hurray for skids!

[taylor6400]

Wait a second...you telling me instead of using salt you use the ashes? If that really does work, I might have to send you a gift...thats an incredible idea!

I have a semi sloped driveway and the ice that forms is crazy. I try to use my ashes in my veggie garden but threw out a lot....

It works...Guaranteed! Lets talk about that gift! MS460? Ok ok I'll settle for a 441!

But really it does work surprisingly well...and its not hard on your asphalt. Just make sure you have your coveralls on cause its dirty! Also last year during our ice/snow storm i plowed off with my 4 wheeler then got the ash can and stepped off my wheeler and BLAM slid on my arse all the way to the bottom. So, i bought a pair of ice cleats! That darn thing is treacherous. I just dump the ash in the tire track areas and the next day it will all melt off. The ash warms from the sun (actually just solar radiation as you dont even need direct sun...just daylight) then as the blacktop is more and more exposed it keeps melting. Our local county highway dept hauls cinders all fall to stock pile for the winter...

 

[gwiley]

It works...Guaranteed! Lets talk about that gift! MS460? Ok ok I'll settle for a 441!

But really it does work surprisingly well...and its not hard on your asphalt. Just make sure you have your coveralls on cause its dirty! Also last year during our ice/snow storm i plowed off with my 4 wheeler then got the ash can and stepped off my wheeler and BLAM slid on my arse all the way to the bottom. So, i bought a pair of ice cleats! That darn thing is treacherous. I just dump the ash in the tire track areas and the next day it will all melt off. The ash warms from the sun (actually just solar radiation as you dont even need direct sun...just daylight) then as the blacktop is more and more exposed it keeps melting. Our local county highway dept hauls cinders all fall to stock pile for the winter...

+1 on the cleats! I learned last winter when I was plowing for money for the first time. I picked up a set of slip on boot chains (rubber ring holds them to the boot) because I got tired of doing odd dance moves at unexpected times whilst praying that my back would survive each twisty turn.

One thing - I used a shovel to spread the ashes to try to keep some of the dust out of my face. There are almost certainly better ways to do it - I think that I might wear a dust mask this year when the time comes.

 

[taylor6400]

+1 on the cleats! I learned last winter when I was plowing for money for the first time. I picked up a set of slip on boot chains (rubber ring holds them to the boot) because I got tired of doing odd dance moves at unexpected times whilst praying that my back would survive each twisty turn.

One thing - I used a shovel to spread the ashes to try to keep some of the dust out of my face. There are almost certainly better ways to do it - I think that I might wear a dust mask this year when the time comes.

I use a big coffee can...

 

[rmount]

I use ashes on the driveway also, they work good for melting (with sun) and give traction as well.

Edit- My drive is gravel and I dont use it to close to the house otherwise I'm tracking a wet gray mess into the house

:agree2::agree2: me too!

 

[meatwagon45]

Last year I burned skids/pallets all winter. Used my saw to cut them up. I got skids with 1"x6" cross pieces and 4"x4" runners from my buddies machine shop. I was picking up a truckload a week. Ended up with 4 extra loads after the winter. I cut them with my chainsaw and since they all came from the same place, and were the same size, I was able to cut the runners to 18" to fit my stove. I have some apple crates that I dumped the ash into and recycled the nails (ash and all) at the local scrap yard. Made enough back to buy 2 new chains to replace the 2 I used on the skids