Winter driving skills?

Why don’t they teach winter driving skills?  When another snow storm was heading for us, and the forecast said 8-12 inches, the man with the tractor told me to take the full size 4x4 pickup home.  His only advice was don’t bury it!  Good thing, actually, before it had even started to snow, my driveway already had some good drifts blowing across it.  I probably wouldn’t have made it in my car.  Back to winter driving skills, I do what works:  drive really fast and hope to stay on the road while busting through drifts.  If I get stuck (as long as it is not in the ditch) I usually carry a scoop shovel, scoop some snow and manually push my car out.  Yes, push it out, (I've had a lot of practice in this) there is something to be said for lightweight cars. 

So we had about 6-8 inches of snow, but of course 8-18 inches was sitting on my driveway.  I walked the drive – yep, pretty deep.  I didn’t need to go anywhere, but kind of thought the tractor and blade would show up, sometime, but they never did. 

The next day, I had to get out, and early.  With trepidation, I called and was told my drive probably wouldn’t get done today, but I had 4 wheel-drive.  Not really knowing the capabilities of said vehicle, I asked if it could tackle 8-12 inches and was told, don’t break anything…go through the field instead.  You know, I kind of like “waiting to be rescued”, the responsibility isn't on my shoulders.  That’s a lot of pressure – don’t break anything. 

So, I put the snow boots on, had snow pants, stocking hat, gloves and the scoop shovel in the truck ready to go, just in case I found myself walking.  I used my only winter driving technique – drove fast and decided to opt for the path of less snowfall, through the field.  (It’s kind of nice to have 80 acres to choose from).  With palms sweaty, I made it. 

I asked many coworkers about the capabilities of a full size four wheel drive pick up.  I was told 8-18 inches shouldn’t be a problem.  How come vehicles don’t have that sort of capability written on their sticker?  With a driveway like mine, it would be good to know… how does a Jeep compare to other all wheel drive or 4 wheel drive vehicles? How much different is a small sized pickup versus a full size?  A general rule of thumb would be nice.  Do you think dealers would allow me to test drive – only in the winter on my driveway?  Depending on the snowfall it may take a few years to finish my research.

With my new found courage and the knowledge that driving to my house is mostly downhill, I decided to try the driveway itself when I came home.  It was a wild ride, 18 inches was more the norm and yet I still made it.  The drive out the next morning really showed how deep the snow was, but I made it again.

The man with the tractor finally showed up and was rather impressed with the capabilities of his truck, or was it my driving?

Snow Day/Blizzard

Snow day and/or blizzard.  There are subtle differences.  Both usually mean that I won’t be going anywhere, or anywhere far.  Yes, I finally believe it is time to invest in a four wheel drive vehicle.  My car has gotten stuck twice in the past week.  One day it wasn’t even snowing.  The man with the tractor is getting rather annoyed.  But I keep thinking of mpg of four wheel drive versus my car.  Hard to stomach, so I think I will wait until summer.  I mean it is March already and the snow has to end sometime, right?

My morning always starts out the same.  My dog wakes me up by 6am because he is ready to go out and remind the world that this is his territory.  I put on my “smoky clothes” and boots to check and fill the outdoor wood stove.  I usually can fill it at 6am and again at 6pm or later and that is it.  As I head out the garage, I always check the battery status – or in this case voltage.  I have mentioned that the voltage really doesn’t tell me much, but right now it is the only gauge I have.   
With snow forecasted for today, the chance of much solar is slim, my only electrical hope is that the wind will kick in (which means I will be snowed in for a much longer while).  In order to gain as much solar as possible, I grab the long handled broom to “brush” the snow off the solar panels.  There is no way around it, I usually end up with most of this snow in my face and down my boots.  Usually it eventually melts off, but the quicker I can get juice flowing the better I think.

This morning I avoid walking the driveway because there is no way after 5-6 inches of snow that I will be going anywhere today.  Instead I surmise that I won’t need to start the generator, won’t need much electricity during the day anyway and this way I can wait to see if the sun comes out or the wind picks up. 

At 10:30am it is still a calm but unrelenting snowfall.  The temperature is around 30 degrees and so to ward off cabin fever, I strap on the snowshoes and head out before the forecasted wind begins blowing.  It is a beautiful hike through the woods.  This has to be one of the best kinds of snow day – where one can actually go outside and enjoy the snow rather than being cooped up inside because the windchill is way below zero and there are gale force winds. 

However, there are merits to a blizzard…I have loads of power.  The wind turbine is working overtime and it will continue into the night.  It might not mean much to you, but it makes all the difference to me.  I can vacuum, do laundry and even watch some tv at night.  On a calm snow day like today, I have plenty of natural light during the day so I can get odd jobs around the house done, if I have the ambition, but nothing too spectacular.  And nighttime usually comes early.  Is it too horrible to wish for a little wind?

Ode to Wood Splitting

I have had an outdoor wood stove for about three years now.  The wood boiler heats the water that runs through my concrete floors (yes, all three levels).  I love the radiant floor heat, and the wood cutting is not so bad.  As long as I keep the pieces no more than two foot in length and that I can lift them, no splitting involved.  I've gotten pretty used to a chainsaw, in my mind anyway.  I have a pair of chaps (thank goodness) to protect my legs and even have a few holes in them - hence the necessity of them.  But I have given up on cutting trees down.  I can cut them up, usually, but I leave the cutting down part to an expert or whoever else I can convince to do the job.
Today, I had some rather large pieces and decided it would be a lot easier if they were split.  I've watched people split wood with a wedge and axe and thought I should give it a go.  The first log I chose already had a hole down the center.  I figured half the work was done for me so I should start with an easy one to build my confidence.  I am sure some of you can figure out what happened...yes, the wedge slipped into the hole and of course got stuck.  How does one pull a wedge back out?  It really wasn't helping at all with the splitting of the wood.  Luckily, (of course) I realized the hole went all the way through and using a screwdriver, a rather large one, I was able to pound the wedge back out the top.
Then I was able to try it again.  This time it worked and I split another log (with a hole in it as well) and another.  Smooth sailing.  Maybe there is no need for a mechanical wood splitter, but then, I looked at the pile of logs I had left to split and thought my time could be much better spent and a mechanical splitter would take about half an hour to finish the lot.  Hmmm.  Can I justify the cost?  Or do I count the calorie burning, weight lifting/resistance as a gain and just do it by hand?

Stove is fixed, I think?

  So, the stove issue was finally resolved by the last ditch effort – replacing the rope seal on the door.  Of course it has to be one of the coldest days of the winter to stand outside with the stove door open, pulling off the old rope, applying an adhesive for the new rope and placing the new rope around the inside of the door.  That's it?  After a few months of scratching my head?

But now the wind monitor has really gone kaput.  This was the only monitor that told me the battery percentage (which is fairly useful) and the wind production.  The monitor has never worked properly in the two years that I have had it.  This is the second device the company sent, and it still doesn't work.  Whenever I run the generator, the device display goes out.  If I unplug the wires and replug them in, then it works.  But not this time.  It is time for a different wind and battery monitor. 

 

 

Stove Issue 2+

Cleaning the creosote wasn't the solution.  The water had reached a temperature over 200 degrees and by early morning it was down to 124.  I guess I better try adjusting the door today.  I picked up a real - normal sized crescent wrench from my dad's shop.  

It was an easy job - loosen the nut, tap the bolt towards the stove and retighten the nut.  I added wood to the fire and waited.  The temperature seemed to stay the same.  Maybe this has done the trick.  

I left for a few hours, but came back and the stove was over 200 degrees again.  What's the deal here?  In the dark, I readjusted the door making it even tighter.   Now I will have to wait until morning to see if the tighter door solves my issue.

Easy, right?  But that wasn't all...Today I noticed that my monitor for the wind and battery percentage was out - the screen had gone blank.  This usually happens every time I run the generator to recharge the batteries.  But I haven't ran the generator for a few days and it was working fine this morning.  So, I did what I always do, unplug it, wait a few seconds, replug it and...Nothing.  I checked the wires, they were all attached... I guess this one is beyond me.

There must be some device that will tell me what my wind turbine is producing and my battery percentage.  Voltage readings do little for me.