This weeks preps check-in

[Maverick]

Unless the snow melts quickly we won't be leaving the property probably for the next month or so, we have around 5 feet of snow now, this is the only day it hasn't snowed in a while, the 10 day forecast has snow everyday and evening, we may hit the 10 foot mark by the end of next week so all our preps are being put to use, our only travel methods are by snow mobiles.

 

[tmttactical]

I work all the time now. It’s great financially but dosent leave much time for prepping! Such is life, you’re either poor with loads of time to relax and pursue hobbies or you’re making money and don’t have time to enjoy it! I guess there are worse problems to have. I’m going to do something really fun soon though. Don’t know what yet but soon....

That was one of my motivation for leaving the construction industry. Feast or famine.

 

[DrPrepper1]

Unless the snow melts quickly we won't be leaving the property probably for the next month or so, we have around 5 feet of snow now, this is the only day it hasn't snowed in a while, the 10 day forecast has snow everyday and evening, we may hit the 10 foot mark by the end of next week so all our preps are being put to use, our only travel methods are by snow mobiles.

How does this winter compare to your past winters? Is 5 foot of snow common? Is staying on your property for a month at a time?

 

[Maverick]

How does this winter compare to your past winters? Is 5 foot of snow common? Is staying on your property for a month at a time?

10 feet isn't uncommon between 5~7 feet is almost common and it's been this way from the beginning. Yes, being locked on the property is a given during the winter, it can snow from October to mid April, 2009/10 we had 10 feet of snow and no power for 6 weeks, it was -10, two of the well houses frozed up because the generator couldn't breath due to snow and shut down, I have since redesigned the vent and exhaust out of the generator houses. We are prepared for failure (a running joke) It's not as bad as it sounds, we still do work and we generally do work in the shop on the equipment that's used on the property during the spring and summer so no, no cabin fever

 

[DrPrepper1]

10 feet isn't uncommon between 5~7 feet is almost common and it's been this way from the beginning. Yes, being locked on the property is a given during the winter, it can snow from October to mid April, 2009/10 we had 10 feet of snow and no power for 6 weeks, it was -10, two of the well houses frozed up because the generator couldn't breath due to snow and shut down, I have since redesigned the vent and exhaust out of the generator houses. We are prepared for failure (a running joke) It's not as bad as it sounds, we still do work and we generally do work in the shop on the equipment that's used on the property during the spring and summer so no, no cabin fever

I can’t imagine that much snow! It was 75 and breezy here today. The temp is about to drop again though.

Being prepared is your hobby, but it sounds like it’s a requirement where you live.

No power for six weeks... in the winter? I always wondered how people up north survived the winters before electricity. I guess there is no cabin fever because there is no time for cabin fever

I saw a couple of winter pictures you posted. The scenery was beautiful.

 

[Brent S]

Yeah Mav, the pictures I’ve seen from both you and arctic are really beautiful, in the summer time anyways! It’s hard for me to even imagine 10’ of snow. That really does take prepping to a whole other level. Just keeping livestock alive through that would take tremendous effort, along with everything else.

 

[Maverick]

Yeah Mav, the pictures I’ve seen from both you and arctic are really beautiful, in the summer time anyways! It’s hard for me to even imagine 10’ of snow. That really does take prepping to a whole other level. Just keeping livestock alive through that would take tremendous effort, along with everything else.

Cattle gets moved to the lower elevation where the snow is 5 or less feet, like deer and elk the cattle will herd under the heavy canvas of the trees or near the slopes, we feed them where they herd. One of us would stay in a fully stocked line shack to keep an eye on the cattle and rotate out of their every 3 or 4 days, predators is the biggest concern not the snow or cold.

 

[Maverick]

10 feet isn't uncommon between 5~7 feet is almost common and it's been this way from the beginning. Yes, being locked on the property is a given during the winter, it can snow from October to mid April, 2009/10 we had 10 feet of snow and no power for 6 weeks, it was -10, two of the well houses frozed up because the generator couldn't breath due to snow and shut down, I have since redesigned the vent and exhaust out of the generator houses. We are prepared for failure (a running joke) It's not as bad as it sounds, we still do work and we generally do work in the shop on the equipment that's used on the property during the spring and summer so no, no cabin fever

Speaking of the shop, one of kids in the warm shop installing a distributor in a dodge truck, and by the way she is pregnant ain't no pregnant, barefoot in the kitchen crap here you can almost see the snow through the window.

 

[Mountain trapper]

I'm looking at buying a new 3600 watt generator. Does anyone here know anything about the small Cat generators? I know they're made in China, but I can't find any USA made generators in that size. I need a small generator that I can carry around on the 4 wheeler for remote projects on the property.

 

[Maverick]

I'm looking at buying a new 3600 watt generator. Does anyone here know anything about the small Cat generators? I know they're made in China, but I can't find any USA made generators in that size. I need a small generator that I can carry around on the 4 wheeler for remote projects on the property.

Look at Briggs and Troy-Built genny's, lot of the Troy Built uses American Briggs engines, all the power plant part of the generators are chinese for anything less than 12kw. I've had good luck with Firman generators, the Cat engine and power plant are made by the same company that makes Firman, Champion, Predator, Ryobi, the smaller Generac, Cat, John Deere etc...

Oddly enough, the chinese generators are getting a better reputation than the American built and branded Briggs & Stratton generators.

 

[Mountain trapper]

Look at Briggs and Troy-Built genny's, lot of the Troy Built uses American Briggs engines, all the power plant part of the generators are chinese for anything less than 12kw. I've had good luck with Firman generators, the Cat engine and power plant are made by the same company that makes Firman, Champion, Predator, Ryobi, the smaller Generac, Cat, John Deere etc...

Oddly enough, the chinese generators are getting a better reputation than the American built and branded Briggs & Stratton generators.

Thanks I'll check them out. Two years ago I bought a 10,000 watt (12,000 watt surge) American made Generac to run my well pump, and to replace the Lifan Chinese made 8750 watt generator. The Generac wouldn't start the pump. The pump needed 7500 watts and 28 amps to start. The Generac claimed to have a 50 amp breaker, turns out it's actually only 29 amps. But the Chinese made generator has been running great for 3 years now. I wrote to Generac about this problem. They haven't responded yet.
This morning I tried starting the Generac to heat my tractor and power the stock tank heater, but at -8 it wouldn't start. While the Lifan at the pump house started right up. I'm more than disappointed in the Generac.

 

[Maverick]

Thanks I'll check them out. Two years ago I bought a 10,000 watt (12,000 watt surge) American made Generac to run my well pump, and to replace the Lifan Chinese made 8750 watt generator. The Generac wouldn't start the pump. The pump needed 7500 watts and 28 amps to start. The Generac claimed to have a 50 amp breaker, turns out it's actually only 29 amps. But the Chinese made generator has been running great for 3 years now. I wrote to Generac about this problem. They haven't responded yet.
This morning I tried starting the Generac to heat my tractor and power the stock tank heater, but at -8 it wouldn't start. While the Lifan at the pump house started right up. I'm more than disappointed in the Generac.

I've had hit and miss with generac, the problem with generac and briggs has to do with the power plant, I've been really disappointed in them two.

 

[DrPrepper1]

Speaking of the shop, one of kids in the warm shop installing a distributor in a dodge truck, and by the way she is pregnant ain't no pregnant, barefoot in the kitchen crap here you can almost see the snow through the window.

View attachment 9345

I admit, I wouldn’t know the first thing about doing that. I wish I did though. She’s tough

 

[Petoski]

Had a nice winter holiday with the girlfriend. Before we left we used up all the food items that were open and would have gone off, for example milk. On our return we decided we are not going to buy anything (including food items) for the rest of this month and see how our food stores go. We estimate we have enough food to last a year but thought it would be interesting to see what it is like to go without the extra items we normally buy like milk and eggs. I'm probably going to miss cheese the most.

 

[Brent S]

I'm looking at buying a new 3600 watt generator. Does anyone here know anything about the small Cat generators? I know they're made in China, but I can't find any USA made generators in that size. I need a small generator that I can carry around on the 4 wheeler for remote projects on the property.

Bi-fuel Honda. Not made in the USA but the best one on the market.

 

[Maverick]

Bi-fuel Honda. Not made in the USA but the best one on the market.

Ya but 5 times the price, he'll be looking at 2k for a Honda for the wattage he's looking for. No doubt Honda is the best portable on the market. I have a Champion that is 6 years old and still going strong, that same generator is $345 today although a bit updated now and duel fuel now

 

[Proud Prepper]

I hate to say it, but the Predator generators from Harbor Freight are very good for the price.

 

[DrHenley]

Cheap Chinese propane generator I bought at a Pawn Shop. But hey, it got us through Michael...so...

 

[Mountain trapper]

Bi-fuel Honda. Not made in the USA but the best one on the market.

I agree. I have a Honda 6500 watt generator now and it's a great unit. But for what I need this new generator for I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. I like the idea of a dual fuel generator but for a portable unit I don't want to drag around a propane tank with it.

 

[Brent S]

I agree. I have a Honda 6500 watt generator now and it's a great unit. But for what I need this new generator for I didn't want to spend a lot of money on it. I like the idea of a dual fuel generator but for a portable unit I don't want to drag around a propane tank with it.

I got a 4500ish Duromax dual fuel recently. It runs fine on gasoline but the regulator hasn’t worked and after about three months I’ve given up on the company to cover it. Not really pleased with the service, but it was cheap and does the job. Has wheels, electric start, top mount gas tank, and in theory dual fuel for less than 400.00

 

[Maverick]

I got a 4500ish Duromax dual fuel recently. It runs fine on gasoline but the regulator hasn’t worked and after about three months I’ve given up on the company to cover it. Not really pleased with the service, but it was cheap and does the job. Has wheels, electric start, top mount gas tank, and in theory dual fuel for less than 400.00

Duromax has a bad reputation in my neck of the woods, they known here as a 'nice looking paper weight'

 

[Brent S]

Duromax has a bad reputation in my neck of the woods, they known here as a 'nice looking paper weight'

It starts great and runs smooth on gas. My son ran his house with it for about twelve hours or so with no issues. If you look on line with reviews though not many have much good to say about it. My review was scathing too about the propane regulator.

 

[Petoski]

One of our fireplaces isn't very efficient and we had planned to get a Finnish pönttöuuni like we have in another room. The prices for a new one are about €2500+ but would use less wood than the one we have and generate more heat for a longer time. We had a look at some of the new models but then found a woman who doesn't want hers. Today I took an hours drive to her house and spent the whole day chiseling out all the bricks and taking apart the metal tube. Now stored in the garage and I will resemble it in the summer to have it up and running by next winter. I think after I have paid for the new fire bricks I may have saved about €2,000. Not bad for a days work. Well probably 2 0r 3 days after I've done the rebuild.

For the non Finns a Pönttöuuni looks like this -

Basically works like a gigantic wood fuel radiator

 

[jontte]

have you tried looking for a second hand pönttöuuni??

 

[Petoski]

have you tried looking for a second hand pönttöuuni??

It is a second hand pönttöuuni. I just had to dismantle it and bring it home. It only cost me my time and a bit of fuel.

 

[jontte]

nice,nice indeed

find those people strange that don't want those,but to each their own..

 

[Maverick]

"The vertical furnace can be heated up to twice a day, with a charge of 5 to 10 kg of dry wood. The oven starts to heat for 1-3 hours from the start of the heating and continues to heat for 15-48 hours depending on the weight and structure of the oven."

https://translate.google.com/transl...//fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pystyuuni&prev=search

 

[Mountain trapper]

Due to our heavy snow fall over the past week construction on the house has came to a stop. After 4 days of plowing I got the road open just enough yesterday to get to town for more diesel and food. The 40 mile round trip took close to 5 hours. We're supposed to get another 1-3 feet of snow with high winds tonight and tomorrow. I'll assess the situation in the morning, but it looks like I'm going to have to abandon the road. The drifts are already several feet higher than the top of the tractor. Its going to be hard enough just keeping the road open to the pump house and to the barn. Getting feed out to the cattle has become a big problem. So now I'm having to feed in the corral.
My prepping plans for this summer have changed somewhat. I'm going to put in a 500 gallon diesel tank dedicated for the generator. Right now I'm hauling in just 60 gallons of diesel for the generator and tractor. Before next winter I'm going to get a snow blower for the tractor. That'll be a big expense that I wasn't planning for. Another option is to get a snow cat and quit trying to keep the road open. I'll just leave a vehicle at a friend's house about 6 miles down the road.

 

[Proud Prepper]

Due to our heavy snow fall over the past week construction on the house has came to a stop. After 4 days of plowing I got the road open just enough yesterday to get to town for more diesel and food. The 40 mile round trip took close to 5 hours. We're supposed to get another 1-3 feet of snow with high winds tonight and tomorrow. I'll assess the situation in the morning, but it looks like I'm going to have to abandon the road. The drifts are already several feet higher than the top of the tractor. Its going to be hard enough just keeping the road open to the pump house and to the barn. Getting feed out to the cattle has become a big problem. So now I'm having to feed in the corral.
My prepping plans for this summer have changed somewhat. I'm going to put in a 500 gallon diesel tank dedicated for the generator. Right now I'm hauling in just 60 gallons of diesel for the generator and tractor. Before next winter I'm going to get a snow blower for the tractor. That'll be a big expense that I wasn't planning for. Another option is to get a snow cat and quit trying to keep the road open. I'll just leave a vehicle at a friend's house about 6 miles down the road.

You shouldn't have needed to go get more food and diesel. Was you not prepared? Now we going to have to remove that prepping God title, lol

 

[Mountain trapper]

You shouldn't have needed to go get more food and diesel. Was you not prepared? Now we going to have to remove that prepping God title, lol

Your right. I'm a bad prepper. I had plenty of food at home, but not enough diesel for both the generator and the tractor. I know, I should have put a higher priority on bulk fuel storage. I'm just one man though and can't do it all alone. I'll try to redeem myself.
I did pick up a pizza yesterday just in case I had to walk home. Does that count?