I've been out of the snow belt for a while, but I do remember winters that ice melt was nowhere to be found. We sold lawn fertilizer which worked pretty well as long as it didn't get super cold before the walks could evaporate. Was it the stuff high in potassium or phosphorus that did the trick, I don't recall. It had to better for the vegetation than the various salts. Of course it is the expensive ice melts that flow well rather than the rock salt. Do you think adding studs to the spreader tires would help? The guys who had to rely on the spreaders bought stainless models and some of those were better than others for sure.

Tom, thanks for the response. I've tried fert. 12-12-12 and 19-19-19 which I had in the barn during a "lack" of ice melt and they work OK, PROVIDED it's not too cold. If it's really cold, below freezing, they just sit on the surface. Probably provides better traction due to the consistency, but have to wait for a sunny day. The drop spreader works fine, puts it right where I want it. Considered adding studs or drilling some holes in the wheel rims and wrapping chain around, but would tend to overspread on the grass. Also, the particle size would be the same requiring the rotary gate having to be opened wider, same situation but bigger mess.

What I have works, so maybe that's that. Wonder if the folks who manufacture the ice melt intentionally leave large granules requiring larger gate openings thereby more product is used/sold?

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/2014/02/best-ice-melts/index.htm?loginMethod=auto

thanks Ridgerunner, good info.

tom, been thinking about fert. as an ice melter, in the "old days" you bought fert. and that's what you got. Now, it seems to be all pelletized with the active chemicals encased in an inert material which needs water to soak in and provide a slow release. That would explain why I found it kind of useless, no moisture to start that process until the thaw starts. As fert. is sold by the pound, wonder if the inert material is cheaper than the actual chemicals? :-)

Where I live, we usually get one bad ice storm in early spring, limbs come down, power loss, etc. My driveway is about 1800 feet with the last 800 going down a moderate hill ending at the county highway. County salts heavily, I don't, so have had some interesting experiences sliding into the road, thankfully no oncoming traffic.

Guess I'll just stay with my proven though overkill method.

The coating is either sulfur or a polymer. In all the cases that I am aware of, it's only the Nitrogen component that will be coated to make for a slow release Nitrogen fertilizer. The coating is removed by the action of microbes or weathering (water, air or light) or a combination of those processes. Most triple NPK fertilizers are uncoated. The potassium component in most combination fertilizers is almost always potassium chloride (cheaper than potassium sulfate). The ability of any substance to perform as an ice melt is related to it's ability to attract water from the surface of the ice and/or the atmosphere and whether the substance is endo or exothermic. That is whether it needs to attract heat to dissolve or creates its own heat when dissolving.

Of all the chemicals available to us, calcium chloride is the best in both effectiveness and cost. It attracts moisture and is exothermic.

Here is another link:

http://oxycalciumchloride.com/sidewalk-ice-melting/effective-ice-melting/how-to-melt-ice-effectively/choosing-the-right-deicer

Hope this helps clarify the whole kit and caboodle.

Ridgerunner, yes, that clarified things, discovered I can't buy calcium chloride locally, at least in the small quantity I want. e.g. walmart sells it online for a decent price for a 50lb. container, then the shipping was ridiculous. So, looks like Morton Saf-T-Salt which everyone around here has. Small town, four traffic lights. :-)

Thanks again,

I thought I'd pass it on as I did the research when I tried to use triple 19 and then 46-0-0 urea and neither worked very well, but I thought the "science" was kind of interesting. I can get urea cheap here at a feed and seed but the only calcium chloride they carry is in liquid form and rather large quantities and I don't have a pull behind sprayer. Your most welcome btw.

I have the Brinly 125 lb tow behind spreader and it is rated to be able to use rock salt, This is my first year and haven't used it on snow/ice yet. It has 13X5.00-6 pneumatic tires, if they slip I was hoping to get chains for it. I only need a chain on one wheel which drives the impeller. Can't find anyone that sells a single tire chain. But for a pair is only about $25 so I could keep one as backup for when I wear one out:) Nice thing is they have chains for that size tire.

Tom, you probably know more about "rear axles" than I do, but I've noticed that even on "ground powered" farm equipment, only one wheel drives, e.g. the elevator in the old pull behind corn pickers. I sort of thought it had to do with turning and the outside wheel turns more than the inside creating too much opposing torque in the gearing.

On my Brinly spreader the axle shaft is one piece from wheel to wheel. The drive wheel is connected to the axle with a hairpin clip, It would be easy to just drill a hole in the axle on the other side and add a pin. I could then remove that pin for non ice duty. Only problem would be on turns one of the wheels would need to skid because of the difference in speed from one to the other, no problem for the gear box which works off the center of the axle,

Just went to the orange big box store - only thing they had was Roadrunner ice melt. Looks like it will work great in a spreader - picture attached. Size of granules does vary, but may be ok. Price not bad $12 for 40 lbs Here is the write up

a blend of calcium chloride, with magnesium chloride added to speed the melting of ice and snow. It is safe to use around vegetation when applied according to directions. More efficient than rock salt.

I remember years back locking both wheels for the commercial guys for better traction. The wheels when on ice need all the help they can get. Back then , the guy that used the basic spreader and left product in had an axle that was rusted to the bushing and wouldn't turn. The second time they replaced them, they spent the $$ for the proper salt capable spreaders.

Crazy in Alabama, but I want to try sugar the next ice storm we have. Then see if it helps the yard afterward.

In reading this thread I cringe at the though of what people are putting on there cement driveways. Many salts like Sodium Chloride, Magnesium Chloride, Calcium Chloride, and similar material will slowly destroy your cement.

When I have to use something on my drive way, I always used sawdust. It is dark in color so absorbs the heat from the sun, and provides traction on the ice. It was easy to come by as I am a wood worker and there was no negative effects on the drive way.

The ultimate solution is what I did; move from Indianapolis to the Piedmont region east of Raleigh NC. ;-)