We don't recommend Caliber M1000 for salt pre-treating. For that we usually go with Magic or Caliber M2000. M2000 is more expensive than Magic so most people just stick with Magic. I have read in a few places where people do treat with M1000, however, I believe you will see a significant amount of the product leaching from your piles. Think of this as money slowly seeping out of your pocket! Magic works much better for salt treating.
For parking lot pre-treating/deicing we use Magic and/or Caliber 1000. We like the Caliber over Magic for this application for two reasons. 1. Magic is dark brown and M1000 is clear. Even though they are both water soluable and non-staining the M1000 , being clear, is a neater application. 2. Magic can make roads somewhat slippery if applied to dry pavement at surface temperatures above 32 degrees F. If there is precipitation then that issue is greatly reduced. If surafce temps are below 32 deg. F., again, no problem.
M2000 is recommended for both salt treatments and direct surface applications. It is blue in color so there is that pesky color issue again, and it typically runs about $.15 a gallon more than Magic.
Here we are today treating 100 tons with Magic. Always takes a little longer with a new loader operator until you get a rythmn going, but then it was a breeze!
Pete