Gritter Bleeping Lorries

[Galveston]

They usually use rock salt. It looks like grit and probably isnt much less abrasive than grit, but it isn't grit.

Grit is added only rarely, in extreme snow/ice conditions to provide traction. Otherwise the 'grit' will be 100% rock salt.

Edited by Galveston on Thursday 18th December 08:11

[DonkeyApple]

Galveston said:

They usually use rock salt. It looks like grit and probably isnt much less abrasive than grit, but it isn't grit.

Grit is added only rarely, in extreme snow/ice conditions to provide traction. Otherwise the 'grit' will be 100% rock salt.

Edited by Galveston on Thursday 18th December 08:11

Rock salt contains grit. It is impure halite which is formed in sedimentary basins so the process of evaporation and crystal growth occurs alongside and amongst conventional sedimentary deposits.

The extraction is pulverised so that no grit leaving the mine is any larger than peashingle.

But rock salt is not pure salt unless it is pure White, which it rarely is, and in the three UK mines it is extremely impure and heavily mixed with sediment/grit.

I do believe that councils in addition will mix in additional sand to reduce costs. Plus, you only actually need a small amount of nacl to drop the freezing point of water below zero so it makes sense to dilute it with a cheap sand that will help with traction.

[Flip Martian]

bobbo89 said:

No way a gritter could do that kind of damage, no council would be gritting at anything above 25gsm at the moment as its simply not cold enough. At that spread rate the salt pretty much just trickles out of the back!

Is there any chance your car has had a cheaply sprayed front bumper at some point?

Who knows? Seems unlikely if other scratches have been left as is. Pretty random if it was though - there are a few on the middle and upper bonnet as well as the nose - all consistent with the impact really.

Thanks to this thread I now know more about road grit than I ever thought I'd want to know.

[rovermorris999]

DonkeyApple said:

Rock salt contains grit. It is impure halite which is formed in sedimentary basins so the process of evaporation and crystal growth occurs alongside and amongst conventional sedimentary deposits.

The extraction is pulverised so that no grit leaving the mine is any larger than peashingle.

But rock salt is not pure salt unless it is pure White, which it rarely is, and in the three UK mines it is extremely impure and heavily mixed with sediment/grit.

I do believe that councils in addition will mix in additional sand to reduce costs. Plus, you only actually need a small amount of nacl to drop the freezing point of water below zero so it makes sense to dilute it with a cheap sand that will help with traction.

How dare you come on here posting with your fancy knowledge! It's so much more fun to argue from a position of ignorance or half truth.

[DonkeyApple]

rovermorris999 said:

How dare you come on here posting with your fancy knowledge! It's so much more fun to argue from a position of ignorance or half truth.

Well I don't think anyone has actually been wrong, it's just that as a geologist and chemist such areas as rocksalt bing out the pedant in me.

[SteveSteveson]

Flip Martian said:

No pics at the mo - not at home during daylight hours. And its new to me - its a 2007 model. It wasn't perfect - there were a couple of scratches here and there and some (poorly touched up) stone chips already, so before the Spring I was going to get those seen to - I knew what I was getting. Whatever came out of the lorry hit at a real force and made a hell of a racket when it hit the car.

I doubt very much the car was left unmarked by that and its unlikely it was me washing the car that has uncovered existing marks, to be honest.

I doubt very much that it was the gritter. My MX5 is parked on in on road parking, on a road that is gritted, and the road is only just 2 cars wide, once you take out the width of the parking spaces (if there is a van or large car you have to wait to get through), so it is getting peppered from grit at close range on a regular basis. It has caused no damage at all. It does make a hell of a racket pinking off the bonnet. Far more likely that those scratches were per-existing. I doubt the gritter driver even noticed you, other than seeing "A car". They are under time pressure to get allot of roads gritted and its far more likely just bad luck that the start point for that load was that junction.

Aren't most gritters managed by GPS now anyway? I thought allot of them just drove round following the directions and the GPS decided when to stop and start the gritting, so roads were not gritted multiple times and black spots could get more salt?

Edited by SteveSteveson on Thursday 18th December 14:08

[mp3manager]

Flip Martian said:

I had my black Mazda MX-5 Mk 3 less than 24 hours. A gritter lorry drives towards and past me while I was waiting to turn right off the A5 between Towcester and Stony Stratford and "opens his bay doors" at that precise moment. I now have a pebble-dashed nose. More than a bit annoyed but I guess the lorry driver sure as hell got a kick out of it.

The local Milton Keynes Chips Away guy is coming to take a look on Friday - although I fear it may be a respray job. Getting 3M Ventureshield on it asap once that's done. I wasn't even planning on driving it much this winter and this happens... Just as well I had the roof up at the time. bd.

Are you sure it wasn't a snowbine?

http://youtu.be/qxgfFwEZjes?t=24s

[Flip Martian]

Quite sure...

Chips Away guy been - seen similar before. Damage is across the nose, on the bonnet and a few chips on both wings. As such, he advised it was a full sand down and respray from a bodyshop. So I'll drive it around on dry days and enjoy it, then get it sorted for the Spring. Give me plenty of time to find a decent bodyshop around Milton Keynes (must be a few).

Incidentally - he said Mazda lacquer is pretty poor and chip damage is certainly not uncommon "but a decent bodyshop will use better quality lacquer". And he recommended the 3M stuff I mentioned above as being good stuff to keep your car from getting marked.

[rockandrollmark]

For good body shops in Milton Keynes check out Al Shaws in Denbiegh www.alshaws.co.uk/ or there's a place down behind behind the Galleon pub in Old Wolverton.

[DonkeyApple]

Don't see any upside to fixing it now, doesn't seem logical given the time of year.

[Clivey]

DonkeyApple said:

Don't see any upside to fixing it now, doesn't seem logical given the time of year.

me neither. - I want to get some paintwork done on my Discovery but will be waiting until at least late spring time...hopefully when all the bad weather's out of the way.

[Flip Martian]

DonkeyApple said:

Don't see any upside to fixing it now, doesn't seem logical given the time of year.

I'm not - like I said, I'll get it fixed before the Spring.

[Flip Martian]

rockandrollmark said:

For good body shops in Milton Keynes check out Al Shaws in Denbiegh www.alshaws.co.uk/ or there's a place down behind behind the Galleon pub in Old Wolverton.

Cheers, will check them both out. I visit the antiques place down behind the Galleon, I'll perhaps pop in next time I'm there.

[DonkeyApple]

Flip Martian said:

DonkeyApple said:

Don't see any upside to fixing it now, doesn't seem logical given the time of year.

I'm not - like I said, I'll get it fixed before the Spring.

In winter then?

[Flip Martian]

DonkeyApple said:

In winter then?

I would reply again here but you used a smug wink. Smug winks are #7 in the "how to piss people off on web forums" list.

[DonkeyApple]

Flip Martian said:

DonkeyApple said:

In winter then?

I would reply again here but you used a smug wink. Smug winks are #7 in the "how to piss people off on web forums" list.

They only ps off the insecure and feeble, so who cares? Normal, well adjusted people aren't threatened by a and so respond appropriately and jovially. Hope Santa brings you a calendar and a sense of humour.

[Gandahar]

duff said:

You think he did it on purpose? Is he supposed to not grit across the junction?

A few stonechips never bothered me, shows an honest car.

To be honest if I was driving one of those and a bit bored and suddenly I see a Bentley with reg plate DW1 just sitting there ready for a peppering then, no it would definitely not cross my mind.

Actually, tell a lie, I'd be down the local Land Rover garage just sprinkling all the new cars just so they can think they actually have been off road for a bit

[Gandahar]

On second thoughts, we really ought to condom these gritters.

What's the point of the technically savvy PH person buying £600 of winter tyres, when these buffoons come along and make it all pointless.

The Winter tyresome thread of smugness will be down to 3 posts for winter 2014 at this rate.

It's heartbreaking.

Edited by Gandahar on Friday 19th December 12:19

[Flip Martian]

DonkeyApple said:

They only ps off the insecure and feeble, so who cares? Normal, well adjusted people aren't threatened by a and so respond appropriately and jovially. Hope Santa brings you a calendar and a sense of humour.

Likewise I hope you learn to stop trying to be "a bit more cleverer than yow" on web forums. Merry Christmas

[DonkeyApple]

Flip Martian said:

DonkeyApple said:

They only ps off the insecure and feeble, so who cares? Normal, well adjusted people aren't threatened by a and so respond appropriately and jovially. Hope Santa brings you a calendar and a sense of humour.

Likewise I hope you learn to stop trying to be "a bit more cleverer than yow" on web forums. Merry Christmas

Not trying.