DIY dust control?

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

Hey guys, does anybody mix/apply their own calcium chloride dust control on lanes or road fronts? If so, can you please provide details? I currently purchase dust control at $500 for 400 feet.

 

[LungButter]

I change my own oil in everything and save the used oil for that. I'm old school I guess.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I change my own oil in everything and save the used oil for that. I'm old school I guess.

Interesting... How do you apply the used oil? I don't think I could generate enough oil to cover 400 feet of road.

 

[Jimbee]

It's illegal to use waste oil for dust control in Iowa. Probably everwhere.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

It's illegal to use waste oil for dust control in Iowa. Probably everwhere.

Good to know, thx

 

[Blockcaver]

If you can get Magnesium Chloride prills (about like #2 or #4 shot size).....they are similar in the size to most lawn fertilizer....bet you could apply them the with a fertilizer spreader. Then wet them with a lawn sprinkler if it isn't going to rain in the near future. Why MgCl2 works well is it absorbs water from the air once applied. (Calcium Chloride is another option with similar characteristics). The process I described above is what we utilized for dust control on travelways in a major underground mine years ago.

I know MgCl2 is available in 50# bags for ice melting purposes but is fairly expensive like that. Might search around to see if you can get a deal on it from some industrial supplier, maybe in a larger bulk quantity.

 

[Silveroddo]

I haven’t looked at it in awhile, but previously it was pretty difficult to beat pricing on large scale commercially produced/applied dust control, for the aforementioned reason, acquiring the necessary ingredients economically at small scale.
I’m assuming you’re talking about treating some kind of a municipal road? Or is it a private roadway?

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

I haven’t looked at it in awhile, but previously it was pretty difficult to beat pricing on large scale commercially produced/applied dust control, for the aforementioned reason, acquiring the necessary ingredients economically at small scale.
I’m assuming you’re talking about treating some kind of a municipal road? Or is it a private roadway?

It would be 400' of the gravel road we live on. We have it commercially sprayed right now, but i was curious if a guy could DIY it (legally) for cheaper. Costs $500 today.

 

[KurtR]

500.00 dollars seems cheap. Being in road construction having some one do it right and know what they are doing might cost a little up front but cheaper than having to come out and fix it. We fix alot of stuff just because people can rent equipment does not mean they should.

 

[Randle]

We have pine oil sprayed for that price up here and it works good. I think your price is good versus the mess and labor DIY

 

[LungButter]

Interesting... How do you apply the used oil? I don't think I could generate enough oil to cover 400 feet of road.

I have a spreader bar welded into a bung that goes into a 55gallon barrel, throw it in the pickup on it's side and open the valve slightly. I only have to do 75yds or so out front though.

Yes, I'm aware it's not "legal" but you can't convince me that other crap they sell is any better for the environment, it's just another way for the Gov and large corporations to profit off us.

 

[Jimbee]

I have a spreader bar welded into a bung that goes into a 55gallon barrel, throw it in the pickup on it's side and open the valve slightly. I only have to do 75yds or so out front though.

Yes, I'm aware it's not "legal" but you can't convince me that other crap they sell is any better for the environment, it's just another way for the Gov and large corporations to profit off us.

I'm pretty sure used motor oil is in a whole different category than tree sap. But tell yourself whatever you need to, you're not fooling anyone.

 

[cbat]

So in the oilfield when they have a spill, the put fertilizer on it to drive it into the ground.
If it is illegal to use for dust control, I call bs. If it is good enough for the BLM well then.

 

[jjohnsonElknewbie]

500.00 dollars seems cheap. Being in road construction having some one do it right and know what they are doing might cost a little up front but cheaper than having to come out and fix it. We fix alot of stuff just because people can rent equipment does not mean they should.

Agree with you 100%. I've heard of guys spraying calcium chloride for dust control using regular chemical sprayers. My buddy lets me borrow a 50 gallon boomless that has a 30-40' pattern that would cover the majority of our road in one pass. If I turned off one of the outside nozzles, I could probably get a little overlap if I went down and back. I was just wondering if anybody mixes their own CaCl, and if so, what the ratio to water is and approximately how many gallons of water it would take. If the costs are roughly the same ($500 gets me 2 applications during the summer-June and August) I would rather just do it myself, assuming I got the county engineer's blessing.

 

[Wrench]

You could try veggie oil....and as a bonus, you could shoot bears in the driveway.

 

[william schmaltz]

The intentional release of a hazardous substance in Alaska is full on jail time; especially if you don't report it. I would imagine most states are the same. Whether it's putting oil on your driveway or a half gallon of diesel spills at a drill site, it's all the same. Fertilizer is comingled with contaminated soil to induce microbial growth and speed up natural attenuation. It's fairly common practice for landfarming where disposal or treatment isn't an option. I spent a couple years working as a roughneck and if they're doing that on a drill site, it's well outside of any state law and that's their way of covering things up. Not to mention, fertilizer on the surface is literally doing nothing other than maybe making them look even more guilty. The water isn't contaminated in the oil patch because of fracking, it's because of spills.

Outside of it being illegal, intentionally spilling a hazardous substances is a full blown sh!t neighbor move and further sticking the finger to later generations. I'll withhold judgement because most people just don't know better, but I'd strongly advise stopping it. I remember walking around my grandpa's house and the driveway was littered with used oil filters draining out. He was a good man that didn't know better so I really do mean it when I say no judgement for someone that simply doesn't know the magnitude of their actions. The downstream effects on your groundwater (and potentially drinking water) and your neighbor's drinking water is very real. The evidence for ingestion of trace petroleum in drinking water as a carcinogen is very well documented. Not to mention potential indoor air and soil gas issues as well as inhalation of fugitive dust. You would be absolutely amazed how far a gallon on oil can travel in soil and water. Spraying a driveway once a year over 10 years is hardly de minimis.

I fall leaning right on the political spectrum. It's extremely frustrating to me how hunters of all people seem to have such a disregard to the environment at times. And it seems mostly it's because of how they fall politically. If we can't at least agree on clean water and soil, we really are doomed. I 100% agree some of the other stuff approved for spraying all over the place may be worse than some used motor oil, but that doesn't mean we should take that as an excuse to add to the problem. The tragedy of commons is a real and ugly slope.

 

[Silveroddo]

According to these guys its about 1 pound of product per square yard of previously untreated road , 1/2 lb for previously treated.

A lazy search of Home Depot shows about $0.60-$0.80/ LB for 50 lb bags. So 60-80 cents a square yard for previously untreated and 30-40 for the 2nd application, depending on how you look at it the overall seasonal cost would be anywhere from .60-.80 to .90-1.20/square yard for 2 treatments unless you can get a better deal on the product. Also they're suggesting a 35% liquid concentration

4 Ways to Control Dust on Gravel Roads - wikiHow

A dry gravel road creates perfect conditions for large amounts of dust to fly into the air and disturb the surrounding area. Luckily, there are products you can use to manage this dust problem. By keeping the gravel moist, applying the...

www.wikihow.com

 

[Blockcaver]

If you mix your salt pellets with water I recall it being an exothermic reaction….generates heat. Be aware of that. The dry pellet (prill) application has no heat risks. Been too long for me to recall the exact details.

If you can get premixed salt solution, either Mg or Na chloride there is no risk from heat and no mixing required. But both salt solutions are corrosion to steel/iron as well as aluminum.

 

[Silveroddo]

Tractor Supply and Northern tool sell these
Seems to work out to .90/square yard unless I'm doing the math wrong

Bare Ground One Shot Calcium Chloride Dust Control Tote 275 Gallons, Model# 1S-CACL-275T | Northern Tool

Bare Ground One Shot Calcium Chloride Dust Control is a soil stabilization agent designed to extend the life of gravel roads and surfaces. It works...

www.northerntool.com

 

[CJ19]

Hey guys, does anybody mix/apply their own calcium chloride dust control on lanes or road fronts? If so, can you please provide details? I currently purchase dust control at $500 for 400 feet.

My state has a list of approved dust control products. Many local municipalities use different forms of dust control and this is the list of products they typically choose from. I would contact your state transportation department to see if such a thing exists in your state. I would be cautious about just spreadinh whatever on the ground as mentioned by some posters bc it may be considered the spill of a contaminant and require clean up. Calcium chloride solutions are probably on the approved list but they may have some specifications you are technically supposed to work within.