Waiting for the Blizzard...

[Wild and Free]

I wished it would snow here.  This single digit temp with -10 to -20*F wind chills sucks more when I can still see the grass..  I mean, if it's gonna be this cold, then at least SNOW!!

We have the same thing going on here this winter, 50's in January and sub 0 thru Feb so far and very little snow going on 2 winters in a row. Have had 3 very wet cool summers and falls though so subsoil moisture is high and all water holes are still full.

[diesel4life]

I wished it would snow here.  This single digit temp with -10 to -20*F wind chills sucks more when I can still see the grass..  I mean, if it's gonna be this cold, then at least SNOW!!

Hey stranger!!

[flagmanruss]

FREE SNOW!   Come on over.  I'll loan you a shovel.  People are busy trying to break up ice dams & shoveling snow off roofs. 

Intersections are very dangerous...  totally blind with a car...  iffy with my truck.  Saw some d*mn fool spun out on the media on the interstate today...  lots of flashing lights.  Police blocking the left lanes, more Police, fire truck, 2 wreckers, rescue...     Frozen snow banks are very good for flipping cars too. 

Another storm coming this weekend.

[diesel4life]

The city of Ashtsbula (the closest city to me, 30 miles from here,) has had some roofs collapsing on warehouses lately. Too much snow load.

[flagmanruss]

Several commercial builds lost their roofs.  2 Lowes garden centers lost roofs THIS WEEK!  Horse barn in Mass collapsed...  lost 2 horses, 2 injured...  several more had to be gotten out.  I've had enough of this white sh*t.   

 

We had an inch of ice, rain, then 4" of snow the last 24 hours.  Warmed to 40 briefly...  deep freeze again tonight for the rest of the week.  I thought wife should plow before she went off for the day (seeing as how it will all be frozen solid tomorrow)...  she grumbled but did it.  Broke the winch cable again.   

 

I went out after she left...  pushed my walker through the slush...  cleared the windsield in the truck & put the full TCW3 bottles back in the door pockets.  I carried my cell on me in case anything bad happened.  You know the story if a tree falls in the woods, but there's no one there, is there a sound?? If I fall in the shop & no one sees, it didn't happen.   

 

Then out to the barn for the ATV.  I got lucky & was able to retrieve the end of the cable after a bit & only skewered my finger with one wire splinter (despite gloves & vise grips). 

The ATV has a brush guard.  I've been running the cable through the roller fairlead, down to the plow frame, through a pulley & up to the brush guard.  The pulley kept coming unhooked so I added a big steel anchor shackle last time.  The pulley shive NOW has a broken flange & the roller fairlead is bent so my best guess is the shackle added enough length that they could jam.  The cable broke at the pulley / broken shive. 

So I think I need to shorten the pulley / shackle or go to a straight lift.  I thought about hanging a pulley on the brush guard but the cable would rub on the smaller tube under if I hang a pulley on the big tube on top.  Not sure why I didn't want to go to the smaller bottom tube??   Obiviously a new pulley...  have big one off a come-a-long.   

 

My buddy went to a synthetic tape?? on his winch but I'm not sold on it.  I'm going to ask him how it's holding up.  I just keep shortening the cable each time, LOL!       

[IBMobile]

 That's why I moved from Rhode Island.      Spent this weekend in Palm Springs 

Edited February 24, 2015 by IBMobile

[flagmanruss]

So I messaged my buddy about his synthetic winch line...  he had installed just a couple of years ago.  He replied with a cryptic "NFG"       

The winch is only used for the plow...  the first 3 feet of the cable.  Gets shorter every time.   Eventually the cable will need to be replaced if I live long enough.  LOL!  

 

We don't have ice dams on the roof because we don't have gutters...  some great icicles though.  A story & a half long to the ground.  The drip off the roof makes a very dangerous door step since it's not melting.  With enough ice melt, finially got one door mat free...  I brought it in & melted it by the wood stove (basement)...  then put it back.  Typically, we get them up & rotate them.  Hard year.  Second coldest / snowiest Feb on record. 

 

We had floating docks at the marina years ago & we hated these around the clock cold years.  Normally it was only cold at night but barely above freezing in the day.  When the water freezes to the pilings at low tide, it will lift them out as the tide comes in.  When it's cold around the clock, it's impossible to prevent the pilings coming out.  It caused a lot of work & damage.  Somethings I really don't miss. 

Edited February 24, 2015 by flagmanruss

[diesel4life]

I've got synthetic rope on both ATV winches as well as a 10k winch. Personally, I won't go back to steel cable. Cable CAN be more forgiving in certain circumstances and is easier to repair. But with rope, no more frays with broken wire strands that light you up, no more rusted stiff cable that has a memory like an ex wife. Rope is very easy to work with. I've got an assortment of line savers and straps if I need to wrap around an object. Never broke one yet in going on 3 years, and I use my winches quite regularly. It all comes down to personal preference, just like anything else.

Russ, do you use your winch for other duties beside plowing? I would try one of these http://www.amazon.com/WARN-68560-Synthetic-Plow-Lift/dp/B000CQBMN6

Available in synthetic rope or steel cable

They are short sections designed specifically for plowing. One thing that typically eats up winch cables is the repeated in/out winching on a full spool, the cable doesn't spool in evenly every time and you end up birdcaging the spool and fraying the cable being under constant tension from the plow. Then you add in the steep angle of the plow with weakend cable and you wind up with a break. This just keeps repeating itself until your down to next to no cable. The shorter cable alleviates that. Eventually you'll get there if you keep breaking it, but it sounds like to your cable is old and brittle. They do rust out and need replacing every so often, especially if its subjected to salt/humidity in the winter.

Edited February 24, 2015 by diesel4life

[diesel4life]

http://fox8.com/2015/02/23/canadian-ship-frees-freighter-from-icy-lake-erie-near-conneaut/

Tom should know where Conneaut is.

[flagmanruss]

I have no reason to believe the cable has ever been replaced.  The only thing the winch is used for is plowing & the main use of the ATV.  I hear you on the wire splinters...  coming from the boating world, I'm familiar with various ropes & cables.  I snip any fish-hooks then tape wrap the end to work on it.  I'm thinking to use some shrink tubing over that.   

 

I have replaced the winch's cast iron fairlead (running block) with a roller unit the first time I broke the cable.  I'm not seeing any signs of rust in the galv cable.   

 

Appreciate the link to the cable...  but I'm not dropping the plow off & removing the winch while laying in the snow in the driveway.  Maybe in the Spring...   

[flagmanruss]

Another 3-6" of white sh*t coming.  Wife brought the ATV over near the house (to save me steps on the ice...  and spread dark wood ash on walkways).  I put an old hunk of Astroturf where I had to work & a small stool to sit on.  I'd disassembled the fairlead & straightened the section where (looks like) the pulley had jammed.     

 

So this was "just" a reassembly.  Put the repaired fairlead back in place.  New repair links, pully & shackle.  The biggest problem is with my numb fingers holding the cable doubled over the thimble.  I've used small vise grips before but all but one are AWOL right now.  I used zip ties to hold the slippery eel I was working on...  worked well.  Got the cable clamps started & pushed down the cable to the thimble.  YES!!  I used electrical tape on the wire cable to wrap to protect my hands.  When I was done, I taped a secion beyond the clamps & wacked it off with bolt cutters & a tiny snip with wire cutters to get the last strand.  Then tape wrapped the tail of the wire down.    

 

Should have taken an hour...   at least I was in the sun.  Wife can put it away when she gets home.  

OMG.  That hunk of Astroturf is approaching 40 years old.  A customer had it in their boat cockpit...  long ago in a previous life.  The down side is Astroturf does is not waterproof & my knees got wet kneeling on it but still better than icy driveway.  But it gave good traction for me getting up & down.   

[flagmanruss]

Wife put ATV back in barn after making a couple of test runs to check out the winch (plow lift).  Wife is happy with it so I'm happy too.     We've had a fine light snow falling since noon time...  supposed to pick up by dark.  Weather liar has upped the total to "8" in localized areas (like where we live).   

News had 2 more garages collapse yesterday & an ice rink (Kids were waiting to skate) everyone got out safe.  My barn (30 x 60) is over insured so it won't collapse.  If it did, I could fix the problems from the original contractor!  

Flakes getting larger as I sit here.    

[Mopar1973Man]

Heck by this coming weekend we should be in the 55-60*F temperatures. I'm gearing up to have the RV ready by this weekend and "hopefully" be able to take off for a weekend.

[diesel4life]

At the rate were going it'll be May before we see grass. Snow is still over knee deep (Im 6'2"). February's average temp was 11 degrees F. We were below zero 13 days. Spent 36 hours total above freezing. This all according to the weather station at the plant I work.

Edited March 3, 2015 by diesel4life