Gritters - Causing Misery, Stone Chips & Rust - Big Stupid Yellow Things

Amp34 · 22 Nov 2018 at 20:48

Just be thankful they don’t (usually) spread actual gravel on the roads in the UK any more.

It may be worth, if it’s not already being trialled, suggesting to your local council that they should try Beetroot juice. It’s being trialed in several cities in Canada at the moment and negates most of the issues with rock salt - it’s a corrosion inhibiter (so less rust), it’s a liquid so no chips and it works down to -20, rather than the -10 that rock salt does. It’s also more environmentally friendly.

For example.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.the...1/beet_juice_melts_ice_from_winter_roads.html

Firestar_3x · 22 Nov 2018 at 20:49

Scuzi said:
Although I suppose of you’re one of the many people who rent their car rather than own it, you would be nervous about damaging someone else’s car.

Dis86 · 22 Nov 2018 at 22:19

Amp34 said:
Just be thankful they don’t (usually) spread actual gravel on the roads in the UK any more.

It may be worth, if it’s not already being trialled, suggesting to your local council that they should try Beetroot juice. It’s being trialed in several cities in Canada at the moment and negates most of the issues with rock salt - it’s a corrosion inhibiter (so less rust), it’s a liquid so no chips and it works down to -20, rather than the -10 that rock salt does. It’s also more environmentally friendly.

For example.

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.the...1/beet_juice_melts_ice_from_winter_roads.html

That's like...brilliant!

weight · 22 Nov 2018 at 23:01

bainbridge · 22 Nov 2018 at 23:14

Don't most nordic countries use some sort of volcanic ash instead of salt? They should know best, with all the snow they get.

Wish the UK adopted this approach.. I drive an mx5!

koolpc · 22 Nov 2018 at 23:17

Just grit your teeth when you see one heading your way!

weight · 22 Nov 2018 at 23:24

smilertoo · 23 Nov 2018 at 00:09

Glasgow seem to use actual grit, come spring and some roads look like building lorries have shed their loads.

Amp34 · 23 Nov 2018 at 01:56

Dis86 said:
That's like...brilliant!

It’s completely random as well. Just goes to show how we may have only scratched the surface of natural compounds and their benefits. Not just in pharmaceuticals.

weight said:
Yea that does look good. Article was 2012, I wonder why it hasn't been adopted

Didn’t realise the age of the article. It was the first one when I searched for it. It’s slowly gaining traction (no pun intended) though. My city is on its third year of trialling it, with quite a bit more being spread this year apparently.

I’m sure there will be negatives, not least the cost of converting the gritter fleet to tankers, but also whether it’ll work as well in a more damp environment like most of the UK.

Scania · 23 Nov 2018 at 03:39

koolpc said:
Just grit your teeth when you see one heading your way!

Somewhat uncomfortable....

Howard · 23 Nov 2018 at 07:55

I've winced my way past a few gritters in my driving lifetime, and it does indeed make the most awful sound, but I've yet to actually identify any damage as a result. There's likely to be far more damage if I fall off the road whilst going round a bend covered in black ice, anyway.

jpaul · 23 Nov 2018 at 08:29

Amp34 said:
Just be thankful they don’t (usually) spread actual gravel on the roads in the UK any more.

but the salt (and molasses ?) as projectiles just as damaging to paintwork (need to look up moh scale)

last years discussion

jpaul said:
Interesting BBC news article about (salt) aggregate size used on gritter lorries, it is 10mm in Oldham(or maybe it was Preston) versus 6mm typically used elsewhere,
apparently it is larger because it is windier.

Not surprising it can do some paint damage.

wolfie138 · 23 Nov 2018 at 09:01

seems to me the gritters are better than they used to be, seem to shake/sprinkle the salt a bit more sedately ~ a few years back they used to drop it onto a spinning plate which made it sound like you were getting hit by a minigun when one went past.

ScoobyDoo69 · 23 Nov 2018 at 09:22

I really don't like encountering the gritters on the road, but hey as has been said, they're a necessary evil !

My "proudest" moment involving a gritter though has to be when I saw one ahead of me on the motorway one night, I kept back and at the next junction came off, around the round about, and back out on to the motorway in front of the gritter. It was somewhat satisfying

Amp34 · 23 Nov 2018 at 19:36

jpaul said:
but the salt (and molasses ?) as projectiles just as damaging to paintwork (need to look up moh scale)

last years discussion

Rock salt is 2, Quartz is 7.

For comparison a finger nail is 2.5 and a pen knife is 6.5...

With gravel it's not just the paintwork (I have about half a dozen chips up both doors of my year old vehicle from last winter) it's windscreens as well.

jpaul · 23 Nov 2018 at 20:09

Amp34 said:
Rock salt is 2, Quartz is 7.

For comparison a finger nail is 2.5 and a pen knife is 6.5...

the original was a rhetorical remark .. but the moh of the paintwork is probably more important.
skoda ?
bmw original solvent based ???
and ke=1/2mv^2 is probably more relevant with a 10mm dia salt nodule

Amp34 · 23 Nov 2018 at 20:46

jpaul said:
the original was a rhetorical remark .. but the moh of the paintwork is probably more important.
skoda ?
bmw original solvent based ???
and ke=1/2mv^2 is probably more relevant with a 10mm dia salt nodule

That's the great thing about the Moh's scale. You can use analogues (this is what geologists do to help identify minerals).

Scrape the end of your fingernail against your cars paintwork. Does it scratch? If not then it's harder than 2.5 on the Mohs scale (and therefore harder than most rock salt).

Now scrape the end of a piece of steel (say a table knife) against your cars paintwork. Does it scratch? If yes then it's softer than 6.5 and as such would scratch with a piece of gravel.

The overall size and speed of the grain is less relevant, that just means its more or less likely to dent, rather than chip (which admittedly could cause some chipping). You could throw talcum powder (1 on Mohs's scale) at a window as hard as you want, but you'll never scratch it.