@SulleyBear - Let's see this heater! (and bonus points for showing a fire extinguisher!)
Cool write up - It's not just Kyle waiting for your lengthy and enjoyable posts.
Here is the hot crack machine on the tractor. You can't see the large fire extinguishers on the trailer, but trust me, they are there. They are probably lying down behind the traffic cones, which I had to add another 20 of those cones this year, as I have multiple areas closed at once while the mastic cures, etc.....
I regularly catch the machine on fire using the large weed torch on the LP tank on the trailer, to open up the flow control valve and the shoe for applying the sealant. I always just let it burn itself out when using the machine as it doesn't take long and its just material burning...........
Now, just imagine the kind of driver you have to be in order to achieve the following crack filling result..............Actually, you can't cross at certain angles or it damages the material, so they when they are this "complicated", they are done in stages. I had to finish the cracks not filled when this material cured enough, which is usually just a few minutes.
The material cures so quickly, you can drive across it in less than 20 seconds and not damage it or get it on the vehicle. Your shoes are another matter entirely, it bonds so strongly to the work boot soles, it can trip you and cause you to fall......as your boots stick to the material like its super glue............I have a dedicated pair of work boots just for working on this project each year.......I need to take a picture of the soles and post it. They feel like Herman Munster boots when walking in them the soles are so thick now.....and stiff....
Often, when I am filling a crack which is all the way across the road, I will carry "Chick Grit" with me on the machine and throw it over the filling as I lay it down. That way, the repair can be crossed immediately with a vehicle and not harm the repair or get it on the vehicle.
The chick grit is crushed cherry granite and its fine. Since chicken and birds don't have teeth, they consume the grit or larger birds larger stones, which go into their gizzards and grind up the food they eat, so they get nutrition from it. Otherwise, without the stones or the grit, the birds can starve to death. Some bird feeders actually mix in "Cherry Grit" or "cherry stone" in the winter to help keep the birds diets healthy. They have to eat rocks of different sizes, based upon their body mass to process their food and digest it.
The Chick Grit also works very well for filling larger cracks which are going to be hot rubber filled as the chick grit is angular and it packs very well and stays put in the cracks. Otherwise, they just keep consuming the rubber. The chick grit is about $8 for a 50lb bag at our local mill............It comes out of a quarry in Minnesota.........
I bet someone learned something new about their feathered friends in this post.......or maybe not.
Cherry Stone® Poultry Grit – TCC Materials