Preparations Update

[Bacpacker]

I have not had good luck with my upright freezers, failed earlier than I would like... My old chest freezers have outlasted 2 uprights, and they give me a nice flat surface to work on... If you are looking to power them using a small solar array and inverter I would check each one with a kill-a-watt type meter, they should give you the average, the maximum, and the minimum power consumed during the data collection period. I checked all mine for a full week, I do my planning around the maximum. I was surprised at how wide the range was...

In the process of doing the testing now.

 

[joel]

I bought a used mobile home, it was 22 years old & had a large single door freezer in it, the owner said she did not want to move, so I got it for free.
It leaked cool air, so the repair man put a 1/4 inch strip of wood under the frame in the front, tilling the freezer back 1/4 an inch & stopping the leak.
I have & now have a half & half freezer/ refrigerator & the French or winged double door with a chest freezer in the bottom which is handy.
But the full large chest freezer that you can lay a half of hog in is the best.

 

[Tirediron]

Random info but we had a big all fridge, that thing used very little power compared to a combination, it lloked bad on the energy star chart, because they compared it to apartment sized all fridges, but it actually used less than a apartment size combo, I know no body asked, but it popped into my head.

 

[WVDragonlady]

Hit the walmart this morning.
Added to the supplies. Also had to get 2 ink cartridges for the printer (that gives me 2 black and now 2 colored)
Today I added:
Canned veggies (certain name brands had big holes in their products)
Canned meats (there was product but it was moved forward and empty behind it)
Canned soups (big gaps in the soups)
Pastas and noodles
Coffee and some teas (all fully stocked)
Paper products (paper towels had huge gaps)
Boxed stuffing (love this with a fried egg on top for breakfast lol)(again product moved forward on the shelf)
Boxed potatoes (same as the stuffing. moved forward)
Some condiments (also grabbed some soy sauce and teriyaki sauce)
Canned fruits
Picked up 2 bags of fresh cranberries which I'll freeze
I splurged and bought myself a pair of slippers(whole $10 lol)


I need to start to stock up on canned beans. I have pounds of dried but want the convenience of the canned.
I didn't think of it this morning and I'll have to check the local grocery friday and get started

 

[UrbanHunter]

Sometimes what is being said overseas can inspire us....

China urges families to store basic supplies in case of emergency...

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-59133027

What you talking about Willis? What do the Chinese know that we don't, or that we should know for that matter?

 

[Amish Heart]

I picked up 20lbs of rice and a couple cans of Walmart brand roast beef. Didn't see much else there I wanted. Their canned meats are not restocked at all, haven't been all month.
Aldi canned veg were only 1/3 stocked. I bought a case each of northern beans, mixed veg, peas, and green beans. They were out of corn, only had creamed. I have a ton of that. They did have corned beef hash at Aldi but were out of the shelf stable bacon, and canned ham. So was Walmart for that matter. They did have cat food, stocked up on lots of that for the barn cats. And topped off our condiments and chunky peanut butter. They were out of chunky a few weeks ago.

 

[angie_nrs]

Aldi but were out of the shelf stable bacon

I've never had that but I've seen it there. Is it any good?

 

[LadyLocust]

This past weekend, I placed orders for some bulk items: some for soaps and some for foods. Should be a fun week as they start to show up.

 

[kd4ulw]

Yesterday I went ahead and got a frozen turkey at Meijer. Didn’t want to worry about it.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Today I finished looking at my current inventory relative to my target, when I included the kids I was a little short on eggs.... Ordered 2 #10 cans of powdered eggs, so now I can sleep better... I am finding now that my short term and mid term stocks are all at (or above) my target level, so now I am moving on to increasing my long term storage.

I guess I could add another 100#s of rice, but we really don't eat that much.

 

[hiwall]

I've never had that but I've seen it there. Is it any good?

My wife has used shelf stable bacon for several years. It is what she always makes for herself if she is having a BLT or something.

 

[Amish Heart]

Shelf stable bacon is ok. Better than not having bacon. I have local access to pork, but it's usually ground sausage. The shelf stable I have is about a year dated out. Yoders is great, but can't justify the price right now. Summer Sausage prices have been good around here, and also beef and turkey sticks. Dates are good. Aldi has those and has had pepperoni. But no pepperoni today. We have alot though.

 

[UrbanHunter]

I was thinking about putting the new carburetor (it's on the shelf) on my old pressure washer and remembered how hard my generator was to start the last time. The carburetor tends to foul up over time, it can be cleaned, but that can be time consuming and a hit or miss proposition, so I ordered a new carburetor and spark plugs for that puppy... If you have one that is overhauled and lubed you can store them in a zip-lock bag for a long time, but it is good to have one ready to go... Just trying to get everything in order for that day when that renewable grid goes south for the winter...

 

[angie_nrs]

Hubs put in an order for extra filters and other components for his equipment. I have to look up where he got his greese the last time and put in an order for a case later this week. He also took delivery ot a barrel of fuel and is taking delivery of a tank of oil at the end of the week. It's gonna be expensive, but it sure ain't gonna get any cheaper. I'm sure it will be more valuable than cash.....and the worst thing that can happen is that we get it at a better price than what it will be in the near future.

I'm getting a list together now to hopefully get to HD later this week or this weekend and fill the truck with any supplies we may need for winter projects and let hubs grab anything that he thinks he might need. That could be an expensive trip.

 

[WVDragonlady]

A friend of the hubby got their heating oil filled just recently. Over $2,000. (they should've been watching the prices and when it started to go up get their fuel. Some people just won't learn)
This is why you get your tank filled in the summer. Thats what we always did when I was growing up. Its cheaper in the summer months.
Its why we bought our wood pellets when we did. They're cheaper.



Hubby bought 6 jugs each of washer fluid and antifreeze (both concentrated)
He also topped off his beer(essential preps ya know lol)

 

[user 2656]

Went to Walmart last week. That makes 2 months!!! no Whole Wheat flour whatsoever. This was at a busy Walmart. Other holes were any type of multibag, single serve snack like Popcorn, Doritos, Cheetos. Needed that for my 11 yr old great nephews who visited. Had some big packages.

We have been steadily canning from the garden, AND topping off our 2 standup deep freezes (1 for veggies, fruits and berries, cheeses and odds and ends; other is all meat, poultry and fish - walleye!). We seem to be ok on the other basics for now.

My MREs are 13 years old. Never had a date on them, only on the receipt and that is long gone. Got them from Emergency Essentials around 2005-2008. Tried a chicken one and it was actually tasty. Not sure how long these things last?

Dried foods in #10 containers seem ok. All kept in cold storage room in the basement (which in WI gets and stays cold!)
I need to consult a master list to see what gaps we have.
Very blessed to live where we do with Angus, turkeys and chickens abundant and good meat and sausage is still cheap compared to elsewhere..

 

[angie_nrs]

This is why you get your tank filled in the summer. Thats what we always did when I was growing up. Its cheaper in the summer months.
Its why we bought our wood pellets when we did. They're cheaper.

Agreed. Unfortunately with our oil tank that we use for equipment, it gets used all the time and needs to get filled when it runs low. The trucks won't deliver it unless we are at the low end of the tank and we only get the discount if we buy X amount of gallons. It's a catch 22. But with this fill up, we should be good (hopefully) for about a year or so.

I know you were talking about fuel oil and that's a bit of a different situation. I topped off propane tanks this summer for the same reason you mentioned......much cheaper. They're all full now, but this is the time of year we start using it, so I'm sure that won't last. But we did add a couple of new tanks last year too.

Good idea on the antifreeze - I'll have to ask him where we stand on that.
The beer situation is always stocked! LOL! Plus, we know a delivery guy if things get really bad on that front. Now a shortage on beer would cause a panic in this neck of the woods!

 

[LadyLocust]

I was thinking about putting the new carburetor (it's on the shelf) on my old pressure washer and remembered how hard my generator was to start the last time. The carburetor tends to foul up over time, it can be cleaned, but that can be time consuming and a hit or miss proposition, so I ordered a new carburetor and spark plugs for that puppy... If you have one that is overhauled and lubed you can store them in a zip-lock bag for a long time, but it is good to have one ready to go... Just trying to get everything in order for that day when that renewable grid goes south for the winter...

Do you put Seafoam in it for winter?

Hubs put in an order for extra filters and other components for his equipment. I have to look up where he got his greese the last time and put in an order for a case later this week. He also took delivery ot a barrel of fuel and is taking delivery of a tank of oil at the end of the week. It's gonna be expensive, but it sure ain't gonna get any cheaper. I'm sure it will be more valuable than cash.....and the worst thing that can happen is that we get it at a better price than what it will be in the near future.

I'm getting a list together now to hopefully get to HD later this week or this weekend and fill the truck with any supplies we may need for winter projects and let hubs grab anything that he thinks he might need. That could be an expensive trip.

Might grab a can or two of fix-a-flat - handy to have on hand even if it's not the ultimate fix.

 

[Amish Heart]

We are able to do a contract with the propane people. So we buy a certain amount at the price of the day and pay for it. They come around once a month or so and fill up what we need till the amount prepaid is gone. Glad we did that because the price has gone up, and we paid for the old price. Although it would be a bad deal if the price went down.

 

[Caribou]

We are able to do a contract with the propane people. So we buy a certain amount at the price of the day and pay for it. They come around once a month or so and fill up what we need till the amount prepaid is gone. Glad we did that because the price has gone up, and we paid for the old price. Although it would be a bad deal if the price went down.

Not only is it working out for you this time but if there is a bank holiday you are covered for your propane.

I pay my utilities ahead in case the banks have a problem but mostly to just not have to bother with the bills.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Do you put Seafoam in it for winter?

Might grab a can or two of fix-a-flat - handy to have on hand even if it's not the ultimate fix.

No @LadyLocust I don't do the Seafoam thing, I do use stabil in the fuel, but not the Seafoam... The equipment that gives me the most trouble are the snowblower and the Generator, both go for long periods of no use followed by a few days of heavy use. All it takes is a couple of mild weather years and they can end up sitting for almost 3 years, which is really bad with today's fuel, the carburetors tend to get corrosion around the jets (jets are brass, housings are aluminum, add fuel and they create something like a battery cell). If I had a little more time and was a little more proactive I would pull them apart and clean them each summer, this summer I got the snowblower done, but not the generator. I am to the point that having the parts to fix the things that are most likely to go bad (pull cords, filters, spark plugs, carburetors...) could save me in a SHTF event....

 

[Bacpacker]

Urban i know it isn't convenient but give some thought to running them dry at the end of the season. Or in the case of the gunny, at least run that tank out and go back with fresh. It seems to help on my end. Also 100% fuel will as well. Not nearly as corrosive.

 

[UrbanHunter]

Urban i know it isn't convenient but give some thought to running them dry at the end of the season. Or in the case of the gunny, at least run that tank out and go back with fresh. It seems to help on my end. Also 100% fuel will as well. Not nearly as corrosive.

I wish there was a place around here that sold the 100% fuel, here it is either e10 or worse.... I try to run them out of fuel, but when you don't know if you are going to have another event right around the corner it is hard to not keep them fueled. The good news is that the inverter I have running my indoor growing stations has a built in transfer switch that can accept power from a generator, so now at the end of the season I can use the fuel for something productive (I hate wasting fuel). I would still want to take the bowl off the carb and spray the jets with some WD-40 before putting it back in the shed.

I still like having spare parts on hand, it is hard to order something off the internet when the grid is down.

 

[Bacpacker]

Spares are very important to so many things. Good plan with the switch. Dont have any waste that way

 

[angie_nrs]

Might grab a can or two of fix-a-flat - handy to have on hand even if it's not the ultimate fix.

Yup, I have some of that in the vehicles, but it won't do any good for his equipment. Some of those tires are way bigger than I am!

Ya'll are talking about carbs getting gummed up. Well, that would put me at a stand still b/c that's not my area of expertise. One way I have gotten around this is by buying whatever stuff I can that is battery powered so-as not to have to deal with motor issues. I have one of the Milwaukee chainsaws. No fuss, no muss. Finally a chainsaw I can start with no smelly gas to deal with! I have friends who also have this chainsaw and love it. Next on my list is a Milwaukee weed wacker.

 

[Caribou]

Run a tank of fuel every few months, like quarterly. Don't think of it as wasting fuel, think of it as preventive maintenance so you don't have to spend a couple hours repairing the carb when you would rather be blowing snow or running your generator.

 

[UrbanHunter]

At almost $4/gallon even small tanks can get expensive....

 

[Caribou]

At $50 or $100/hour mechanics can get expensive. My time is worth more than $4.

 

[Peanut]

I've been putting off serious shopping for a week. The stars aligned this evening in more ways than one.

I went to the small grocery store first, spent $240 but... There were sale stickers down the entire condiment aisle. Off brand condiments are better than no condiments so I loaded the cart. I'm set for about 18months, doubled my stocks.

Can goods were 80% stocked. Only a few things were on sale but still got about 25 cans of veggies, beans etc.

Their dried beans/peas/rice were fully stocked but not on sale, got about 30lbs. I got some paper products but forgot TP at both stores!

WM was next. Every grocery aisles had at least one employee restocking. Boxes stacked everywhere, couple aisles had pallets sitting in them. BUT! nothing I wanted but canned fruit so I loaded up on peaches. No canned meats at either store but tuna, already have more tuna than I would normally eat in a year.

Oh! Hamburger helper was on sale at both stores, the same 3 types! So I got 10boxes at WM.

Oh, I'm buying beef on the hoof, maybe 2 bull calves. grtnephew is going to haul his cattle to market. He's got a couple of orphan calves in poor shape (all his cows are in poor shape). Anyway, he sent word, cut out any of the cattle or calves I want and he'd make me a deal. I have to buy a few rolls of hay for the horse and donkey anyway, be plenty left over for a couple of calves. There is one calf I really want. He was in a photo I posted the other day. His bone structure is great! Good genes always show if you know what to look for. This little guy has potential!

 

[Amish Heart]

You did good, Peanut