driveway de-icer (calcium chloride) question

[Jesse Tutterrow]

Towards the end of last winter, I could not find rock salt, so I purchased a large bag of Prestone Driveway HEAT de-icier.

For storage I rolled to top of the bag down and clamped it with a couple of clothe pins. And stored it in a dry spot of my basement.

But, in getting ready for winter, I opened it earlier this week, and found that it had "melted" together into a single block.

What is the best way to break it up? I am thinking about wrapping it in a plastic tarp and beating on it with a sledge hammer.

In the future, how is the best way to store / preserve this type of material?

Thanks in Advance,

Jesse

[Anthony Whitesell]

I tried that. It crushes the bag and ends up full of holes. Some suggested a "universal grinder" but I haven't sought on out. I got kind of geeky with some of it and dissolved a glob in a little hot water (to make a slush) and poured it on. Seems kind of counter intuitive but it worked.

[Brian Tymchak]

when I open a bag of it, I load it into a couple of big plastic cat litter buckets with lids that seal. Buckets have a handle and makes it easier to carry and spread. Works pretty good, although, some of the stuff that was in the bucket for about a year got a little clumpy. but not unusable.

[curtis rosche]

put it in a 5 gallon bucket, and smash it with either a post or a posthole digger, or a shovel. using a tarp with ruin the tarp

[Anthony Whitesell]

I'm not sure about a post hole digger (atleast the one I have). But a tamper might work real nice. I also tried smashing it in the bucket on a concrete floor. there was no support for the bucket and the bottom broke apart. Maybe outside on the dirt may work better.

[curtis rosche]

a tamper would probably work better, i was just thinking a posthole digger would do twice the work of a shovel

[ray hampton]

since you already own a sledge hammer, why not use the hammer the way that a tamp tool are use

[Jason Roehl]

You're not having fun until you have to break up 2500 lbs of the stuff in a dump truck salt spreader...

Calcium chloride absorbs moisture, so any long-term storage solution intended to keep it usable should probably include a desiccant of some sort. I would think a pound or two of rice in a nylon added to the salt that you've put in a sealed bucket would go a long way toward preserving the salt for the next winter.

[ray hampton]

You're not having fun until you have to break up 2500 lbs of the stuff in a dump truck salt spreader...

Calcium chloride absorbs moisture, so any long-term storage solution intended to keep it usable should probably include a desiccant of some sort. I would think a pound or two of rice in a nylon added to the salt that you've put in a sealed bucket would go a long way toward preserving the salt for the next winter.

which is the easier to break-up salt or concrete in the mixing truck ? sugar cakes up too, do they blast it up by exploding charges

[Curt Harms]

This doesn't help with your problem today but in the future, consider urea instead of calcium chloride. We've had urea granules stored for years in a garage and no clumping at all. The only downside is the grass next to the sidewalk or driveway will get REALLY green and grow REALLY fast for a while in the spring. We find a little goes quite a long way; 50 lbs. has lasted us 5+ years. There may be downside to using Urea beside nitrogen runoff but I don't see it. Airports used to use Urea because it's not corrosive.

[Myk Rian]

You could use a 1" auger bit in a drill to get the block bored out in a bunch of places. A hammer will finish it.
I had CC melt during the summer also. I think I'll try urea this year.

[Anthony Whitesell]

I like the side effect (greener grass). I'll try to remember to get some.

[Brian Tymchak]

..I think I'll try urea this year.

Where do you guys get urea? I haven't seen it at my borgs, but of course, I haven't been looking for it either...

[ray hampton]

look in the garden section and ask for fertilizer [sc]

[Myk Rian]

A lawn/garden store right up the road has it.