ASPHALT SEALER APPLICATOR

The last time Roger Johnson paid someone to seal his asphalt driveway, it cost him $2,000. This time, he spent only $375 plus 90 minutes riding on a garden tractor.

He was pulling his own sealer application equipment. A foam tank off an old sprayer holds three 5-gallon pails of sealer. It sits on a rolling frame made from a discarded treadmill. The bottom of the tank has a 1½-inch ball valve, which is attached to a rod that goes to the front of the applicator so the driver can turn it on or off. “Sealer drops into the eaves trough and then onto the asphalt,” Johnson explains. The eaves trough try has ½-inch holes spaced every 6 inches.

On the back is a screed made of 8-inch baler belting attached to angle iron that runs the width of the trough. Indoor/outdoor carpeting is glued to the bottom of the belt. Barbell weights are attached to the top of that in three places. “The weights level the sealer and smear it out better,” he says.

A handle on the screed lets Johnson pick it up to turn and make another pass.

Johnson notes that asphalt sealer is a latex product so it cleans up with water.