Poor Mans 3pt salt spreader

[tcrote5516]

Hello all, just put up a video of a salt spreader I made to mount on my BX's 3pt blade. Works GREAT! Now I can snowblow then scrape the driveway clean and then salt it without ever leaving the comfort of my heated cab.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNCJ589kUAc&t=25s

 

[RCW]

Tom - great idea!

2 stupid questions:

You welded the spreader directly to the plow? Hard to tell in your video, but it gave you all the clearances you needed. I've never tried welding that tubular stuff before.

Where did you get the project box for the switches? I struggled trying to find something to put my ROPS LED switch in.....and I don't buy stuff online much...is there something like that at a store?

Ingenious project, and thanks for sharing!

 

[85Hokie]

F'n genius!

Beats the hell out of $1,000! And since you know ever nook and cranny - anything that pops up and needs to be fixed, you will be able to quickly!

Excellent job!

 

[jmf78]

That is awesome! Dang you've got some fast moving hands. Entire build took less than 15 minutes. Lol

Sent from my SM-N920V using Tapatalk

 

[tcrote5516]

Yea, not bad for a 15 min project Thank you all for the support!

RCW those are not stupid questions, Yes I welded it directly to the frame of the blade only because the only time the blade is on the tractor is in the winter for snow removal. I thought about welding a trailer receiver to the top of the blade frame and a hitch on the sander but that would have doubled the cost ($40 hahaha). In the end I really don't need to remove it so I just made it permanent.

I'm really lucky to have a surplus electronics/robotic/pneumatic/heavy industrial, literally anything you can imagine store just a few minutes away. The place is located next to a big industrial park and they buy out everything from the business there when they shut down or upgrade equipment. It's a very cool place. I've bought other ones online because since RadioShack shut down there's no place to find little stuff like that anymore.

 

[bgk]

Nice work!

 

[Tooljunkie]

Genius.
Redbeckery at its finest.
Safety squints-AVE strikes again!!
Everybody is a fan.
Dont know how long the pdl motor will last, but it seems to work.
Electromagnet, needs some jiggery pokery and a fuel cutoff solenoid..

 

[bearbait]

Great job!

 

[skeets]

I have one problem,,, How can you work in that garage??? Aint a darn thing out of place no grease/oil dirt on the floor,,, I just dont understand...
lol really a nice little mod and its not something just about any one couldnt do,, ya done good

 

[tcrote5516]

Tooljunkie, YES AVE STRIKES AGAIN. I've watched every video he has and it's really hard not to let his little sayings sneak into my videos. That guy kills me with his commentary.

I try hard to keep my garage organized mostly because it needs to be about 5 times bigger than it is. The more organized I can keep it the more floor space I have to build more halfassery inventions

 

[RCW]

In the end I really don't need to remove it so I just made it permanent.

I've bought other ones online because since RadioShack shut down there's no place to find little stuff like that anymore.

Cool - thanks!

Never thought of welding that kind of material - good to know it works!

After watching your video, I did a quick Google search for Project Box, and saw several references to RadioShack.....

 

[D2Cat]

You can weld pretty thin metal if it is clean and you have a wire welder!

 

[RCW]

You can weld pretty thin metal if it is clean and you have a wire welder!

Yeah 'Cat -- still learning the capabilities of my Lincoln MP210, and love it. Daren Todd has given me pointers several times. I think the gun/torch is right-handed...and I'm a lefty....

Not to highjack Tom's thread, but have a project in mind for a small (16" x 24" x 5") sap pan for maple, but I don't think I'm ready for 22 gauge stainless yet! (Thinking I would use 18 ga when I tackle it - betting I'd burn through 22 or 24 pretty quick!)

Also, may need to use the stick function for some 1/2" stuff for my '53 Minneapolis Moline-- looking forward to that!

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.....

 

[tcrote5516]

No worries about hijacking, I don't take life that seriously The Lincoln 210 is a nice machine. I only have the Lincoln 140HD but I've had it for about 9 years and it's been awesome. Not a single problem.

The tricky part welding something like this thin wall tubing to the 3/8" steel is obviously you need a lot of heat to melt into the 3/8" but that same heat will burn right through the thin wall. I set my amperage based on the heavier material and I build a puddle on the heavy material and let it come up and touch the thinner material. Without putting the tip on the thin metal the hot puddle will make a nice weld and not burn through.

I've welded 22 gauge and it's a serious pain with a MIG but it can be done. Quick tap....quick tap, burn a hole, crap, quick tap to refill the hole and the cycle repeats and repeats....

Oh and if you noticed my whole cab is made of thin wall tubing built with the Lincoln. It's 18 gauge cold rolled if I remember correctly.

 

[asgard]

Just "Skookum".

Can I suggest a small waterproof hat for the salt/sand bin?

If the mix is the slightest wet/damp it is a son of a diddly.

I bought a cheap 80lb tow behind spreader last year and tried standard tires, tires from a snowblower and they all skidded and gave no rotatory drive - less than impressive, this is the way to go- let the pixies do the work.

AvE top of my subscribe list.

 

[Yooper]

Yeah 'Cat -- still learning the capabilities of my Lincoln MP210, and love it. Daren Todd has given me pointers several times. I think the gun/torch is right-handed...and I'm a lefty....

Not to highjack Tom's thread, but have a project in mind for a small (16" x 24" x 5") sap pan for maple, but I don't think I'm ready for 22 gauge stainless yet! (Thinking I would use 18 ga when I tackle it - betting I'd burn through 22 or 24 pretty quick!)

Also, may need to use the stick function for some 1/2" stuff for my '53 Minneapolis Moline-- looking forward to that!

Back to your regularly scheduled programming.....

Since tcrote will tolerate a bit of a hijack I'll add this to your syrup pan: 22 ga is way to thin if you are going to use open flame to boil the sap. I've made many sap pans and the thinnest I would go would be 16 ga (.060). 11 ga (.120) is my preference x 304 stainless. I tig weld them with 308L filler rod. Thanks tcrote for allowing this sidebar and congratulations on a fine build! Your method for welding thin to thick is spot on!

 

[jmusits]

Any tips on getting the sand salt mix not to bind up in the bin? My sander seems to open up a little cavern around the agitator causing lack of flow. Granted the material I get from the highway department isn’t exactly moisture free.

 

[Tooljunkie]

Old job. Task of the salted sand spreader.
The easy answer is no. A rod to agitate sand needs considerable power.
There is some formula to reduce bridging.
High speed motor with a weight to create a vibration.
A recliner with the vibration feature runs on 12 volts
I have one i use for screening my dusty wood pellets.
To go with a fan motor, a variable speed controller and an adjustable weight to finde the correct frequency/oscillation to optimize performance.

Been tossing around ideas for my wood chip hopper for the pellet mill.

If you placed a 10” cylinder over the rotary part in the hopper and fill it, likely it wont bridge. But capacity is reduced.

 

[BXHoosier]

Nice spreader!
I built one similar from a pull behind spreader and made it with a sleeve hitch to attach to my Cub Cadets. Mine uses a motor and gearbox from a cordless drill. It’s on it’s second motor setup since the first was mounted underneath and the mixture of salt and water siezed the gears. I made a shield from the bottom of a bucket to keep salt off the back of the tractor. It works great for spreading grass seed and fertilizer as well.

 

[PHPaul]

Pure Genius!

Nothing I love more than making something useful out of stuff I have laying around anyway.

Don't need a salt spreader (gravel drive...) but I'd think that would work just as well for spreading seed/lime/fertilizer. Pelletized lime to avoid bridging I expect, but still...

And I happen to have a seldom-used hopper/spreader hanging on the wall of my toolshed...