Landcare Storm Information

Call our Storm Phone Hotline for storm hour updates.  749-9797

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Spring is coming guys!  Start asking us about our competitive pricing on stone, gravel, loam, mulch and all the landscape materials we carry. 

HOURS OF OPERATION. We will be open at 4 AM on Tuesday morning, the 19th.

 WEATHER UPDATES.  It's going to snow starting after midnight tonight.  It's going to snow all day on Tuesday the 19th.  It might mix with some rain, sleet or freezing rain, especially close to the shore.  There may also be a lull in the action from about 5 PM Tuesday until about 8 or 9 PM on Tuesday and then it may snow an additional inch or two during the overnight into Wednesday morning.  For most of us, I would expect 6-9 inches and it will be cold and windy.  It will stay cold too until at least the weekend.  Oh and by the way, Spring starts on Wednesday.  Happy Srping!!

Remember, your customers have long forgotten all the great work you did on the other storms. They remember you for the service you do today.

   PLAN OF ACTION. Plow, treat, plow, treat and treat some more!

Regular salt should be fine for this one but if temps get cold on Friday night, you may need to add a little Treated Salt to your arsenal for the Saturday morning run.

This was a big season for treated salt.  If you didn't use treated salt this year, try it next year and see how it works out. There's a reason why 95% of contractors use it when temps get cold.

 

Remember, ground temps can be lower then air temps by 5 degrees!  With such cold ground temps, Treated Salt needs to be part of your arsenal this winter.

The Winter Product Lowdown

  Be proactive, not reactive! 

Treat your areas thoroughly and use color coded products on all walks.  Our bagged products are color coded. If a slip and fall happens, a colored product can help to reduce the chance of a law suit by over 60%!  Color coded bagged products come in Purple, Pink, Green,  Blue and Orange!

WHAT IS TREATED SALT??  Regular salt STOPS working at 25 degrees.  Treated Salt works down to -30 degrees below 0.

Treated Salt is rock salt that has been sprayed, or 'treated' with a mollasses by-product from the brewing of alcohols, corn and sugar beets.  After the final brewing process has been completed, brewers call the remaining mollasses a 'brewers condenced soluable' or 'BCS'.   This BCS is a brownish, stickyish, sweet smelling material that livestock farmers have traditionally used to add to livestock feed.  When adopted by the ice industry, the material is mixed with magnesium cloride where it is then sprayed onto bulk salt.

What makes it work better than straight salt??  Because of its stickyish nature and along with the magnesium chloride, it both sticks to the salt grain and forms a quicker brine when applied.  That brine is what bonds with the ground surface, spreads out and immediately starts the melting process.  Straight salt needs liquid to activate it.  The BCS is the liquid that activates the salt.  BCS will remain in its liquid state down to temps of ~30 degrees below zero.  Because it bonds with the surface, it also gives us the benefit of a residual staying power.  It starts the bonding process when applied as a 'pre-treatment' before a storm and it can remain effective for several days after the storm has ended.  For more details and how to maximize your use of Treated Salt, ask one of us, we love yapping about it.  

SAND AND SALT.  For those of you using sand and salt, remember, sand locks cold air in and can make ice worse.  If it's just traction you're after, sand is great but preventing ice in the first place will eradicate the need for sand in the long run.  Our friends at the local and state levels remind us that sand contains silicates which aren't great for the environment and that over time, sand clogs drains, wetlands and it's expensive to clean.  Your customers will be notice the difference too.   Sand tracks into bulidings where it is a nuisance to clean and detrimental to carpets and flooring.

 

HOW TO REACH US.  We are always reachable at the STORM PHONE HOTLINE @ 603-749-9797.  Press 9 to engage the Hotline Message.  During the overnight storm hours, check us out on 105.3 The Shark and 97.5 Wokq for regular ad reminders.You want to get our storm alert text?  Call us at 749-9797 and ask to be put on our text alert list.  You'// get the udates right to your mobile phone.

Sno Pro Tip:  It's colder at the ground surface!!    Cold air settles at the lowest points and road surface temps can be colder than air temps by aproximately 5 degrees. This applies all winter.  When your thermometer reads 38 degrees or less, ice is forming at surfaces.  

WE HAVE IT!  We are fully stocked with  Rock salt, Sand/Salt and Treated Salt. Click on the Snow and Ice Control page for prices on all our materials. 

PREBUY YOUR MATERIALS.  Prebuy your bulk salt, sand/salt or treated salt in 18 yard increments and save a bundle.  You don't have to take it yet, just pay for it and pick it up whenever you need it during storms-ALL WINTER LONG.   Think about how much material you use all winter and you'll realize it's well worth the savings.

Take advantage of our prebuy program all season.  We are actively delivering our bulk materials so don't wait until the last minute. It gets crazy!!

As always, we are  fully stocked and open during the storm so come on in.

BAGGED ICE MELTS.  We carry 6 different kinds in Purple, Pink, Green, Blue and Orange.  You won't get better pricing ANYWHERE!!!  Seriously, no box store will touch our prices.  Come in or check out the Snow & Ice page at landcareassociates.com for pricing details.  We deliver too and if you order the right amount-FREE DELIVERY!

Thanks for checking in with the LandCare storm page and we'll see you when the snow flies!!!