Driveway Sanding - West Alton
 

We have a long (600') uphill driveway in West Alton. We are looking for someone fairly local that could sand the drive on request.

Normally one would have someone both plow and sand. Our drive can't be plowed from the street up unless it is a very minor snow event. So I have to clear the snow myself from top down with the tractor and PTO snowblower. I don't have a sander so spreading sand is a matter of a few pails in the tractor bucket and using a shovel to fling it as my wife drives the tractor. If the entire drive needs sand then that is quite a project.

Pretty sure Rubin at Trustworthy Hardware will sand as needed or at least hook you up with someone that will. He's a great guy and great resource for all things homeowner. My neighbor has a large tow behind, fertilizer spreader type sander that he tows behind his four wheeler. I'm sure you can find something like that online or at Tractor Supply or Northern Tool. Good luck!

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Dont know what your setup looks like but a drop or broadcast spreader pulled behind your tractor could fit the bill. There are all kinds. Google sand spreaders for tractors.

There is quite a bit of uphill from the street with the last 200' being an 11% grade and a 70 degree turn just prior to the last 200'. The real issue is rain on hard packed snow then a freeze resulting in glare ice. I have chains on all 4 wheels of the tractor to get down the pitch but a pull behind sander might not have enough traction on ice to drive the spreader.

I have looked at PTO driven 3PH spreaders and that is an option. I would have to alternate between the rear mount blower and sander. As the real need is only a few times a winter I am hoping to find someone to sand. They would have to back up with the sander running. If not then I'll consider the PTO driven sander.

BTW I no longer have the plow truck shown in the photo, sold it after I got the rear blower.

Since you have a rear mount blower I thought there might be a bucket mount spreader but I dont see much at all. Too bad yours was not a front mount as there are numerous rear mount solutions. This morning must be one of those icey days you just posted about.:eek:

Last one from me. There are tailgate spreaders that mount to a 2" receiver hitch. A receiver could be mounted somehow on your bucket. FWIW

.... ye olde sand man?
 

Back around 1971, I can recall following a large dump truck up Rt 49 to go skiing, and there was some old guy in the back of the dump truck using a shovel to toss sand out the back, over the big tailgate, and onto the road. The truck had a big plow out front and the dumper bed was enclosed with a canvas top probably to keep the sand dry, and under the canvas this old guy was all waving and smiles to other cars like he was goofy or something, while he shoveled the sand out over the tailgate that was set at about 45-degrees ... it was a rural NH item ....say, would you just look at this ....is he drunk ..... or what?

This is true .... this really happened ....ayuh .... a would-be photoscenic NH postcard classic?

That's what you need, someone standing in the back of your pickup with a shovel and a good attitude ..... to get it done ... someone losing their mind to dementia or something!

Me ..... after many years of sanding experience ....along the walkways in my mega million dollar waterfront estate .....I use a very large, red, plastic funnel for a hand held spreader, a 5-gal bucket for positioning, and the $3.25/50-lb bags of all purpose sand .... is important to keep your sand dry ..... and you just shake it around ..... out the skinny funnel bottom .... as you go ...

What's really key to making this work good is using a red funnel ....it has to be the color red ....something about a large red funnel for spreading sand .... is a match that just works correct ....take my word ...I know about things like this ......make it a large, RED funnel ....you got that ...... color it red! It wants to be a big red funnel for spreading sand around the walkway and driveway area. Red will work the best!

If you live in Laconia . . .
 

. . . you can get free sand.

Public Sand Pile

There is a sand pile available for public use behind the Public Works garage at 257 Messer Street. Residents are limited to taking 2 five-gallon buckets at a time. The City does not provide salt to residents.

Ya know the problemo with that freebie town sand is usually that it's brown with a lot of organic material that holds moisture and freezes, as opposed to the store bought 50-lb bags of dry white sand, that's full of tiny little traction pebbles .... that really has an edge for gripping/melting into the ice.

If you want the good stuff, it's gotta be the sand you buy in a 50 or 70-lb bag. That free sand just ain't so good? It gets all clumpy and don't shake out. Most winters use me about three bags..... so far, this is a 1 3/4 bag winter!

Yes, that would be an easy retrofit, bolt a 2" receiver to your bucket and send 12VDC up front!

Alton has a free sand pile as well, limit 2 buckets however most that pick-up sand can't count very well:)

While at the sand pile a while ago I talked to a guy that had a receiver hitch spreader on the back of his truck. As I have a Tundra with towing package I asked him about it. He said that you can't use the sand that we were loading into our buckets. The 12V drive motor is not powerful enough. You have to use the tubes of dry sand that you can buy at Lowe's. At least that was his experience.

Thanks for the suggestions.

There is a large level paved area next door to me. It collects a fair amount of sand that the town puts down over the winter. In the spring, I wait for a few days of sunny weather to dry it out thoroughly, then sweep up a lot of it with a stiff-bristle push broom, shovel it into the yard cart, and transfer it to a 30-gallon barrel I keep in the garage. That way it stays dry and easily spread as needed during the winter. Now, inspired by FLL's thrifty philosophy on things, I'm wondering if I can sweep it up again after using it, return it to the town, and get a refund of, umm, taxes?? Would I need a receipt for the sand? Hmmm.