[AT] Salting roads (was Re: Trans. fluid

[Mike Sloane]

I am well aware of the harm that calcium chloride can cause to metal, 
especially tractor rims 
<http://public.fotki.com/mikesloane/1952-farmall-cub/leftrearrim.html>, 
Ralph. That is why I suggested that you definitely not follow a road 
department truck spraying the road right before a storm.

The problem, as someone else mentioned, is that drivers these days don't 
want to slow down even a little bit in poor weather. If we don't put 
down salt every time the weatherman predicts "wintry precipitation", the 
town hall gets complaints. And if some idiot's vehicle slides on snow or 
ice, we get sued. (Such suits go nowhere, of course, but they cost the 
town taxpayers' money to deal with.) So it ends up being a balancing act 
between saving the very large expense of the salt application vs. 
dealing with a public that demands clean dry roads 24 hours a day, all 
year long. If I had my way, we would wait until the snow stops coming 
down and then plow it off the roads (during daylight, not in the middle 
of the night while paying high overtime rates), but I don't get to make 
that decision.

Mike

Ralph Goff wrote:
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Mike Sloane" <mikesloane at verizon.net>
> To: "Antique tractor email discussion group" <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 25, 2009 8:07 AM
> Subject: [AT] Salting roads (was Re: Trans. fluid
> 
> 
> The problem with "salt" (sodium chloride - NaCl) is that it doesn't work
> much below about 15°F (-9°C). But it turns out that our old friend
> calcium chloride (CaCl) is effective down to much lower temperatures
> than common salt. So if the road department sprays some liquid CaCl on
> the road *before* the precipitation, it will prevent the "black ice" and
> hard pack snow from forming. Another alternative is to spray the regular
> road salt with the CaCl right before spreading it, that will increase
> the effectiveness of the whole process.
> 
> Mike,  that same calcium chloride is the corrosive liquid that has been used 
> for years as rear tractor wheel weight. It would be a bit unusual to find a 
> tractor without chloride in the rear tires up here. Its cheaper than cast 
> iron but take a look at the rear rims on some of our old tractors that have 
> leaked a bit over the years. I've been pretty lucky with most of mine but I 
> saw a Farmall (H I think) at an auction last summer on which the rear rims 
> had literally collapsed from the rust and corrosion.
> 
> Ralph in Sask. 
> 
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