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Snow Melter Can Be Used For Snow Removal

WALTHAM (CBS) - The average person doesn't have a lot of options when it comes to snow removal. You can shovel, use a snow blower, or perhaps even get a plow to visit the yard.

But, commercial clients are going one step further by renting portable snow melters and speeding up the job mother nature takes her time getting done.

Antico Snow Removal in Waltham has one such snow melter, which it rents out for around $1200 an hour. It makes quick work of tons of snow, melting huge chunks in just minutes.

WBZ caught up with one in action at a Woburn parking lot, where the goal was to clear away as much as possible both to reclaim lost parking spots and to make room for more snow expected tomorrow.

WBZ-TV's Jim Armstrong reports.

The melter works by keeping a huge tub of water inside at about 55 degrees. That's warm enough to melt snow and ice and send it out a massive hose into the storm drains below.

The machine gobbles down some 90 gallons of fuel an hour to keep running, but Antico's owner says that's more efficent than running dozens of dump trucks back and forth to just move the snowpiles.

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