How would one calculate/best guess the number of gallons of mag c to put on sand in a 20m x 40m indoor?
Is this a liquid that you’re applying as opposed to mag chl flakes?
Liquid, yes.
No point in paying for water. Get the mag chloride flakes.
We have done flakes in the past. Purchased it bagged from Costco. Just thinking of the manual labor part of that…
I’ve used the flakes in my indoor (SafeStep Extreme). Finally gave up on trying to spread it all nice and pretty and even with a spreader, etc. Last time I applied it I just dumped bags at regular intervals, then used a manure fork to fling it around. Worked just fine. Riding on it helps mix it all in anyway.
You might need to do several applications but once you reach the right level, you should be good to go for a long while. Be careful not to overdo it during subsequent treatments. You can always add more. Also, if you are starting from scratch, you can water the heck out of the arena first, THEN add the flakes. Gives you a big head start.
Do NOT water your footing before you add the Mag Cloride. That is defeating the purpose…and that extra water will just use up your flakes that much quicker.
We use a salt/sand tow behind spreader attached to our ATV. Our indoor is 72 x 144 feet and we used about 10 20kg bags purchased at our local TSC store last spring when they were clearing out their salt stocks. As you know a lot of people use this product for ice on concrete surfaces as it does not damage the surface as regular ice salt will do.
It covered our arena just fine and we don’t expect to re-apply for another year. Very reasonable cost too. No fuss, no smell and more importantly NO dust! Ever.
BO here just slits bags of Mag Chlor, after sorta hanging them off an ATV. Then when the last bag is empty, drags the arena, and done.
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Do NOT water your footing before you add the Mag Cloride. That is defeating the purpose…and that extra water will just use up your flakes that much quicker.
I have been told to put the flakes on after soaking footing…? Why does this defeat the purpose ? How does just putting flakes down on dry dusty arena work better?
TIA
It is meant to pull the moisture from the air AFAIK.
It also pulls moisture from the ground. So depending on how dry your footing is, what time of year it is and how dry it is outside, it might be cheaper to add water first and give the flakes moisture to absorb, rather than buying more flakes and re-applying possibly several times.
The thing NOT to do is water AFTER you’ve applied (except perhaps for a very fine misting) because that will wash the salt out. This is why it doesn’t work well for outdoor arenas because when it rains, it gets washed away. That said, there are people in dryer climates who do use it outdoors, but they generally reapply it yearly.
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We have done flakes in the past. Purchased it bagged from Costco. Just thinking of the manual labor part of that…[/QUOTE]
Liquid mag chloride sounds like a heck of a mess.
We have a pallet of MgCl bags and from time to time we spread it using a push driven basic fertilizer spreader. Takes about a half hour to do but cleanup is minimal.
Where do you all get your flake mag?
My local hardware store ordered it for me as they already carry other ice melt products from the same company. I use the one that is 100% Magnesium Chloride Hexahydrate.
A couple of years ago it was very difficult to buy if you weren’t a commercial user after a crazy winter in the NE left every business and muni stash empty. My wife made some calls and was able to buy a half pallet under the barn business entity.
I’m sure now it’s not so difficult.
So is it cheaper buying fromy the hardware store as opposed to the stuff advertised for arenas?
If you live where there is snow or ice, someone is selling bagged MgCl to the snow removal people by the pallet, and will probably sell to you also. This last January I paid ~ $14. per 40lb bag for a 50 bag pallet, picked up by me at the yard of the company that sells many, many semi trucks of it each winter. I split the pallet with another arena owner.
My local Ace Hardware carries several products by this company. They don’t routinely stock the 100% MagCl, but were more than happy to order it for me. Ordered Sunday, came in yesterday. I do live in snow country.
http://www.safestep8300.com/footer-nav/faq/
Have been using this since I first built my indoor 10 years ago. Started with 6 bags for my 62 x 132. Top it off with a bag or two every fall or so. I do water my arena in the summer, when the heat and breeze dry it out. This year for the first time, I felt I needed a little extra recharge, so have 6 bags to use again. We’ll spread it with a hand push spreader. Don’t know if I’ll need all 6 bags. We’ll see. It’s worked very well for me all these years.
