
MAINTENANCE MANUAL
20
Important
Keep tarps or eld covers off the eld in freezing weather.
They are difcult to remove when frozen to the surface.
Avoid using a tarp on the eld during freezing weather.
Tarps can freeze to the turf by means of condensation
and thus can be very difcult to remove for a scheduled
event.
ICE REMOVAL
In some cases it will be desirable to go over the surface
with a lawn roller or rotary street broom to break up and
sweep away frost or ice. If the day is sunny and the frost
or ice not excessive, it tends to melt readily over synthetic
surfaces, especially with player foot trafc to aid in the
process.
In the event of extreme cold weather and a heavy layer
of ice, there is little choice but to use chemicals to assist
in getting rid of it. It should be remembered that any
ice-melting chemical put on the eld will leave residues,
which may leave the surface slippery or sticky. Such res-
idues should be washed off the turf as soon as weather
permits.
Many chemicals commonly used for ice melting are
irritating to human skin, corrosive to equipment and/
or harmful to your Act Global sports surfacing system.
Among these are such old standbys as rock salt, ammoni-
um nitrate and calcium chloride. These chemicals should
NOT be used on Act Global sports surfacing systems be-
cause they might irritate players’ skin, corrode equipment
or damage the surface. The only ice melter found to date
that is safe, inexpensive and non-corrosive is fertilizer
grade urea.
When a surface has been subjected to a freezing rain
or is heavily frost-coated, thawing can be hastened by
broadcast application of prilled, fertilizer grade urea. The
spread rate will be determined in some measure by the
amount of ice present, but 100 pounds per 3000 square
feet is a good starting point. After spreading, the urea
should be allowed to remain in place for half an hour or
more to melt the ice. It should then be removed from the
eld (along with the water it has picked up) with a squee-
gee. Urea will be less effective as the temperature drops
below 10 degrees to 12 degrees Fahrenheit. (-9 degrees
to -11 degrees C) and it is ineffective below 0 degrees
Fahrenheit (18 degrees C).
A thick residue of urea will be left behind after the eld
is squeegeed or swept. In wet weather this lm will make
the eld somewhat slippery. As soon as danger of a hard
freeze is past, the eld should be washed down with liber-
al amounts of water to remove traces of the urea.
Warning
DO NOT USE COMMON SALT, ROCK SALT, CALCIUM
CHLORIDE, AMMONIUM NITRATE or other corrosive or
irritating chemicals to melt ice on your Act Global sports
surfacing system. Their presence can damage equip-
ment, be harmful to Personnel and your Act Global sports
surfacing system itself.
Urea may be a mild eye irritant. If it gets into a player’s
eyes, it should be washed out with liberal amounts of
water.
Warning
Act Global does not recommend snow removal from any
surface that utilize an impregnated layer. Snow remov-
al is strictly at the owner’s risk.