How to Make a DIY Drill Powered Salt Spreader!

If you have a battery powered drill and live in a climate that gets a lot of snow, why not try making a salt spreader for evenly de-icing your driveway and sidewalks? The salt spreaders themselves are only about $30 to buy so it's safe to say this project is more about the fun of the build and design process. This build is mostly done by fitting each piece at each step of the process.

I am using primarily lunch containers, plastic drink cups for the structure as I like to explore modularity between common objects. I'm also using duct tape for fastening and common house hold tools so this is as accessible as possible for anyone.

The drill I am fitting to this build is also a very common model for home DIY'ers. The second aim is discover next steps to making one that will work with most drills. I will also provide my findings and materials I will change in the next build. This prototype (like most prototypes) is not the most aesthetically pleasing but it works really really well! My next design will incorporate my findings and feature a re-vamped design.

Materials

• 2 X Rectangular shaped containers
• 1 X Matching lid
• 2 X Plastic drink cups
• 2 X Vinyl siding samples (I got these for free from a building supply store)
• 1 X Wooden dowel (Diameter not super important as long as it can fit in the drill chuck)
• 1 - 2 Rolls of duct tape (Not only is it an effective fastener, but it is also used for protecting sharp edges formed when cutting into some of the plastic material)
• 1 X Pop bottle cap
• Approximately 24 inches of both hook and loop velcro strapping
• (Optional) 1 X small super glue tube

Tools

• Drill
• Utility knife
• Marker
• Scissors
• (Optional) Plier Snips

Not Pictured:

• Straight edge (less for making cuts and more for measuring)
• 1 X Matching lid for the drink cup (not pictured)

Since we are working with cups that are "single use", they aren't always the most sturdy. My work around to this is to nest two cups together. The cups I am using have a ridge which prohibits them from getting stuck together during the morning coffee rush.

Materials and Tools needed for this step:

• 2 X Plastic drink cups
• Duct tape
• (Optional) 1 X small super glue tube
• Utility knife
• Scissors

*Note: Leave the second cup alone for the first two steps.

1. Let's mark the ridge on one cup that prevents the cups from fully nesting into each other.
2. Using your utility knife or scissors, cut around the circumference of the cup to remove approximately 1 inch from the bottom of one of the cups.
3. Stack the cups and fasten them together using duct tape around the rim and where the bottom portion was removed.
4. This is tough to explain however, please use the photos provided for this step.
5. Mark diameter of the bottom of the cup.
6. From one end of the diameter, mark a line approximately 1 inch up from the bottom
7. Mark half of the circumference and mark another line vertically to join the other end of the diameter.
8. Cut along the created from step 4 to remove a shape from the bottom of the cup. It should look like half of a pie has been cut out. This is where the salt will be fed to from the hopper. Let's consider this the "back" of the cup.
9. At the top of the cup, measure and mar approximately 1 inch down on each side of the diameter.
10. Mark a line around the "front" of the cup at the 1inch markers from step 6 and cut this piece out. You should now have shape like half of a pie missing from the top and bottom of the cup on opposite sides.
11. Trace around the dowel and cut a hole out on the bottom of the cup.
12. Duct tape any sharp edges.

You now have the Salt Chute assembled

In this step, we will assemble the shaft and spinner blades which will eventually spread our salt.

Materials and Tools needed for this step:

• 1 X Wooden dowel
• 2 X Vinyl siding samples
• 1 X Pop bottle cap
• Utility Knife or Scissors
• Duct tape

**If you wish to skip this step, this part can be purchased for as little as $15 on Amazon. However, you will need to opt for a piece of PVC or locate a similarly-sized cylindrical chute.**

1. Mark the center of the bottle cap and pierce a hole to match the size of the dowel.
2. On the bottom of the cap, make four cuts spaced 90 degrees apart and half of the height of the cap.
3. Trace the angles of the top of the cup on to the vinyl siding samples and cut to size. These pieces will need to be a little bit smaller than the diameter of the top of cup so they may rotate freely.
4. On one vinyl siding sample mark and cut a line in the middle height-wise from the bottom to the middle
5. On the second vinyl siding sample mark and cut a line in the middle height-wise from the the top to the middle. Please reference the photos here.
6. Criss-cross these pieces
7. Connect the vinyl siding assembly to the bottle cap cuts you made in step 2.
8. Push the dowel through the top hole you made in step 1.
9. Fasten it together with trusty duct tape.

You now have the Salt Spinner assembled.

For myself, this was the step where I began to really see the project take shape. Since we are working with reusable lunch containers here, you may notice they are flimsy. We take that into consideration in this section.

One consideration in this project design was to use gravity to have the hopper feeding salt to the chute. This ends up being easy to achieve by using the angle from the front of the battery to the chuck of the drill. Assuming we have our arm perpendicular to the ground when using the spreader, salt will easily flow into the chute if we get our angles right here.

Materials, Components and Tools needed for this step:

• 2 X Rectangular shaped containers
• 1 X Matching lid
• Velco straps (hooks and loops)
• Utility Knife or Scissors
• Duct tape
• 1 X Drill for reference
• Salt Chute for reference (Step 1: Prepping The Cup Salt Chute)
• Salt Spinner for reference (Step 2: Build The Salt Spinner)

1. Mark and cut lines on the front of lunch container along the middle and bottom (see photo for reference). We are creating flaps and an opening here to attach the second lunch container in a later step. The ridge that the lid uses is left on here to maintain extra rigidity.
2. If your container has a lip in the bottom where salt may not flow downward, cut this out too.
3. I chose to mount the straps close to the battery. Measure and cut slits here for the velcro to slip through.
4. Measure out your velcro here in such a way that will allow the drill to be fastened taught to the lid. Leave extra length for a later step
5. Cut approximately 1 inch off of the end of the second container including the ridge. Be sure this passes the round corner as the previous container that was cut will nest into this one.
6. Tape the flaps and over lap seams for the two containers.
7. Place the lid on the container and strap the drill to the lid using the velcro in step 3. Mark the point where the drill's chuck connects to the lid.
8. Tape the lid to the front container.
9. Cut a hole a little larger than the diameter of the dowel on the marking from Step 7.
10. Mark and cut a section out of the lunch container the is in line with the angle that the dowel leaves drill. This hole should be the size of the top of the Salt Chute opening. I recommend using the edge of your work station for this step since you can lay the hopper flat with the drill strapped to it.

You now have the Hopper created. In the next step, we will put it all together

You will notice in this step we use the lid for the drink cup. I chose to include this piece out of convenience since it fits the diameter of the Salt Chute opening although you may use any suitable material for the opening. I encourage using the edge of a desk here to line up the angles correctly.

Materials, Components and Tools needed for this step:

• Duct Tape
• Velcro hooks and loops
• Salt Chute (Step 1: Prepping The Cup Salt Chute)
• Salt Spinner (Step 2: Build The Salt Spinner)
• 1 X Matching lid for the drink cup
• The Hopper (Step 3: Assemble The Hopper)
• Plier Snips (Or something to trim the dowel with if necessary)

1. insert the Salt Spinner into the Salt Chute. This will be loose and that it ok.
2. Line up the opening of the top of the Salt Chute to the opening of the front of the Hopper. This is the section you cut out in "Step 3: Assemble The Hopper": "Step 8".
3. Trim the top of the dowel so that the bottom of the Salt Spinner will sit just a little higher than the ridge of the Salt Chute (Line up your lid here to gauge the space needed). The Salt Spinner should have just enough space to spin freely here and there should be enough of the dowel to sit in the drill chuck so that it maintains the angle needed when the drill is held to perpendicular to the ground to create a gravity feed from the hopper for the salt.
4. Fasten the Salt Chute to the Hopper and maintain the angle from the previous step.
5. Tape any holes in the lid and fasten to the bottom of the Salt Chute
6. Connect the Salt Spinner dowel to the drill and strap it to the Launch container.
7. I added an extra strap on the front here for more stability as the weight of the salt shifts forward.

You now have an awesome DIY Salt Spreader

The materials in this build were sturdy enough to create a minimum viable product. When using household plastic containers and disposable plastic cups, you do lose rigidity however. This is also not the nicest looking build however it is just a prototype. If you wish to stick with this design, spray paint may be your friend here ;).

During the build, I discovered different ways of how I would assemble this if I was starting from scratch. My next iteration of this will make use of the available modular PVC components and a sturdier hopper container. I may also change the design up altogether so that it uses a 3D printed spinner disc although that may be less accessible for some makers. This does work really really well however and creates a nice even spread of salt.

One other consideration I tried to take in this build was to avoid salt contacting metal components on the drill and the battery to avoid potential damage. I believe using the lid above the front section of the Hopper and a wooden dowel helps with this.