REAL MAN TRUCKWORKS & SURVIVAL
GENERAL TOPICS => D.O.T. => Topic started by: OldKooT on August 15, 2015, 09:14:12 AM
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We all live in a variety of different places and winter has unique challenges to us all. What if anything do you do to prepare for the winter months? And given this years El Nino events unfolding, have you changed your preparations in any ways? I will start.....
It's August, so we are about ready to put up more wood. I heat my shop/barn with wood as well as the house in emergency's, so we usually make sure we have 12 Cords of split seasoned hard wood available. It will take a few days of the entire family working together to do this. We store it all under a roof with a 1 cord supply kept near the house under cover in case of deep snow.
We also put up 400 bushel of corn for the winter. This is our main heating fuel so it's a given we make sure we have a solid supply of cleaned, ready to burn low moisture corn.
We fill the underground propane tank. 1500ga
We always tune and maintenance both generators. I also make my annual trip up the wind mill and grease/lube the pump and linkages.
I also will give both electric well pumps a quick look-see. Latter in Sept I will shut down all but one of the outside hydrants and drain the water lines to the buildings. We always make sure all 3 wells are ready to deal with sub zero weather.
Door/window check. I spend a day every fall minimal making sure any windows in the buildings are solid, no cracks or loose panes. Same with doors, I will lube all the hinges or tracks and check that they can be secured firmly yet.
Winter storage of equipment: About Sept I start this project here at the house. We have a amazing (ridiculous) amount of stuff to ready for a winters rest. Anything from weed eaters to the mowers will stat to get tucked away. Tanks drained, oil changed and so forth. About this time I usually drag out the self propelled snow blower, and the Stihl power broom, and make sure they are ready for snow.
I also maintenance the old Case skid loader, remove the summer "bald" tires, put on the winter rubber, and toss the chains on. I will also do a fluids change and check the block warmer. We don't use this machine much, but in bad storms my dooryard can drift in 10' deep, making the pickup mounted plow useless.
I will service the pickups plow and move it to the shop for easy connection in 5 minutes if needed.
End of sept I will tie a nylon climbing rope to the house which leads to the barn/shop/kennels/stable. In blizzards this is a life saver. I also will hang the snow shoes in the breezeway.
I will pound in 10' steel stakes in the ground at assorted important locations so as to not plow my wife's landscaping into a large snow pile. When I do this I also usually call the post office and switch to a PO box for the winter.
This is a partial list, along with my wife making sure we have 6mo of Meat, dry goods and supplies stocked. We also usually buy a dozen or so good books for those long days when there is not lots else to do.
So what do you all do before winter?
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That is a big list of projects to be taken care of.
We get the heat pump and alarm systems checked out, winterize the sprinkler system, make sure our kids are up to date with the contact lists. Make up a list of stuff to pack in the car and head to AZ for the winter.
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that is definitely the life of a farmer. I miss it but then again I will hopefully be back there someday.
where do you snow bird in AZ bob?
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I grow a beard and increase my calorie intake.
But seriously if I'm in the camper I get out the 100# propane bottles. I have 3 and always ALWAYS have 1 in use and at least 1 filled and sitting right next to the current one in use for a quick swap. Running out of propane in the winter in a camper is a few steps down from life and death. If the furnace goes out in the middle of the night at -10 then you are sleeping in a 40' long ice cube within an hour. And if it stays cold it's an absolute nightmare to un thaw. There was one winter in WY the board that controls my furnace went out while I was at work. By the time I got home it was frozen solid. Got the heat going again and it took a week of furnace on blast and space heaters underneath to finally get the last frozen plug out of the water line. I brushed my teeth with melted snow and showered at a truck stop. Not fun.
I also install the skirting on the camper. I have sewn skirting that is custom fit for my camper so I install that. Then all that's left is make sure my heat tapes are going. I have around 60' of heat tape on various water lines to keep them flowing.
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where do you snow bird in AZ bob?
Small home in Bullhead City
Husker, I spent a couple months in a 1966 travel trailer with galv. pipes in Moses Lake WA dead of winter. My neighbor ran out of propane and without thinking about how cold it was, he borrowed my tank. Well when I got back to the RV after a weekend away it was a mess. All the faucets had ice hanging from them and all the T's and elbows in the waterlines had to be replaced. He did buy all the parts and helped tear it apart and repair.
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bob, I drove past your place in the summer of 08. I was moving from fort sill ok to fort lewis and I took 40 all the way to Barstow the 99 to 5. i remember i drove past kingman and saw that diesel was $4 and as soon as i crossed the line into cali the price literally jumped $1 for no reason but because it was commifornia!!!!!!
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I put the screens on the house so I can open the windows and get some cool air. Jus sayin
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Winter's comin'?
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I pull out my hoodies and my Carhartt jacket, wool watch cap, fleece watch cap. Prepo one fleece beanie in my work bag along with a pair of gloves. Accept that it's about it get stupid cold, and icy.
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I pull out my hoodies and my Carhartt jacket, wool watch cap, fleece watch cap. Prepo one fleece beanie in my work bag along with a pair of gloves. Accept that it's about it get stupid cold, and icy.
^^^Grunt simple right there^^^^^
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^^^Grunt simple right there^^^^^
Its a wonderful thing! :)
I grow a beard
Also this is an important step.
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I do the beard thing year round. I do however make every attempt to grow more hair on my head prior to snow season.
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I would love to be allowed to grow a beard, but unfortunately the CPAP machine face mask does not like the facial hair for sealing.
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Nate.... my Mom has one of those and she's forever complaining about how it doesn't seal correctly. I think she's tried two dozen different masks now.
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I do the beard thing year round.
I usually do as well, but I shaved mine off recently, and it's not fun.
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I do the beard thing year round.
I usually do as well, but I shaved mine off recently, and it's not fun.
Pics or it didn't happen...
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My goodness Norm, wouldn't suicide be easier (jk everyone)?
All we do around here is put on some slightly longer shorts and go back to cooking outside. lol
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I do the beard thing year round.
I usually do as well, but I shaved mine off recently, and it's not fun.
Pics or it didn't happen...
X2
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I usually do as well, but I shaved mine off recently, and it's not fun.
Pics or it didn't happen...
Pics or it didn't happen...
X2
I hate you both. >:(
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where do you snow bird in AZ bob?
Small home in Bullhead City
Husker, I spent a couple months in a 1966 travel trailer with galv. pipes in Moses Lake WA dead of winter. My neighbor ran out of propane and without thinking about how cold it was, he borrowed my tank. Well when I got back to the RV after a weekend away it was a mess. All the faucets had ice hanging from them and all the T's and elbows in the waterlines had to be replaced. He did buy all the parts and helped tear it apart and repair.
What a nightmare. I've been fortunate both of my campers have pex style water lines so when they freeze they flex and don't break. The downfall of that is they don't transfer heat very well. Hence my spider web of heat tapes.
Two Christmases ago we were up in Erie PA at a campground by my in laws. It was the worst winter I've ever tried to weather in a camper. I've done winters in WY, MT, MI and several others and that was the worst. Midnight or there about on Xmas eve the parks breaker that ran the heat tape and light bulb on his hydrants decided to blow. Which was fun fixing the campgrounds infrastructure. Turns out the light bulb burnt out and tripped the breaker. Ever try finding a 100 watt bulb in the early morning hours of December 25th? Yeah it was tough. It was so cold my sewer line froze which I've never had happen. Ended up just replacing it. Brought the frozen one into the shower to thaw out and I roasted them like that for s month. Freeze, replace, thaw repeat. I'm hoping to have a house by winter this year. I'm so tired of wintertime camping.
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My goodness Norm, wouldn't suicide be easier (jk everyone)?
All we do around here is put on some slightly longer shorts and go back to cooking outside. lol
LoL Ken.....Weather in Nebraska can be harsh. Sometimes we spend Christmas eve after church sitting outside in our shorts also. You hear the old saying "if you don't like the weather wait 10 minutes" in many places. I have grown to accept it may have been invented in Nebraska LoL
I remember one day my wife getting a all over tan on our front lawn, at 3pm we had a Tornado, and 8pm we were in 4x4 pushing snow drifts with the trucks bumper. It's just life around here. We have a record high Temp of 118 Degrees, a record low of -47 degrees. No one will ever accuse of us of having much predictability. Mother nature can be harsh here, so we prepare as best we can, while we can.
The list I gave is just a small part of it. That's just for here at home. Down at the farm the list is even longer. The talk this year is can we harvest corn before it snows... Signs of Winters approach are very noticeable in the animals/nature. An example, my trees leaves are turning and dropping already.
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We just make sure the propane tank is full. Keep a couple weeks worth of food around. The longest we have been snowed in was 4 days. Hook up the PTO generator so its ready. I wanted one that automatically starts on its own but I don't write the checks so I was out voted. We have a spare 1000 gallon and 500 gallon propane tanks on trailers for the drying bins. We keep them full so If need be can drag them up and hook into the house. All necessary equipment has full tanks of fuel and are kept inside the heated shop. Pay loader, Skid loader, and generator tractor. That way if power goes out in the middle of the night everything is still warm in the shop.
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We have the normal lists but this year I added and completed a couple to help make it easier. First I built a shed for the tractor so that I won't have to dig it out of the snow. Second I spread several loads of gravel on the driveway. Our driveway is somewhat steep and is facing north and is in the trees. The top of the driveway is flat and in the sunshine. So the ice at the top melts, runs down the driveway and re-freezes in the shade into a slick sheet of ice. This was made worse by the driveway being beaten down over the years and most of it being concave - it would hold water. So I spread the gravel and reshaped it making it convex so that when the water runs it will hopefully run off to the sides and avoid the downhill ice skating rink! Fingers crossed for improvement.
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Well I've started now. Had some snow over the weekend. It's gone now, but old man winter is a knocking.
At the cabin, plastic goes over all the screens to keep the gazebo functional all year.
Generator gets an oil change, trampoline gets put away. General clean up of the yard so the ski-doos don't get tore up. Went out for a firewood walkabout to locate standing dead for need wood emergencies. Check propane tanks and determine which need filled. This waits for snow as 100# tanks are much easier to bring where they are needed by sleigh.
Around the house, general cleanup, one last grass cut get skidoos out and give a once over. Put sleighs up on blocks so they don't freeze to the ground. Winter tires go on to mamas car, plow goes onto quad.
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I pulled my sweater out of storage.....
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RN, you cant even say it got cold in your area............;D
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I get out my winter shorts. There is only a short time here that gets cold ( to us).
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Take the shovel off the hook and go deal with this crap! 5-7 inches and still falling- wet n heavy so pulling out the snowblower too!
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wish I was there with you mike, I miss me some snow!
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You can keep it all. I have none up here and that's fine with me.
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Still falling, but slowly and we're near a foot total! Gotta love that first snow of the season......NOT!
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Still falling, but slowly and we're near a foot total! Gotta love that first snow of the season......NOT!
Isn't it amazing how every year people forget how to operate in snow.
Was just out to check on lake. We were nearly froze I've last week, then warmed up and rained for a couple days. Made a mess of roads and ice. Then we had a couple days of wind, 30+ mph. That wreaked havoc on it
(http://i1134.photobucket.com/albums/m605/sammconn/6E3FC78A-4B62-4712-9194-95C5470325A8.jpg) (http://s1134.photobucket.com/user/sammconn/media/6E3FC78A-4B62-4712-9194-95C5470325A8.jpg.html)
It's real ugly looking but the chunks are at least four inches thick. May just be going for a walk tomorrow afternoon.
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The high today was 61. Down right inclement weather. Time for a fire
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11/21/8dbf9c945bdfa453da91918e0a0f379c.jpg)
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The high today was 61. Down right inclement weather. Time for a fire
(http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/11/21/8dbf9c945bdfa453da91918e0a0f379c.jpg)
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:P
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^^^ Good lookin' one!
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I'm with RN on this.
Bout the only thing I do is split some firewood so I have something to snuggle up with the wife by. Oh, I did put new wipers on my truck. It does rain a little more in the winter down here sometimes.
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Well, went for a walk this afternoon.
All this talk of 65...were setting around 10ish.
Made about a mile from the marina. Ice in the 5-7" range.
There was open water 24-48 hours ago at this point.
Ice ridge piled in a mess, and suddenly 2" or so ice thickness.
I stopped there, staying dry is more a priority than testing my floater suit and ice picks.
I expect by next weekend it'll be GTG.
Also pulled out the sleds, pre season check time.
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Going to winterize the trailer next weekend. We're going to use it one more time this coming Friday, then it's put away for the winter. Down in the mid 20's at night lately so I got a space heater going in there at night until I can get it winterized
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I'm protesting the plummeting temps. I still am working in the garage with the big door open!
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Similar to cudakidd, we received a wet and heavy 12 inches of snow. Apparently they had been forecasting it all week? I dunno, didn't pay any attention. So it caught me off guard, last weekend was 60 degrees for cryin out loud. Luckily I had just finished throwing the snow chains on the tractor and doing the pre-winter service. So it wasn't a big deal. And I had just enough fuel to get the job done! Which was also a surprise, thought I had 10 more gallons left.
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Going to winterize the trailer next weekend. We're going to use it one more time this coming Friday, then it's put away for the winter. Down in the mid 20's at night lately so I got a space heater going in there at night until I can get it winterized
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That's our same plan. Taking it down to Westport/Tokeland this weekend for Thanksgiving, then winterizing and shuttin' her down for the year. too bad the heater control module took a dump on me Saturday; Amazon will have that to me today, which will be nice considering it was 30deg this am and my 40 mile commute to work was not pleasant.
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Going to winterize the trailer next weekend. We're going to use it one more time this coming Friday, then it's put away for the winter. Down in the mid 20's at night lately so I got a space heater going in there at night until I can get it winterized
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That's our same plan. Taking it down to Westport/Tokeland this weekend for Thanksgiving, then winterizing and shuttin' her down for the year. too bad the heater control module took a dump on me Saturday; Amazon will have that to me today, which will be nice considering it was 30deg this am and my 40 mile commute to work was not pleasant.
Yeah that's not good.
Speaking of heater control... wouldn't it be nice if the furnaces in the RV's wen't lower than 55 degrees! I would love to have one with a 35 degree setting. Not trying to warm the dang thing when i'm not in it, just trying to keep it from freezing.
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I'm still without snow. I do not mind this.
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Going to winterize the trailer next weekend. We're going to use it one more time this coming Friday, then it's put away for the winter. Down in the mid 20's at night lately so I got a space heater going in there at night until I can get it winterized
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That's our same plan. Taking it down to Westport/Tokeland this weekend for Thanksgiving, then winterizing and shuttin' her down for the year. too bad the heater control module took a dump on me Saturday; Amazon will have that to me today, which will be nice considering it was 30deg this am and my 40 mile commute to work was not pleasant.
Yeah that's not good.
Speaking of heater control... wouldn't it be nice if the furnaces in the RV's wen't lower than 55 degrees! I would love to have one with a 35 degree setting. Not trying to warm the dang thing when i'm not in it, just trying to keep it from freezing.
No kidding. I shut the propane off and plug in an oscillating heater that self regulates at 40deg until I truly winterize it.
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Going to winterize the trailer next weekend. We're going to use it one more time this coming Friday, then it's put away for the winter. Down in the mid 20's at night lately so I got a space heater going in there at night until I can get it winterized
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That's our same plan. Taking it down to Westport/Tokeland this weekend for Thanksgiving, then winterizing and shuttin' her down for the year. too bad the heater control module took a dump on me Saturday; Amazon will have that to me today, which will be nice considering it was 30deg this am and my 40 mile commute to work was not pleasant.
Yeah that's not good.
Speaking of heater control... wouldn't it be nice if the furnaces in the RV's wen't lower than 55 degrees! I would love to have one with a 35 degree setting. Not trying to warm the dang thing when i'm not in it, just trying to keep it from freezing.
No kidding. I shut the propane off and plug in an oscillating heater that self regulates at 40deg until I truly winterize it.
If you are trying to keep piping in the underbelly from freezing set a fan in front of the cold air return of the furnace with the electric heater in the living area. That is if you have ducts going down there.
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Hey! I guessed at that and got it right! I use these guys: http://www.laskoproducts.com/ceramic-tower-heater-with-save-smart-technology-model-ct22539/ put one near the bathroom and the other near the bedroom pointed at the galley w/ the cupboards and drawers open, and a little office fan blowing towards the C.A.R. vent. Thanks for making me feel smart Bob 8)