Driveway Sanding - West Alton

[fatlazyless]

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!

[Major]

. . . 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.

[fatlazyless]

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!

[DickR]

Originally Posted by fatlazyless

......
Me ..... 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 ......

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.