Skid Master - Sander - Ever seen one?

[Charles Furman]

Have any of you ever seen one of these?

This was an option on my 1948 Dodge B1B108 4x4 Woodie. It is a Skid Master - Sander.

There is an activating level on the steering column and two barckets mounted on the insider rear fender wells. The brakets hold a cannister full of traction sand. There is a tube that runs from the sander bracket through the floor right in front of each rear wheels. When the lever on the steering column is actived, the sand from the sand cannister is released onto the ground in front of the rear wheels.

Here are a couple of pictures I took while I had the seats out being reupholstered:

[Bob_Koch]

Wow, never seen them on a smaller vehicle like that. What a great option. The only ones I've seen are for the big trucks. Here's a pic that came out of Reg's Special equipment catalog.

[greg g]

The school bus I rode in to elementary school had gravity sanders on it. There was a bin on each side located under the seats mounted over the wheel arches. I assume that there was some sort of coble operating system near the drivers position. Can't remember if the diver ever used them or not as our route wasn't very hilly. I do remember seeing them on other trucks and busses in the 50's. The road we lived on was plowed regularly and only sanded/salted on hills, turns and at intersections. The town used sand with a very sparse salt content. So most of the road was hard pack snow most of the winter.

[Ken_Hart]

That is really cool. and to have it still installed is amazing considering the rear of those were used to haul stuff and damage could have happened so easily.