Hard winter coming

[AJMD429]

Hook garden hoses to warm water spigot and get them all soft, then drain and coil them in 55 gal bucket, except for one 'emergency' hose.

Put stock-tank de-icers in the tanks.

Plenty of firewood stocked up.

Plenty of food stocked up (people-food, hay, grain, chicken, and dog-food)

Light the chicken quarters if we want many eggs.

Put anti-freeze in any water-containing appliances in the outbuildings (spare washing machines, etc.)

Take out the &^#($@(&) window air conditioners.

Put 50 lb. of sunflower seed in the birdfeeder (lasts about a week).

[Don McDowell]

How would you know if a hard winter is coming?

[rafter-7]

Make sure you have no.1 diesel in your push cat



^

[Don McDowell]

Make sure you have no.1 diesel in your push cat



^

Make sure the wife has a good set of Carharts, scotch cap, and choppers mittens, so she won't get so cold running that cat.....

And a big jug of anti gel, and a 5 gallon can of kerosene for when the #1 starts to getting sluggish.

[.45colt]

I am starting to worry, this fall in N/E ohio has been very mild.only a trace of snow. all last week was bluebird Indian summer weather.sunny and in the 50's every day.Is this the calm before the storm? All of the Oak trees here are loaded with acorns this year.it seems like that happenes about every 6-10 years.the local weather reminded us last week of the Veterans Day storm of 1996.We were digging out from 36" of snow right now, and seven miles south of here in Thompson (much higher ground) they had 60".
We put in a wood/coal burning stove last summer. have about two cords of firewood and a ton of hard coal. a full tank of propane for the furnace. check the tractor and anything else with a motor and put Sta-bil in everything. one thing for sure if it's going to break it will be when it's about 10 degrees out.

[Mike D.]

I switch from shorts and flip flops to long jeans and shoes or boots. I might need a jacket it it gets below 50º. Yesterday it was sunny and 80º.

[Huntermb]

living here on the canadian prairies I would love to know what your definition of a hard winter is

[bigbore442001]

I don't do too much about the house but I prepare myself for the most part from December to March when I predominantly wear wool. Wool and polartec fleece rule while cotton kills.

[Blaine]

We don't get much winter here, but I can drive an hour or so and see all the bad mountain winter I want.

[jnyork]

To properly prepare for winter, I turn down the heat in the house to about 45 degrees, have the plumber come in and winterize the plumbing, lock the door and head for southern Arizona.

[Ysabel Kid]

living here on the canadian prairies I would love to know what your definition of a hard winter is

Having moved south to the Carolinas from Michigan about 15 years ago, the difference in preparation is pretty amazing. Here, after the final cutting of the lawn - oh, around mid-December, I usually "winterize" the lawnmower by running out the gas, changing the oil, and sharpening the blade. After all, I'll need the darn thing again in another 2 months!

[pwl44m]

Wrap the pipes and make sure everything either has antifreeze or drained. On a hard night make sure the Cows can get water.And Like Mike D said , switch from Shorts to Pants. Still wear a T-shirt but today I had to put on a Flannel Shirt. Enjoying very good weather now though. That is suppose to change this weekend. Snow down to 2000ft, I am at 1100.

[kimwcook]

living here on the canadian prairies I would love to know what your definition of a hard winter is

I lived too many years in North Dakota so I have a good idea of what a bad winter is.

Blaine, we might have harder winters over here on the east side, but I couldn't take the traffic and people you have to deal with over there.

[BigSky56]

Huntermb, here all along I thought the Canadian prairie was a banana belt I can always tell if a prairie guy is around they all park their rigs headed into the wind danny

[Blaine]

living here on the canadian prairies I would love to know what your definition of a hard winter is

I lived too many years in North Dakota so I have a good idea of what a bad winter is.

Blaine, we might have harder winters over here on the east side, but I couldn't take the traffic and people you have to deal with over there.

I'm out on the edge of where the sticks start about 20 miles south of Tacoma and off the InterState quite a bit.......You get east off of I-5 some and it's not too bad

[Huntermb]

Huntermb, here all along I thought the Canadian prairie was a banana belt I can always tell if a prairie guy is around they all park their rigs headed into the wind danny

Ain't that the truth, and I know it's cold when I do the zipper on the parka all the way up

kimwcook what part of ND did you live in? I make it down to Minot and Fargo a couple of times a year. Yeah you would know winter too for sure.

[Huntermb]

living here on the canadian prairies I would love to know what your definition of a hard winter is

Having moved south to the Carolinas from Michigan about 15 years ago, the difference in preparation is pretty amazing. Here, after the final cutting of the lawn - oh, around mid-December, I usually "winterize" the lawnmower by running out the gas, changing the oil, and sharpening the blade. After all, I'll need the darn thing again in another 2 months!

I look at not having to do yard work or cut the grass for 6 months as a bonus LMAO. I hate yard work, blowing snow is okay but I don't like cutting grass.

[hfcable]

How would you know if a hard winter is coming?

a friend of mine, an athbascan indian, got me on that when i first moved to alaska....he said the signs were pointing to a very hard winter....falling for it i asked how he knew......in his best 'wise old indian' voice he gestured and said......
..." White man, stack up much wood! ..."

[kimwcook]

Huntermb, I lived in Sentinel Butte and Beach. It's real close to the Montana border.

[HEAD0001]

I live in WV which is not nearly as bad as some of the places some of you guys live.

But we keep it simple here. I make sure the propane tank is always topped off. Always start and tune up the propane electrical generator. Check the wiring for the freezer, refrigerator, and TV. Change the globes in the propane lights inside the house. We get alot of power outages. And being up a holler we are usually last on the list to get our electric back in an outage. So I switched everything to propane so I do not have to depend on anyone.

Then I make sure we have plenty of spare fuel for the truck, tractor, and 4-wheeler. Thankfully my firewood cutting days are over.

Buy a few bags of salt. Make sure I have plenty of deer meat canned for food. Also make sure I freeze several gallons of milk, and bread. Along with plenty of lunch meats in the freezer which is always running because of the generator.

All in all nothing special. Just try to think ahead a little bit. And make sure we have all we need for up to two weeks. That always gets us through. Tom.

[Huntermb]

Huntermb, I lived in Sentinel Butte and Beach. It's real close to the Montana border.

I have been through Beach a couple of times, I like the area, lots of room for people, kinda like up here.

[Huntermb]

I never really look at winter as either hard or easy it's just winter. I try not and complain if it gets nasty for longer periods of time, as after all it is my choice to stay where I am. We do get nasty nasty cold and lots of snow (strangely not as much as we used to 30 years ago), but we also get tons of bright sunny days and blues skys that go on for ever that makes the snow dance and shine. Nothing like waking up to a morning and everything is cover in hoare frost either, just beautiful.

[rafter-7]

For me not to have my seasons would be like a fish out of water.. And besides I have found it diffucult to say the least to ride my sled on grass and dirt.

When I get enough snow and the snowmobiles come out I will snap a few pics for your viewing pleasure while you guys are in the southern states

^

[Huntermb]

For me not to have my seasons would be like a fish out of water.. And besides I have found it diffucult to say the least to ride my sled on grass and dirt.

When I get enough snow and the snowmobiles come out I will snap a few pics for your viewing pleasure while you guys are in the southern states

^

+1, I need to get myself a sled again I haven't got one right now. What part of ND are you in?

[Markbo]

I live in southeast Texas. I check my closet to see if I still have any long pants.

[geobru]

When we were in MN, I made sure that I had a heat lamp to put next to the propane tank in case it got cold enough for the gas to liquify. (IIRC, that occurred at around -44) We also put a couple of sleeping bags in each vehicle just in case we were stranded by a storm.

Here in western WA, it is usually pretty mild, but last winter there was a cold snap (for here) that froze hose bibs that weren't protected. Those $3 faucet covers are really cheap insurance.

[damienph]

It's been snowing in east central Kansas (Flint Hills) since noon. Not cold enough for it to stay on the ground long. I like the snow (as long as it is dry) and don't mind the cold but, working for an electric utility, I HATE ice.

We have had two "50 year" ice storms in the past five years. The one in 2007 was the worst in recorded Kansas history.

At home, we just make sure that the generator is running with plenty of fuel stockpiled. I had to run it for 11 straight days in December 2007. Need to keep the house and stock tank heaters going.

At work, we make sure that we have plenty of poles and wire stockpiled, and phone numbers handy in case we need storm restoration help.

[stretch]

I'm just about ready here in central Maine.

The deck furniture is away, all of the culverts cleaned,
the garden is tilled, the leaves are all raked, air
conditioners out, winter tires on, oil barrel filled,
4 or 5 tons of wood pellets stocked, 2 or 3 cords of
dry firewood covered, snowblower and generator are ready - I
just have to give the pellet stove a really good cleaning.

The motorbikes are not yet winterized as we haven't
yet had snow.

Some folks are predicting a cold winter with little snow
around here. Personally, I think we'll have another mild
winter. Last winter was record-setting in it's mildness. I
think this winter will be worse than that, but not a hard one.
We'll see....

-Stretch

[Old Time Hunter]

Huntermb, I lived in Sentinel Butte and Beach. It's real close to the Montana border.

I have been through Beach a couple of times, I like the area, lots of room for people, kinda like up here.

Good thing you only said "been through Beach" as I don't believe anyone actually lives there, it is just a fuel stop half way between Dickenson and Glendive.

Here in Wisconsin, we drain the outside faucets (shut the lines off ten feet inside down in the basement), take the screens down and put on the storm windows, blow out and cover the gutters to help prevent ice dams, make sure the boat is winterized, then most importantly....take the king size bed down and put up the queen size up so it is easier to find the wife.

Oh yeah, almost forgot, buy lots of Howe's Motor Elixer to mix with the No 1...keeps the stuff from waxing.

[rafter-7]

For me not to have my seasons would be like a fish out of water.. And besides I have found it diffucult to say the least to ride my sled on grass and dirt.

When I get enough snow and the snowmobiles come out I will snap a few pics for your viewing pleasure while you guys are in the southern states

^

+1, I need to get myself a sled again I haven't got one right now. What part of ND are you in?

Minot, I have 2 sleds for sale both polairis sports 340 fan cooled one long track and one short track... I moved up to RMK's long paddels and 550 fans



and I have a metal oil pan and a bag of charcoal brickets ready to warm up my propane tank been down that road!

^
7

[olyinaz]

I check my shoes for serviceability. Stash the flip flops and sandals. Check out my blue jeans to see if they still fit (they have a tendency to shrink over the summer...not sure how that happens). Make sure the pool heater is off. Spray for spiders and bugs around the house (they like to come in and snuggle up when it's cold). Air up the tires on all of the cars. Run the heater once with the windows open so that it doesn't stink like burning lint the first time it kicks on in the middle of the night. Stock up on fireplace logs. Hmm...that's all I can think of.

Cheers,
Oly

[hfcable]

up here the easiest way to tell its winter is that the furnace comes on more often

[Huntermb]

up here the easiest way to tell its winter is that the furnace comes on more often

oh so true.

We've got a big blow moving in here today calling for 6 -8 inches of snow and 40MPH winds so will see how that works out. Sounds likea good irish whiskey and movie night coming up