Fareham Borough Council has selected ten Meyer Hotshot walk-behind broadcast salt spreaders from Aebi Schmidt to keep a wide variety of pedestrian areas snow – and ice-free this winter.
The Hotshot is part of the product line-up of US-based winter maintenance specialist Meyer – one of the Aebi Schmidt family of brands since its acquisition in 2015 – and is now available in the UK.
Paul Stanley, Transport Manager at Fareham Borough Council, explained the thinking behind the purchase.
‘We have many council-controlled cycleways, pathways and other pedestrianised areas which may not be readily accessible to larger scale equipment. But the Hotshot is perfect for keeping them snow and ice free of ice during the winter months.
‘We have ten crews who will use the Hotshots during the coming winter months following our decision to replace the ageing walk-behind spreaders that we had before, which had reached the end of their economic working lives,’ he comments.
The Hotshots can distribute salt or sand equally well and will help us meet our resilience plans for this coming winter and beyond,’ he said.
The Hotshot comes in two sizes: the 70 HD has a 36.8-litre hopper and a 3.7-metre spreading width, while the larger capacity 100 HD has a 51.0-litre hopper and a 5.5-m spreading width.
Built to withstand the toughest conditions using a stainless steel frame and high-grade components, it has pneumatic snow tyres for easy movement with enclosed bearings and bushings. A quick-removal deflector shield prevents material from flying too far.
At the same time, the Hotshot’s serviceable axle, weatherproof gearbox with Nylatron GS greaseless gears, and self-lubricating moving parts ensure a long, low-maintenance, and reliable working life.
However, it is not just suitable for the winter; the Meyer Hotshot is also designed for summer maintenance needs and the distribution of feed and seed during the summer months.
‘We’ve not used it for summer maintenance requirements, but it’s good to know it has a dual-purpose role,’ adds Paul.
He is responsible for a large and diverse fleet at Fareham BC with 28 heavy goods vehicles, including 23 refuse collection vehicles and a fuel tanker, 59 light commercial vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, several sweepers and 110 pieces of plant and equipment.
The sweepers, which include three Aebi Schmidt Swingo compact sweepers and a Street King 660 truck-mounted sweeper, all operate on HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil).
‘About one-third of the fleet runs on HVO now, including all the Aebi Schmidt sweepers,’ said Paul. ‘This saves around 85% of our previous carbon emissions and will contribute to our collective plan to be carbon neutral by 2030,’ he comments.
One of the main reasons for purchasing the Meyer Hotshots was that they were supplied by Aebi Schmidt and of high quality.
‘The Council has used Aebi Schmidt equipment since before I joined in 2021, and it has always been of the highest quality, with excellent training, back-up and support. We expect nothing less with the Hotshots.’
Aebi Schmidt UK sales manager, Matthew Elderkin, comments: ‘We have had a great relationship with Paul at Fareham Council for the last three years now and he has always been a leading thinker in innovative fleet management. The purchase of the Hotshots underlines his commitment to having a robust winter resilience plan in place, and we are sure they will be more than up to the challenge.’
