Wild and Free

I somewhat agree, California should already be an island or sunk in the ocean according to all you hear about earth quakes and fault lines.

What are you trying to torque?

You all need to come tour our mine when it rains and snows to see your daily mud running just like the video.As far as the tires they probably had to change and patch half dozen tires in that film strip.The had to go over all the way because it was down hill.They never showed it pulling itself out of the ditch towards the end.Wonder what the EPA would do if they saw a newly drilled well blow like that now days with everyone standing and watching it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Finally got power back on from our blizzard, super heavy wet snow /sleet mix followed by high winds and we were without phone and power for about 18 hours, had the wood burner fired up along with the generator.Trees and branches down all over the yard, what a mess.

The pic Mike posted is not accurate as far as the 1980 ash coverage from Mt St Helens, even in ND we had a "Coating" of ash all over everything. As a kid I could scoop it off the hoods of our vehicles, I filled several baby food jars of ash that way.

Most land owners and anyone with trees are always grateful for anyone willing to help in the cleanup of dead trees and always free. Heck you really wouldn't need your chainsaw, most even have it cut up into splitting size lengths and give that away for free most times, if you watch the free classifieds there is always a ton of free wood. I try to stay away from box elder, that stuff is usually rotted out while it is still alive and it smells awful when burned kind of a stale musty moldy dirty socks smell to it, I did split some from my uncles land last weekend as he had it cut up already but it too was half rotted out. If you find a large one still alive they can be ok but once dead I leave them alone myself.

Like a friend of mine says while hunting......." I don't miss, I just like to throw out a volley of warning shots first"

As I posted in the very first post , the turbo has already been checked and eliminated as a cause. The shop pulled the injectors and sent them in to get tested for the first step, I talked to my friend and he has not heard back from them yet. They are waiting on the injector test results before spending more time and labor to dig deeper. They rebuild and have engines on hand so for time reasons my friend is going to most likely go with a rebuilt engine instead of waiting for them to rebuild his own engine if it is in need of such work. He is going to put the stock intake back on, they would not warranty a rebuilt engine with the current filter he had on it, they wanted him to go with an oiled filter, I told him to stay away from any oiled filter and go back to the stocker. He is going to ditch the EZ and go with a Juice W/A now for the digital gauges.

I have a cousin who works for the geological college in Butte Mont. and when I visited him a few years ago he took me through the seismic center which is among the best in the world and they were monitoring this very closely then already, it was awesome to see what they can see and detect. http://endoftheamericandream.com/archives/yellowstone-supervolcano-alert-the-most-dangerous-volcano-in-america-is-roaring-to-life Right now, the ground underneath Yellowstone National Park is rising at a record rate. In fact, it is rising at the rate of about three inches per year. The reason why this is such a concern is because underneath the park sits the Yellowstone supervolcano – the largest volcano in North America. Scientists tell us that it is inevitable that it will erupt again one day, and when it does the devastation will be almost unimaginable. A full-blown eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano would dump a 10 foot deep layer of volcanic ash up to 1,000 miles away, and it would render much of the United States uninhabitable. When most Americans think of Yellowstone, they tend to conjure up images of Yogi Bear and “Old Faithful”, but the truth is that sleeping underneath Yellowstone is a volcanic beast that could destroy our nation in a single day and now that beast is starting to wake up. The Yellowstone supervolcano is so vast that it is hard to put it into words. According to the Daily Mail, the magma “hotspot” underneath Yellowstone is approximately 300 miles wide… The Yellowstone Caldera is one of nature’s most awesome creations and sits atop North America’s largest volcanic field. Its name means ‘cooking pot’ or ‘cauldron’ and it is formed when land collapses following a volcanic explosion. In Yellowstone, some 400 miles beneath the Earth’s surface is a magma ‘hotspot’ which rises to 30 miles underground before spreading out over an area of 300 miles across. Atop this, but still beneath the surface, sits the slumbering volcano. When most Americans think of volcanic eruptions in the United States, they remember the catastrophic eruption of Mount St. Helens back in 1980. But that eruption would not even be worth comparing to a full-blown eruption of the Yellowstone supervolcano. And now the area around Yellowstone is becoming increasingly seismically active. In fact, Professor Bob Smith says that he has never seen anything like this in the 53 years that he has been watching Yellowstone… Until recently, Bob Smith had never witnessed two simultaneous earthquake swarms in his 53 years of monitoring seismic activity in and around the Yellowstone Caldera. Now, Smith, a University of Utah geophysics professor, has seen three swarms at once. In September, 130 earthquakes hit Yellowstone over the course of a single week. This has got many Yellowstone observers extremely concerned… Yellowstone’s recent earthquake swarms started on Sept. 10 and were shaking until about 11:30 a.m. Sept. 16. “A total of 130 earthquakes of magnitude 0.6 to 3.6 have occurred in these three areas, however, most have occurred in the Lower Geyser Basin,” a University of Utah statement said. “Notably much of seismicity in Yellowstone occurs as swarms.” So what is the worst case scenario? Well, according to the Daily Mail, a full-blown eruption of Yellowstone could leave two-thirds of the United States completely uninhabitable… It would explode with a force a thousand times more powerful than the Mount St Helens eruption in 1980. Spewing lava far into the sky, a cloud of plant-killing ash would fan out and dump a layer 10ft deep up to 1,000 miles away. Two-thirds of the U.S. could become uninhabitable as toxic air sweeps through it, grounding thousands of flights and forcing millions to leave their homes. Can you think of another potential disaster that could accomplish the same thing? That is why what is going on at Yellowstone right now is so important, and the American people deserve the truth. The following are some more facts about Yellowstone that I compiled that I included in a previous article… #1 A full-scale eruption of Yellowstone could be up to 1,000 time more powerful than the eruption of Mount St. Helens in 1980. #2 A full-scale eruption of Yellowstone would spew volcanic ash 25 miles up into the air. #3 The next eruption of Yellowstone seems to be getting closer with each passing year. Since 2004, some areas of Yellowstone National Park have risen by as much as 10 inches. #4 There are approximately 3,000 earthquakes in the Yellowstone area every single year. #5 In the event of a full-scale eruption of Yellowstone, virtually the entire northwest United States will be completely destroyed. #6 A massive eruption of Yellowstone would mean that just about everything within a 100 mile radius of Yellowstone would be immediately killed. #7 A full-scale eruption of Yellowstone could also potentially dump a layer of volcanic ash that is at least 10 feet deep up to 1,000 miles away. #8 A full-scale eruption of Yellowstone would cover virtually the entire midwest United States with volcanic ash. Food production in America would be almost totally wiped out. #9 The “volcanic winter” that a massive Yellowstone eruption would cause would radically cool the planet. Some scientists believe that global temperatures would decline by up to 20 degrees. #10 America would never be the same again after a massive Yellowstone eruption. Some scientists believe that a full eruption by Yellowstone would render two-thirds of the United States completely uninhabitable. #11 Scientists tell us that it is not a matter of “if” Yellowstone will erupt but rather “when” the next inevitable eruption will take place. What makes all of this even more alarming is that a number of other very prominent volcanoes around the world are starting to roar back to life right now as well. For example, an Inquisitr article from back in July described how “the most dangerous volcano in Mexico” is starting to become extremely active… Popocatepetl Volcano is at it again. The active volcano near Mexico City erupted again this morning, spewing ash up into the sky. The volcano is currently in the middle of an extremely active phase. According to the International Business Times, the volcano has registered 39 exhalations in the last 24 hours. An eruption earlier this month caused several flights to be canceled in and out of Mexico City. The BBC notes that officials raised the alert level yellow following Popocateptl’s eruption on Saturday morning. Yellow is the third-highest caution level on the city’s seven step scale. And an NBC News article from August noted that one of the most dangerous volcanoes in Japan has erupted 500 times so far this year… Ash wafted as high as 3 miles above the Sakurajima volcano in the southern city of Kagoshima on Sunday afternoon, forming its highest plume since the Japan Meteorological Agency started keeping records in 2006. Lava flowed just over half a mile from the fissure, and several huge volcanic rocks rolled down the mountainside. Though the eruption was more massive than usual, residents of the city of about 600,000 are used to hearing from their 3,664-foot neighbor. Kagoshima officials said in a statement that this was Sakurajima’s 500th eruption this year alone. So what does all of this mean? Are we now entering a time when volcanic eruptions will become much more common all over the globe? Could we rapidly be approaching the day when an absolutely devastating volcanic eruption will paralyze much of North America? Please feel free to share what you think by posting a comment below… Yellowstone Volcano Eruption

A twisted or snapped off tranny output shaft will cause this same symptoms you describe or as Tom pointed out the t-case isn't in gear.

There is wood everywhere and wood burning is really popular along with coal furnaces. Wood is plenty if you are not picky about what you burn. Most of what we have is cotton wood, several different kinds of ash and elm trees with Chinese elm being the most abundant as that was the popular tree to plant as shelterbelts 40-60 years ago and they are all dying off now. Then you get into the different kinds of oak and maple along rivers here and there. #1 and #2 are cottonwood and Chinese elm for me probably get a 50/50 mix most years but this year it was almost 100% Chinese elm.

That's because he has been eating fresh pears and apples.

Time for some electric fencing and a game cam to catch the entertainment!

I just split about 4 cords this past weekend for my mother in law and myself, she was out and I had about 2 cords left. I don't burn until temps get down below 20* but my MIL starts burning once it drops below 65* but she is 81 years old and is on a fixed income and lives on the farm, she uses very little propane as wood is her main heat source being home most of the time. her stove is in the basement and she has vents cut in the floor to let the radiant heat rise, amazing how warm the house stays with very little wood. She goes through about 4-5 cords a winter on average, my wife and I burn maybe 2-3 cords on average. since we both work full time my wife usually runs the stove, she likes the house warmer than I like so ours runs just a bit in the evenings and on weekends.

I know Mike and his crew and he is a straight shooter and is a good tech when it comes to the cummins, he knows his stuff.Just talked to my friend and he just had a quick conversation with the shop and they have not gotten into it yet but from initial observations they are thinking the engine has been dusted due to an AEM intake system and a filter I can say from my friends maintenace practices that follow Dorkweeds last comment of if it still works don't touch it and it probably hasn't been cleaned in years.It was using a couple of quarts every 150-200 miles and it wasn't dripping out of the breather it was burning it. he said his tail pipe even had a slight oily residue in it already.He should know more sometime tomorrow.

Edge EZ, absolutely no smoke, runs perfect, starts right up perfect, good power but 4:10 gears make it hard to notice a little fall off, sounds good, just started using a lot of oil. No excessive idling, I chewed him out for that right after he bought it, it is at the diesel shop as of yesterday afternoon.

I drop pan and filter, adjust bands every time and then take the front cooler line off the tranny and use compressed air and blow out the cooler line circuit and then put small amounts of air back into the converter and it pushes out about 2 more quarts, I have always gotten about 2.5 gallons out using that method which is pretty much a complete flush. While the pan is off It gets a heavy shower with brake cleaner to wash off all the residue from inside the case around the valve body as well. I have never lost a tranny yet in my 5 Dodge rams and putting roughly 1/2 million miles and counting between them over the last 18 years and all fairly hard use.

Well stay tuned folks, My best Bud has an 03 long box quad cab 4X4 4:10 gears with auto and 115K miles with edge EZ and no gauges, in the last couple months he was asking about an oil leak coming from the top of his valve cover, I told him to look at the breather and replace it, he did and it kept on and oil use was getting worse now and he thinks he has more blowby than usual, So with the lack of time for me to look and help him out his dad who has an 05 cummins just borrowed my trailer and hauled it to a diesel shop which prides themselves in Cummins, I know him personally and referred him up there versus a Dodge dealer which he took it to and they didn't even want to troubleshoot it, charged him 160 bucks and told him to just put a new engine in it. , It starts and runs perfect yet too and was not pushing oil out the blow by breather and making a mess yet other than around the top of the valve cover and he checked the turbo on both sides and it was dry and the blow by was not excessive but a lot more noticeable than normal according to him, he did the oil fill cap trick and it wasn't bad enough to flutter it either. So now we wait for the prognosis, The shop based on the description thinks a broken ring, we should know by Monday hopefully what the issue is. He is sick to his stomach at what it could wind up costing him. I told him many times that with a fueling box he needs gauges but this may be his wake up call and he now knows and is going to have gauges installed at this time now too, he pulls fairly heavy as he doubles up regularly in the summer with a 38 foot cougar 5er camper with a 24' triple tube pontoon behind that.

It is very clean up here, it actually surprises people as to how clear it is for as fast as it moves. What happens after it leaves our state is any ones guess. You have to blame the southern boys for that.

The insurance companies had a huge hand in drafting this bill and the linked story shows the coming results. http://www.infowars.com/insurance-giants-that-wrote-and-lobbied-for-health-law-cash-in/

Disclaimer for Mikes pics.................They were taken 9 years and 200K miles ago. Seriously though the damage occurs where you will never see it and that is in the block and around the cylinders themselves, the way to prevent this is to check the antifreeze the exact same as you do by sampling engine oil, every oil sample lab should be able to sample your coolant as well. They check PH which one can do on his own with ph strips as well as the strength of the additives in the antifreeze. The one person here who should be sampling his antifreeze more so than anyone is AH64ID as he has a liquid cooled turbo and the engine with those types of turbo are even more critical to watch as coolant can become burnt and that causes issues as it crystalizes and plugs up lines and passages. If running coolant for extended periods and or in areas where you have no access to clean water a coolant filter should be added, a lot of older engines had issues with electrolysis around the cylinder liners and it would erode out the bottom counterbore in the block and in severe cases ate right through the cylinder and or liner and then you have coolant in your engine oil. The coolant filters come with different additives built in to adjust and protect your system but until you check by sampling you don't know. - - - Updated - - - I guarantee 100% your thinking is wrong, at that mixture level you have lost a lot of the coolants ability to actually transfer heat out of the system. Too strong is actually almost worse than a bit too week. This is what we find with equipment at the mine when we get brand new stuff from CAT especially they tend to have heating issues at times and when the coolant is sampled the mix is too strong which diminishes the cooling capability of it, adjust it down and heating problems solved.

I know of a farmer who drains all the factory coolant and fills everything he owns with good ol Missouri river water because in his mind it is better than coolant because the river doesn't start to freeze over until long stretches of zero to sub zero temps set in, Long honest to gawd story, I worked on some of his farm equipment and a brand new Case IH tractor "at the time 15+ years ago" with a B cummins in it which I changed the water pump out on 3 times in just over a week until he told me what he does when I asked him why there was dirt and sand coming out and no coolant what so ever every time I pulled the pump off and drained the "Muddy water", talked to the boss and as you would expect..................70K for new tractor + stupidity = no more warranty on a new tractor.

The factory OEM service manuals for older 2nd gen Dodge Rams come as a set of 3 huge manuals, I would look on e-bay or amazon for a used set, probably can't order new ones anywhere but from Dealers anymore. New sets used to run around 200 bucks for the set of 3 and the paper manuals for the newer ones were even more, CD or PDF is the way all come now for everything.

Look at the amsoil website and read the articles, stories of folks running a million miles plus several times a year and surpisingly a lot of them are gassers as well. Don't think what you read on forums is all the world has to offer, might see a fraction of one percent of the total number of folks who actually hit a million miles listed on forums like this, I know of a half dozen just in the single small town of Bismarck that have broke a million miles running synthetic. The only way it doesn't pay off is if one is still living the old school wasteful ways. And as for replacing a pan gasket, unless you have 6 year old sized hands and arms, I have always had to loosen the motor mounts and lift the engine a couple inches at least so the bolts are to the top of the mount slots to get in to remove the sump piping from the pump to get the pan off. This is on 4X4's, I have never done one on a 2wd rig, they are extremely scarce here in ND.

If oil leaks out dirt is being pulled back in during heating cooling cycles. don't put off fixing leaks too long. The myth of synthetics causing leaks is just that..a myth, as far as making an existing one bad possible but I keep even my smallest leaks fixed so I don't let them get bad enough to find out but I also switch everything to synthetic as soon as I buy it. I don't like spending all the extra money long term nor dealing with issues from dino oils.There is a reason that you find almost all OEMs come from the factory with a semi or full synthetics the last few years. Heck there are companies like VW that have used synthetics for 10+ years and will void your warranty if they detect an engine failure due to use of dino oil.