-30 F for

[trev]

tomorrow  and tomorrow night. I have everything ready ie propane blow torch, 5' of flex pipe, generator and 2 sets of booster cables, oh ya and two cans of ether, to get 2 cranes and carriers started up, they stay in the woods. I will eat breakfast then head out. When I get them running they will stay running until midnight when I start loading.
Wish me luck.

[Autocar]

Trev your the man at -30  ;D but becareful using all that ether  :D

[JDeere]

Where are you located? We are logging where the mountains of Western Maine and the Great North Woods of New Hampshire meet and we expect the same tomorrow and Monday.

[lumberjack48]

  I had a propane circulating heater on my S8, every night I'd  hook it up, light it, tarp the front of the skidder so the wind wouldn't blow it out.
 It didn't make any difference how cold it got -30 or -50, I'd pull on the job, reach under the tarp and push the starter button.
I got so sick of the spit swappers, antifreeze on your gloves, i had a ball stick and spray antifreeze all over many times, man that sounds like fun.
 You have to keep things clean, i used mine 16 yrs never had a fire issue, it took the fight out of it.
 
In Nov. we used to pray for this kind of weather, so we could get in the big Spruce & Cedar swamps early.

[tyb525]

And I thought it was cold loading logs on my trailer at -5 yesterday morning : :D

[Ironwood]

Slept outside in -20 in the Adirondacks once, exhale and your breath vapor crystallizes and falls back in your face as ice, REAL adventure. Was reasonably warm but dont want to do that too often. Little Subaru was not too interesting in starting, had to hike out to the end of the raod and flag down a guy w/ a BIG truck to drive the 2 miles back the ski trail/ road to give a jump (two feet of fresh snow to boot), never a dull moment and real survival up north.

Ironwood

[CX3]

We are not prepared for -30 temps around here.  If it got that cold, everything would shut down.  Including me.  Good luck. 

[PAFaller]

JDeere, whats the nearest town to where you are working in northern NH. I finally took the time to drive all over that area when I was up there this summer to be the best man in my buddies wedding. His in-laws are mostly from Milan, but some hail from Errol, Colebrook, Lancaster etc. They also have small camp on Lake Umbagog. Was gorgeous in August, but I'm betting its some cold now. I took some pictures of moose while I was up there just to show friends I have here in PA what they look like. Still can't really comprehend the size compared to a whitetail until you actually see one, especially if its in the headlights!!

[JDeere]

PAFaller,  The nearest NH town to where we are working is Wentworths Location. It is about 15 miles north of Errol on the Maine state line. The parcel we are on is 27,000 acres and is a grant. Who is your buddy? We have 2 skidders on the job from Milan and I know lots of people in Colebrook, Milan and Lancaster. As for the moose, I wish we could ship them all south. I don't mind seeing them in the headlights but I hate it when they are on the hood. A lot of the trucks up here run moose bumpers. One of the haulers in our yard yesterday said he has hit 3 over the past 2 years. Umbagog is a beautiful lake and there are not many camps on it considering how large a lake it is. The govt. is buying up all the land they can on and around it.

[SPIKER]

Watching the news last night they said -48 someplace on the Montana Canadian border      I had seen temps around there once or twice myself but been a while.   Last real cold one was back in 88 or 89 when I changed the rad fluid & set it for -50 or better and froze the rad up going to work a few days later.   car overheated and boiled out anti-freeze that froze into a little green slush volcano under the car.   Luckly I was out front of a gas station & ran inside to get a extra gallon for the car & popped the cap & poured in straight antifreeze to make up the difference the old mercury fired back up and I managed to make it rest of the way to work.  that day you could take a hot cup of coffee (styro foam cup type) set it out in the wind/weather on the post outside our shop door and it would freeze solid in less than 5 min.  burrr  I was in Wichita KS McConnell AFB  was a fun place to work if you could get out of the wind.  (like 12 feet down inside  enclosed bunker) would get you out of the wind on the average windy day.

I worked Hydraulics and every thing leaked worse at low temps so it was  abusy day.   I had to replace a filter in wing of  a KC135 oval port hole that I could get into waste deep without my coat on.   and yes it was only way yo get into there was to remove the coat with those winds & temps it is wonder I didnt get frost bite. :( 
Mark

Mark

[PAFaller]

JDeere, PM sent

[tjdub]

tomorrow  and tomorrow night. I have everything ready ie propane blow torch, 5' of flex pipe, generator and 2 sets of booster cables, oh ya and two cans of ether, to get 2 cranes and carriers started up, they stay in the woods. I will eat breakfast then head out. When I get them running they will stay running until midnight when I start loading.
Wish me luck.

I hope you got them all running trev.

I started out this morning with a similar plan.  I had the generator, battery charger, and flex duct in my pickup and started heading for my dozer which is out in the woods pulling oak tops for firewood.  I got stuck in a snow drift about 1/2 mile from it.  I got out with a shovel after about 40 minutes, then got stuck again not much further down the road.  There was no way I was going to hump that generator down the road that far, so I decided to just walk out there and try go get it going on ether.  The batteries just didn't have the juice, so I walk back to find my dad stuck in a snow drift about 100ft past where my truck was stuck.  I had to walk another mile to get my tractor.  I get back with the tractor and pull both trucks out.  My dad says "screw this", and he heads home.  I load the generator and battery charger into the tractor and bust a trail to the dozer.  After about 30 minutes of the generator on the batteries and the flex pipe from the tractor muffler to the dozer.  I finally got that old dog running and head back with it to clear the snow drifts off the road.  I get about halfway back to where we were getting stuck and the fuel filters jell up and it wouldn't run much past idle.  I park it off the road and walk back for the tractor, I hopped on and headed home.

Four hours of hard work and lots of fuel burned with nothing to show for it but some dandy icicles on my face.  Some days it just doesn't pay to battle sub-zero weather!

[Just Me]

Slept outside in -20 in the Adirondacks once, exhale and your breath vapor crystallizes and falls back in your face as ice, REAL adventure. Was reasonably warm but dont want to do that too often. Little Subaru was not too interesting in starting, had to hike out to the end of the raod and flag down a guy w/ a BIG truck to drive the 2 miles back the ski trail/ road to give a jump (two feet of fresh snow to boot), never a dull moment and real survival up north.

Ironwood

Used to sleep in the back of my truck when I worked for Western Geophysical to save the perdiem. Had a little aluminum topper on the truck and a board bench to sleep on. [Remember those days?] We moved from Lubock Tx. to Portales NM and I did my usual, crawled in the back and went to sleep. Woke up cold, wind coming through the crack between the box and camper was like a knife. Had a new sleeping bag, very expensive, good for thirty below , and I was cussing those people out all night long as I shivvered my butt off.

When I got up in the morning I found out it was -50. Being from up north the thought never entered my mind that I would be so cold so close to Mexico. Diesel was frozen in the tank, had to get tank heaters.

Thing was by 11 AM it was 70 degrees, but by about 4 PM you had better be finding some jackets and such. Portales is up around 8OOO feet, but looks flat, so the thought just never crossed my mind. I slept in a motel for the rest of that job.

I've cut off four fingers and had three sown back on, so these days me and the cold are not one.

[northwoods1]

I like reading these stories :D

It has warmed up to -19.8 f at the moment.

So cold my internet is about frozen up :D I don't know why but when it gets this cold my connection is sloowwww or non - existent .

I got pretty good at figuring out how to get the engines running on the equipment , but how do you warm up the rest of the machine? You can't! Gear oil is not even liquid at these temps it is solid and hard. A hydrostatic machine... forget it. I can't hardly rationalize the additional problems and wear and tear on the equipment any more. There were days when a I had no choice , but it is just so much simpler to stay inside and find something else that needs to be done. Like working in the shop , anything.

Like justme says about his fingers , I have never had any cut off but I can imagine real well exactly what he is talking about. Every old injury you ever had particularly if you have frozen parts of your body before , that shows up real fast again when the temps drop!

Stay warm somehow

[Just Me]

Northwoods

How close are you to Crandon? We don't race anymore but still go up there for the races. Saw some of your woodwork in another thread, impressive,wouldn't mind a cup of coffee with ya when I am up there.

[Ironwood]

Justme,

I was in the back of my Subaru, and like you those temps make a vehical into a freezer. We slept there out of convienence, but a tent would be MUCH warmer. We were ice climbing outside of Lake Placid, and both are pretty serious folks about outdoor pursuits. But that day, it got to -5F, too cold to climb, ice is too brittle, and you "lose" your fingers and have to stop too often to warm them.  Here is a pic after a multi pitch climb, some things are more important than knocking off the pound of ice from your face (like being focused) This is my mentor and friend, Dennis.





Ironwood

[northwoods1]

Northwoods

How close are you to Crandon? We don't race anymore but still go up there for the races. Saw some of your woodwork in another thread, impressive,wouldn't mind a cup of coffee with ya when I am up there.

About 40 minutes from Crandon to the east. I've been to the races up there a couple times. I was in to performance engines for a while, but mostly cars

I used to work at a chevy dealership as a mechanic, both auto and in the big truck shop, when I was a lot younger and before I started in the woods. I lived right in Green Bay. I was working on my car out in the drive one day and a neighbor walks over who I had never met, a young guy. He starts asking me questions and says do I have any extra carbs? I says what are you looking for? He says oh, about a 1050cfm holley would work. I'm thinking , yah right... what is he gonna do with that? So I asked him , he says oh, we race up in crandon. We need the holley to put on the engine when it is in the pits, they would swap that out and take off the the real carb they were running so no one else could see it. They were running predator variable venturi carbs which was a new thing at that time. Then he tells me all these other stories about the sponsorships they had and all these other unbelievable stories. I was very dubious. Said his name was "Flannery" . Well if you have raced up there you have probably heard the name... I can remember he was real proud of the fact that one time he had beaten Walker Evans

[northwoods1]

Justme,

I was in the back of my Subaru, and like you those temps make a vehical into a freezer. We slept there out of convienence, but a tent would be MUCH warmer. We were ice climbing outside of Lake Placid, and both are pretty serious folks about outdoor pursuits. But that day, it got to -5F, too cold to climb, ice is too brittle, and you "lose" your fingers and have to stop too often to warm them.  Here is a pic after a multi pitch climb, some things are more important than knocking off the pound of ice from your face (like being focused) This is my mentor and friend, Dennis.





Ironwood

Boy I know some guys that climb... what stories they can tell when they get going. A person has to be real calm cool and collected and a thinker under pressure to be able to do that stuff!

[Ironwood]

I have followed a few CRAZY routes, or should I say climbers.  Crappy/ thin ice, long runouts, marginal protection. Always good to reach a safe spot (trees or rock). Climbed a few after dark by headlamp, WAYYYY cool.

Ironwood   

[Just Me]

Northwoods

I come into Crandon from the east. Got caught in a storm once riding my GSXR up there and spent a couple of hours hiding in a bar about that far from Crandon.

Jack and Jamie went on to beat Walker many many time before they fell into bad fortune, self inflicted. Jack lost everthing to the IRS, and Jamie had a go with a 16 year old that made it so no sponsor would touch him. They were bad to the bone though. Jack died a couple of years ago.

Walker was always everyones goal. He helped us set up our Dodge after he switched to Chevys as we were the only Dodge in the circuit at that time. We used his old number on our truck,820, and won the sportsman stock championship in 2000.

Switched to Supertruck, took 2nd place to our buddy Keith Steele in 2009. Ironically we put Keiths truck together in our shop here in Indian River, but his chassis was far better than ours, and he can drive. My brother wrecked his Supertruck in an 80 mph mid air crash in front of the barn, and although the truck went back together and he finished the season in second, he was never the same. Lost the drive, or all of a sudden knew what fear is, but the truck was sold either way. Good thing, it costs well over 100K to run one of those a year.

Ironwood

Ice climbing? And they say I am crazy.........

[Bobus2003]

tomorrow  and tomorrow night. I have everything ready ie propane blow torch, 5' of flex pipe, generator and 2 sets of booster cables, oh ya and two cans of ether, to get 2 cranes and carriers started up, they stay in the woods. I will eat breakfast then head out. When I get them running they will stay running until midnight when I start loading.
Wish me luck.

I hope you got them all running trev.

I started out this morning with a similar plan.  I had the generator, battery charger, and flex duct in my pickup and started heading for my dozer which is out in the woods pulling oak tops for firewood.  I got stuck in a snow drift about 1/2 mile from it.  I got out with a shovel after about 40 minutes, then got stuck again not much further down the road.  There was no way I was going to hump that generator down the road that far, so I decided to just walk out there and try go get it going on ether.  The batteries just didn't have the juice, so I walk back to find my dad stuck in a snow drift about 100ft past where my truck was stuck.  I had to walk another mile to get my tractor.  I get back with the tractor and pull both trucks out.  My dad says "screw this", and he heads home.  I load the generator and battery charger into the tractor and bust a trail to the dozer.  After about 30 minutes of the generator on the batteries and the flex pipe from the tractor muffler to the dozer.  I finally got that old dog running and head back with it to clear the snow drifts off the road.  I get about halfway back to where we were getting stuck and the fuel filters jell up and it wouldn't run much past idle.  I park it off the road and walk back for the tractor, I hopped on and headed home.

Four hours of hard work and lots of fuel burned with nothing to show for it but some dandy icicles on my face.  Some days it just doesn't pay to battle sub-zero weather!

When its cold like that you have to ask.. Is it worth the Hell and abuse your putting the machine through?

[lumberjack48]

Your equipment was to be ready for cold weather, all the right fluids for -50, fuel blended right with de gel in it, real good or new batteries, a Hot box, propane heater or spit swappers. [4x4 pickup with plow]

I had x amount of wood to get out by march, i could not wait for warm weather, never lost a day because of cold or snowy days, [ bad wind, yes] you only have so many days in the bog.

[fuzzybear]

we just got done with a week and a half of -40 temps.  Not to bad working in it if you keep moving and have a fire. 
  The worst I've ever worked at was -58. It was not fun.  Coldest I've ever seen was -72. but that was way back in the bush in a small river valley. 

Longest was 2 winters ago when it dropped to -50 and stayed for a little over 1 1/2 months.  Then it warmed up to -30 and dumped 2' of snow on us.    The joys of hibernating in the great white north.   
   Summer is almost here.  the sun is days away from cresting the mountain, then I will get direct sun light for almost 20 min. then I  gain 7 min each day until it never sets in june.
Summers are a good trade off for dealing with the winter.  but of course I've got to love winter to live here. ;D :

[lumberjack48]

The coldest day i worked -52, coldest wind chill -57, we always had a fire on the landing. No cabs on the skidders, i made a windshield out of Plexiglas, something to break the wind, worked good, then i put carpet on the floor boards   to get your feet off the bear steel.

[indiaxman1]

Out with two other cutters working on oak/hickory tops today...was +20..which seems downright balmy compared to some prior posts....can't seem to keep feet warm....double wool socks/boots....glad to haul out of there afternoon