly recommend looking into the torwell salt spreaders.


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## m_ice (Aug 12, 2012)

grnleafgrnscape said:


> Both are augers and and can dump just about as much as I could with gas motors and pintle chain vbox soreaders


I'll believe this when me **** turns purple n smells like rainbow sherbet


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## tpendagast (Oct 27, 2012)

Tberrylawn said:


> I've been running a boss vbx 8000 been a great Salter with only one minor break down in 6 years. This year I added a second Salter, that is a torwell. reason I went with it was the price found a dealer who was just trying to unload them. Picked up a brand new 6 ft poly unit for $1600 (I'd love to know the actual retail price of this unit, I gotta believe its north of 4k). I have came to love the torwell. It moves so much material it's crazy. I'd highly recommend looking into the torwell salt spreaders.


Did you get stainless or poly 
They discounted the poly for lack of interest


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## Tberrylawn (Jan 15, 2016)

tpendagast said:


> Did you get stainless or poly
> They discounted the poly for lack of interest


My unit Is poly. How eve I am pretty sure they have stainless out agai . I could be wrong.


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## Indycorp (Oct 24, 2015)

Check out Sonnysdirect.com It is a carwash supply. Most of the chains that the spreaders us is used in carwashes. It is D88K. Much cheaper than buying oem parts.


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## Gr8WhiteNorth (Sep 27, 2007)

We have two stainless steel Salt Doggs by Buyers. Electric power with a pintle chain conveyor. One is three years old and one is about 8 years old. Still going strong, but we maintain them and replace parts as necessary. We use them almost daily every winter. We put down anything from straight salt to wet or dry sand/salt mix. 

I had bought a poly Western Tornado before the second salt Dogg because of the lower price, but got rid of it after the two months. The poly was separating at the top Where you feed it. The outer layer was separating from the inner layer. The manufacturer wouldn’t step up to replace it and told us the unit performance wasn’t impeded by this issue. My view was that material was going to continually fall into the gap and spread it further apart. I didn’t want to be driving around with an extra 3-400 lbs of material trapped in the sides of the unit and have the sides eventually fail as they spread further apart the more material fell in.


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## tpendagast (Oct 27, 2012)

Tberrylawn said:


> My unit Is poly. How eve I am pretty sure they have stainless out agai . I could be wrong.


They do
They're discontinuing the poly only


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## Kvston (Nov 30, 2019)

I've run fisher and air flo stainless gas powered v box. Fisher pro caster [no longer made] was belt drive. It was nice that it wouldn't snap a chain, just burn a belt. Less shock too. Durable setup.

Air Flo has been good. Second season. If the chain is too loose, it will break shear pins. Both units have spread whatever we load them with including straight sand [coarse]. They would both spread the material you suggested. For my money I'd look into downeaster, fisher steel caster or air flo.


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## Rook (Nov 29, 2019)

Gr8WhiteNorth said:


> We have two stainless steel Salt Doggs by Buyers. Electric power with a pintle chain conveyor. One is three years old and one is about 8 years old. Still going strong, but we maintain them and replace parts as necessary. We use them almost daily every winter. We put down anything from straight salt to wet or dry sand/salt mix.
> 
> I had bought a poly Western Tornado before the second salt Dogg because of the lower price, but got rid of it after the two months. The poly was separating at the top Where you feed it. The outer layer was separating from the inner layer. The manufacturer wouldn't step up to replace it and told us the unit performance wasn't impeded by this issue. My view was that material was going to continually fall into the gap and spread it further apart. I didn't want to be driving around with an extra 3-400 lbs of material trapped in the sides of the unit and have the sides eventually fail as they spread further apart the more material fell in.


Harbour freight > DD poly Salters? Lol


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## chachi1984 (Feb 10, 2012)

We had an older chain conveyor salter work well when it was but has a lot of issues. Once they get old there’s a lot of moving parts that need fixing and adjusting. If your buying new then they’re great. Once they get older the problems start. 
The last 3-4 years we have used snowex 8500 and 7550. The 8500 never has a problem. The 7550 does get auger Jams. Also the switches on the controllers seem to go bad. 
The newer gen2 are probably a lot better


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## Rook (Nov 29, 2019)

chachi1984 said:


> We had an older chain conveyor salter work well when it was but has a lot of issues. Once they get old there's a lot of moving parts that need fixing and adjusting. If your buying new then they're great. Once they get older the problems start.
> The last 3-4 years we have used snowex 8500 and 7550. The 8500 never has a problem. The 7550 does get auger Jams. Also the switches on the controllers seem to go bad.
> The newer gen2 are probably a lot better


Which conveyor one r u referring to?


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## snowgraves (Oct 5, 2019)

Anyone else have any reviews of the hinikers? Choosing between a hiniker and a striker.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Still can't believe I'm saying this...but the Striker is s good spreader...for an electric.


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## chachi1984 (Feb 10, 2012)

Rook said:


> Which conveyor one r u referring to?


Hiway model p


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## grnleafgrnscape (Nov 30, 2013)

I have 2 himiker 775's. One 3 years old, other 2, run about 300-350 ton a year thru the 2. They have been flawless. They ar built by farme s. Wiring is heavier, spreaders are overbuilt compared to boss or western. And best part is the computer brain box is built into the controller as to boss and western mounting them on outside on spreader. 
Drawback is controller on a hiniker is way larger than boss or western.
Hiniker comes standard with vibrator, boss Forge can't get a vibrator on it and not sure about western.
I am ordering a 3rd hiniker. No way in he l l I'd ever buy anything d d


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## 97BlackDiesel (Dec 2, 2016)

I’ve got a harbor freight Pintle chain electric motor. Lots of guys around here have them. Dealer is close by. Bigger outfit runs the auger pros and told me they replace the motor every year.


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## cjames808 (Dec 18, 2015)

Our tornados have been trouble free. Heavy covers.


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## sven1277 (Jan 15, 2008)

FourDiamond said:


> The strikers are direct drive motors for chain and spinner, and they are very easy to clean-out. The Tornadoes have a chain from the motor to a drive pulley . Also the Tornadoes have a sloped screen so the large pieces tend to migrate down to the hinged lids, so to close the lids you need to crawl on top. The Striker has a flat screen so you can tarp the loader even with chunks on the screen, Also the Tornado lids are way too heavy. Much easier to tarp the striker. That's my opinion anyway. But for certain the two are completely different products.


 I agree with everything said above. We have both styles and I also prefer the steel caster to the poly caster.


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Makes me glad the poly wouldn't fit in my service truck and I ended up with the Striker.


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## Ajlawn1 (Aug 20, 2009)

Mark Oomkes said:


> Makes me glad the poly wouldn't fit in my service truck and I ended up with the Striker.


Why?


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## Mark Oomkes (Dec 10, 2000)

Ajlawn1 said:


> Why?


He's in left field.


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