Spalding: Mini Gritter Tested

By Tom Horn, 10th February 2012, 06:00

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A mini gritter is being used on roads around Spalding.

The machine, a Unimog 500 [pictured - right], is being tested by Lincolnshire County Council.

It is being trialled on rural, narrow roads in and around Spalding.

If the trial is successful, Lincolnshire County Council could purchase more of the machines to replace older gritters.

Winter Maintenance Engineer, David Davies, said: "We are really keen to see how well this specialist mini gritter performs on the county’s roads in winter weather. 

We are looking to replace some of our gritters over the next few years and what we like about this one is that it’s a multi-purpose vehicle, giving us more flexibility with the areas we can salt and plough and we could even attach a snow-blower.

Sometimes we can’t get down a road because there are cars parked either side. 

A smaller gritter like this would mean that we can. It also has four wheel drive and can be converted really easily into a grass-cutting machine in the summer, which is another attractive feature. 

It ploughs and distributes salt in the same way as our standard gritters and can store five cubic metres of salt on board."