Snow

[BigK]

55 minutes ago, Darrell said:

And my ice-dam is getting close to collapsing:

 

Not exactly the same thing as your ice dam, but have you seen this cool device for removing the heavy snow?

 

[gregintenn]

4 minutes ago, Erik88 said:

I'm not sure if I shared this but when we went to Finland in November our rental had studded snow tires. I was amazed at how much traction I had. They mandate snow tires there and do not use salt. They put down crushed gravel. Even the buses had no issue getting up and down snow covered hills. Never saw a single wreck. I'm a believer in studded snow tires. 

Took me 15 minutes to get my wife's car out of our driveway this morning even with traction boards. This storm taught me you really have to shovel the snow before it turns to ice. I won't make that mistake again.

 

 

I dunno, Erik. I shoveled the patio clean and dry. Then it rained. It is the slickest thing around here now. Unless you just wanted the exercise, I think you might just be ahead this go round.

[FUJIMO]

6 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

I dunno, Erik. I shoveled the patio clean and dry. Then it rained. It is the slickest thing around here now. Unless you just wanted the exercise, I think you might just be ahead this go round.

Once again it's all where you were at. My back porch is stamped concrete so a shovel salt etc is a no no. I did however use the leaf blower and a broom to attack it that first morning. From that point a hit with the broom or blower every morning has kept it dry and clean. But the driveway is another story. If I had the rain sleet mix some of yall received my back porch would probably be an ice rink right now.

[Erik88]

I think sun/shade makes a difference too. My neighbors that shovelled their driveway after the first day have remained dry and clear ever since, even after the rain. 

A friend of mine has a flamethrower. I would have been a hero with that thing. 

[NoBanStan]

I feel you guys in this. My driveway and front steps are aggregate, so a shovel is impossible unless I want to damage it. So I just have to go in through the garage.

[pop pop]

Just cleaned the last Ice from my sidewalk and steps a few minutes ago. My wife's 92 Y O sister is here recouping from a broken hip. Her therapist is coming in 45 min to give her in home PT. Drive is totally melted off and yard about half. Glad for the Jan thaw in this next week, but not looking forward to the rain although we need it. 

[Sleep profit]

1 hour ago, gary_boom said:

Where I use to work bought us Winter Walkers cleat like things to slip over our boots. They really help when walking on snow and ice. A lot of us are just one fall away from the nursing home.

I bought something like you are taking about with little screw heads insert in them they definitely helped  

[jpx2rk]

4 hours ago, gregintenn said:

DO they even still sell studded tires anywhere?

I worked at a full service service station while in HS (70-73), and I remember people wanting the studded snow tires, so the owner had to invest in a pneumatic gun that would "shoot" the metal studs into the pre-molded holes/locations on the newer snow tires.  Could only do this on new tires as the studs would not grip good in tires that had been driven w/o the studs.  Was fun to learn that task, but it got old very quickly, even for a teenager.  I also remember hearing those studded tires "singing" at highway speeds similar to the "mudder" tires of today, and those days of doing nothing but unmounting regular tires, and mounting the snow tires for the upcoming season.  This was before people bought an extra set of rims for winter tires.  I usually would work at the service station on "snow days" when school was out, the owner would call the house and tell mom he was coming to get me as they needed the help putting on chains/snow tires and pulling people out of the ditches.  Good times.  

[gregintenn]

2 minutes ago, jpx2rk said:

I worked at a full service service station while in HS (70-73), and I remember people wanting the studded snow tires, so the owner had to invest in a pneumatic gun that would "shoot" the metal studs into the pre-molded holes/locations on the newer snow tires.  Could only do this on new tires as the studs would not grip good in tires that had been driven w/o the studs.  Was fun to learn that task, but it got old very quickly, even for a teenager.  I also remember hearing those studded tires "singing" at highway speeds similar to the "mudder" tires of today, and those days of doing nothing but unmounting regular tires, and mounting the snow tires for the upcoming season.  This was before people bought an extra set of rims for winter tires.  I usually would work at the service station on "snow days" when school was out, the owner would call the house and tell mom he was coming to get me as they needed the help putting on chains/snow tires and pulling people out of the ditches.  Good times.  

Where I grew up, a 4WD was all but a necessity. i could easily get by without one now, but old habits dies hard. 

[Erik88]

7 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

Where I grew up, a 4WD was all but a necessity. i could easily get by without one now, but old habits dies hard. 

I'll never own a 2WD truck. There is nothing worse in snow. Even a Honda Civic would be better. I was thankful for my truck this week. 

[monkeylizard]

1 hour ago, Sleep profit said:

I bought something like you are taking about with little screw heads insert in them they definitely helped 

+1 to those. Yaktrax is another popular brand. They use coils or chains & cables, depending on how serious you want to get. https://www.amazon.com/stores/Yaktrax/page/6A1DA552-1ACD-4668-93BD-1C24EEE18432

Edited January 22 by monkeylizard

[OldIronFan]

It really is interesting to see the change in norms. 

When I was young a factory 4x4 truck was a rarity. A vast majority of of trucks sold were 2wd. 
Now in the current full size truck marketplace the vast majority are 4wd. If you want a 2wd truck you are either buying a fleet/work truck or a small midsize truck like a Frontier, Ranger, or Canyon. 

AWD was virtually unheard of. Now it is also common place in sedans, crossovers, and small SUV's. I started driving at a point were cars were transitioning from mostly RWD to mostly FWD. 

I currently have a 2wd full size truck (F150), a FWD hatchback (Mazdaspeed 3), a RWD sports car (MX-5), a FWD Van (Mazda 5), and an AWD crossover (Forrester) in the fleet. 

I stole the wife's Forester last week to get to work. Snow mode and AWD made life easy. Today I took the FWD van since the roads are all but clear. I will probably drive the truck the rest of the week since it has not had any exercise in a couple weeks. 

[aknifemaker]

I had a VW beatle years ago and had studded snow tires for the winter, never got stuck in that thing.

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, aknifemaker said:

I had a VW beatle years ago and had studded snow tires for the winter, never got stuck in that thing.

There used to be a commercial for the Beetles where the announcer asked “You ever wonder how the guys who drive the snow plows get to work?” Then it pans to a parking lot full of Beetles. I always thought that was pretty clever.

[gregintenn]

1 hour ago, OldIronFan said:

It really is interesting to see the change in norms. 

When I was young a factory 4x4 truck was a rarity. A vast majority of of trucks sold were 2wd. 
Now in the current full size truck marketplace the vast majority are 4wd. If you want a 2wd truck you are either buying a fleet/work truck or a small midsize truck like a Frontier, Ranger, or Canyon. 

AWD was virtually unheard of. Now it is also common place in sedans, crossovers, and small SUV's. I started driving at a point were cars were transitioning from mostly RWD to mostly FWD. 

I currently have a 2wd full size truck (F150), a FWD hatchback (Mazdaspeed 3), a RWD sports car (MX-5), a FWD Van (Mazda 5), and an AWD crossover (Forrester) in the fleet. 

I stole the wife's Forester last week to get to work. Snow mode and AWD made life easy. Today I took the FWD van since the roads are all but clear. I will probably drive the truck the rest of the week since it has not had any exercise in a couple weeks. 

We try to pick out one vehicle for to drive while the roads are salted. That way I don’t have three to clean up afterwards.

 

You are right about the change in vehicles. When I was a kid, every farmer I knew somehow got by with a half ton, 2WD pickup. Today it appears you need a diesel 4x4 just to drive past a farm.

 

We had one neighbor who rented out his bull. That thing would get in and out of the truck bed by himself. I guess he liked his job. Lol!

Edited January 22 by gregintenn

[monkeylizard]

1 hour ago, OldIronFan said:

 a FWD hatchback (Mazdaspeed 3), a RWD sports car (MX-5), a FWD Van (Mazda 5),

Hello, fellow Mazda-nerd! Mazda Tribute, CX-5, and a Miata in my current lineup. I've had a 323, two 626s, and a Mazda3 hatch. The Miata is a garage queen, but I can't say I wasn't tempted to put the hardtop on and cut some donuts in the cul-de-sac last week  

Edited January 22 by monkeylizard

[monkeylizard]

8 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

We try to pick out one vehicle for to drive while the roads are salted. That way I don’t have three to clean up afterwards.

Same here . . .  the clean Jeep Wrangler stayed in the garage and I drove the already-dirty CX-5. 

[OldIronFan]

8 minutes ago, monkeylizard said:

Hello, fellow Mazda-nerd! Mazda Tribute, CX-5, and a Miata in my current lineup. I've had a 323, two 626s, and a Mazda3 hatch. The Miata is a garage queen, but I can't say I wasn't tempted to put the hardtop on and cut some donuts in the cul-de-sac last week  

This is my 3rd MX-5. It is a supercharged 97. Had another 97 (bounced it off a rock wall) and a 95 that I raced for several years before selling it. Raced a 1st gen RX-7 for a few years as well. Honestly I think the Mazdaspeed 3 would be my favorite if they had just carried the awd system from the speed 6 to it. My MX-5 needs a power steering repair before spring and my Speed 3 needs an injector seal so I have been driving the 5. Once I get the Speed 3 going again the 5 will be sold off, too many cars and not enough garage. 

 

[pop pop]

Some states outlawed the studded snow tires. They really chewed up a summertime road. I had an extra pair of studded snow tires mounted on extra wheels and would change them if snow was predicted. They actually put a bumper jack in my 69 Chevy Impala. Could not get up the hill to my house without them. Lived on a 1 lane country road 1/2 mile long and just one other lived on it, in E KY. Those tires really worked. 

[OldIronFan]

18 minutes ago, gregintenn said:

We try to pick out one vehicle for to drive while the roads are salted. That way I don’t have three to clean up afterwards.

 

You are right about the change in vehicles. When I was a kid, every farmer I knew somehow got by with a half ton, 2WD pickup. Today it appears you need a diesel 4x4 just to drive past a farm.

 

We had one neighbor who rented out his bull. That thing would get in and out of the truck bed by himself. I guess he liked his job. Lol!

My 2wd F150 is a low mile former farm truck. The 82 year old farmer I bought it from bought it new in 06 and managed to put 62,000 miles on it going to the COOP every Saturday for supplies and meds for his Hobby Herd or dump runs. He was a wealthy retired attorney who happened to have a 60~70 head heard of beef cattle. He got rid of his cows at 78 or 79 years old. Finally sold the Farm at about 82 or 83 and moved to "town". I bought the truck from him in 2021 with 62k miles. I do know he had never owned a 4wd truck in 50 years of owning and operating that farm, always 2wd F150 short cab long bed trucks. The couple of times he did get one stuck he just pulled it out with the tractor and went on about his work, no big deal I guess when you have a couple tractors around. 

[Whisper]

I knew a guy who said that you should have 4wd on your truck so that if got stuck while in 2wd, you'd know it was foolish to be out in that kind of weather, and you could shift your truck into 4wd and go back home until weather improved. 

[gregintenn]

2 hours ago, Whisper said:

I knew a guy who said that you should have 4wd on your truck so that if got stuck while in 2wd, you'd know it was foolish to be out in that kind of weather, and you could shift your truck into 4wd and go back home until weather improved. 

That’s how I roll. It would appear my little nuts (kids) didn’t fall far from the tree either. 4wd is plan B. Until it is needed, I’m having fun with it.

[Garufa]

What’s the point in having a tool if you don’t use it?

Rain: 4WD

Gravel: 4WD 

Mud: 4WD 

Snow and/or Ice: 4WD 

I have no intention of getting stuck or going off the road just to prove myself to myself.  

[papa61]

6 hours ago, OldIronFan said:

It really is interesting to see the change in norms. 

When I was young a factory 4x4 truck was a rarity. A vast majority of of trucks sold were 2wd. 
Now in the current full size truck marketplace the vast majority are 4wd. If you want a 2wd truck you are either buying a fleet/work truck or a small midsize truck like a Frontier, Ranger, or Canyon. 

AWD was virtually unheard of. Now it is also common place in sedans, crossovers, and small SUV's. I started driving at a point were cars were transitioning from mostly RWD to mostly FWD. 

I currently have a 2wd full size truck (F150), a FWD hatchback (Mazdaspeed 3), a RWD sports car (MX-5), a FWD Van (Mazda 5), and an AWD crossover (Forrester) in the fleet. 

I stole the wife's Forester last week to get to work. Snow mode and AWD made life easy. Today I took the FWD van since the roads are all but clear. I will probably drive the truck the rest of the week since it has not had any exercise in a couple weeks. 

A good front wheel drive will get a long way. I drove a 1980 Fiesta up I65 one night and had it all to myself. Made it up the hill on Hwy10 into Lafayette where there were no tracks in the snow. There was so much wet snow that when I got home the car was missing slightly, seems snow had packed in between the radiator and the engine and the distributor was wet.

[papa61]

6 hours ago, aknifemaker said:

I had a VW beatle years ago and had studded snow tires for the winter, never got stuck in that thing.

this is why Beetles were used at Baja and on beaches and dunes.