Snow Equipment Owning/Operating Who's ready for winter 13/14 ?

[94BULLITT]

I'm ready for winter but it is not ready for me. It is 75* here right now.

 

[pinetree10]

My JD1332 snowblower is ready. Unfortunately the tractor will have to sit while the snowblower does all the work.

 

[sixdogs]

Not me. Haven't even thought about it much yet.

...

I think it was Halloween Night two years ago we had 8" of wet snow. Trick or Treat

David--Rule of thumb north of Bangor was anytime after the second week of October you're at risk of a storm and I've seen snow in October that stayed until April. All the fall work and winter prep better be done by then.

Back in the 1970's I had a hot date and we were going to meet at a bar in Camden, each of us being an hour apart. Smokin' babe but we got two feet of snow that night in October. I called ahead to the bar and he actually kept it open late for us because we were stuck in the blizzard. We were polar opposites so it was a fast date.

 

[sandman2234]

I should be ready when it gets here, as I just ordered a couple long sleeve shirts today and they should be here in 6 weeks.
David from jax

 

[Dozernut]

The RTV is ready, got the doors on the cab and the blade prepped but I think it will be at least another month before we get any significant snow fall. Just two days ago it was 86 degrees, I believe a record. I am ready for winter just for the simple fact the bugs will be gone. I seem to be a walking buffet for anything that bites or stings.

The weather has changed around here, we used to get several heavy snows with 2' accumulation not uncommon. One winter we had snow on the ground from mid November to mid March, rare for this area. Now days a 12 inch snow is a big deal with a 3-4" snow more likely and no need to even get the plow out. Sure wish we would get snow for deer season, they really standout in the snow.

 

[radioman]

Nope, not ready. I got till dec or mid dec to think about it. If worse comes to worse, most likely it will be wet stuff that comes early and Ill just use my FEL which only takes moments on my BX. When time comes, Ill go get my plow and mount of FEL which is parked for the season since spring and again it takes moments to put on. not worried a bit.

 

[dave1949]

David--Rule of thumb north of Bangor was anytime after the second week of October you're at risk of a storm and I've seen snow in October that stayed until April. All the fall work and winter prep better be done by then.

Back in the 1970's I had a hot date and we were going to meet at a bar in Camden, each of us being an hour apart. Smokin' babe but we got two feet of snow that night in October. I called ahead to the bar and he actually kept it open late for us because we were stuck in the blizzard. We were polar opposites so it was a fast date.

Gee, I was thinking of a lot more romantic and lusty ending to that story ... until the last sentence. :laughing:

Snow has been iffy the past couple of winters. The ski resorts are on snow-making machines for life support. We never know if the snow is going to be good enough for a healthy snowmobile season anymore. The ice fishing derby on Sebago Lake was cancelled last winter; they were afraid the ice wasn't strong enough to take the traffic.

We did get a decent amount of snow here last winter, but most of it came late in the season and melted early.

 

[sixdogs]

Dave1949--I lived there long enough to learn the dangers assuming the winters of old will be the winters of new. First, you aren't ready for winter when you should be and that could subject the whole state to an early storm. If so, don't come looking for help when the natives come looking for you with pitchforks and torches.

Second, you speak of prior winters and how they were not so bad. Oh, boy is that a prescription for blizzards, high winds, more blizzards and then an ice storm followed quickly by 25 below. It will take a whole day to get your plow truck unfrozen and then there will be so much ice you won't be able to plow anyway.

These things happened to me and I feel responsible for the blizzards of 1977 and the the great Quebec-Maine ice storm of 1998. Most people lost power for a couple weeks and it could have been prevented had I only not commented to the whole office that the storm was going to blow over.

 

[dave1949]

Dave1949--I lived there long enough to learn the dangers assuming the winters of old will be the winters of new. First, you aren't ready for winter when you should be and that could subject the whole state to an early storm. If so, don't come looking for help when the natives come looking for you with pitchforks and torches.

Second, you speak of prior winters and how they were not so bad. Oh, boy is that a prescription for blizzards, high winds, more blizzards and then an ice storm followed quickly by 25 below. It will take a whole day to get your plow truck unfrozen and then there will be so much ice you won't be able to plow anyway.

These things happened to me and I feel responsible for the blizzards of 1977 and the the great Quebec-Maine ice storm of 1998. Most people lost power for a couple weeks and it could have been prevented had I only not commented to the whole office that the storm was going to blow over.

Yep, I am tempting fate big time. :laughing:

We could be due for an above average snow season, it's been a while. There, is that better?

 

[sixdogs]

Yep, I am tempting fate big time. :laughing:

We could be due for an above average snow season, it's been a while. There, is that better?

Well, there goes the sledding season.

 

[Ed of all trades]

Almost, got a new set of chains for the back of the Massey and a used set for the front. Need to fit the chains on the tractor to make sure they fit well, Will put them and the plow along with the 400 lb ballast, just before a storm. Them slip on my coveralls and motor cycle helmet and then I will be ready.

 

[deerseeker001]

ready or not she is coming.

 

[dave1949]

Well, there goes the sledding season.

:laughing: It seems like what comes is never what I expect anyways.

 

[timster2]

No, its not going to snow! Ever since I bought my snow blower ...no snow.:laughing:

 

[Lt CHEG]

I can't say I'm ready for winter yet, but I don't really do anything different for winter aside from put my bucket on the tractor if we get a really lot of snow. This will be my first year with a rear blade so I'll put that on my tractor when snow flies as well, although it doesn't take very long.

Lt Cheng,
I'd be a lot more excited about winter snow clearing if I had your setup! How are you liking the 4.75?

So far I'm still really liking the 4.75. The greater road speed means that I use it back and forth between some of my friends' and family's properties more often because I don't have to load it onto the trailer to get it back and forth and don't have to take forever getting there either. The only real downside is that I really miss the narrower bucket and hydrostatic transmission for some of the loader work I do, like back filling after an excavation and then smoothing it out. An HST really shines in that application and sometimes a narrower bucket made delicate grading easier. I am almost thinking that if I could swing an extra $15,000 or so I would buy a tractor of this size without the FEL and then buy a skid steer at the same time. That would give me the best of both worlds. I just realized that I'm not totally ready for winter yet though... I need to get a rear window wiper to be totally ready.

I actually just had the first problem with my setup this weekend though. I finished a 12 to 13 acre mowing job last weekend and noticed a really bad vibration from my flail mower. I figured I'd go over everything on Saturday and find something silly that was causing the vibration. Well, when looking things over I also noticed that the little cover box that goes over the slip clutch had gotten undone. A closer look reveals that the slip PTO shaft and slip clutch assembly had been vibrating enough to whack the cover plate loose. So I took a look at the gearbox and there is a lot of play and the oil was milky white. A call to my dealer and all will be taken care of under warranty but it looks like my flail mower has a bad gearbox. That's the only issue that I've had with my setup though and I'm a big fan.

PS: I know I owe the forum a more detailed review and some better pictures but I have been really swamped. I've had a lot of extra training going on at work, plus a couple big cases all mixed in with trying to get things ready to begin our home construction soon. I can't wait until we get into the new place. Hopefully I'll have time to give the tractor a nice bath soon and take some pictures of everything and post them.

 

[grsthegreat]

kinda yes...kinda no.

Iv winterized the jet skis and have put the gardens to bed. Winterized the lawns also.

Ive moved all the winter implements into the tractor storage area...ready to hook up when needed (hopefully not for a couple of months more)


Summer went by too **** fast. not ready to deal with winter...so im not. there

Will probably blow out sprinklers in a few weeks time. I did clean chimney so were ready to burn wood again.

 

[murphy1244]

Man i'm still cutting grass and need to empty the Chain Saws.

 

[Bob77064]

Man i'm still cutting grass and need to empty the Chain Saws.

Still cutting grass here.

 

[newbury]

Well -

I'll plan on spending most of it in northeast Mississippi.

 

[grsthegreat]

Well -

I'll plan on spending most of it in northeast Mississippi.

whats hawaii or figi looking like hehe