An ounce of prevention

[terrifictimbersllc]

Forecast says 28° F at 7am at my sawing site tomorrow.  Purged my Lubemizer line with straight WWF.  Added about a half gal of same to my water bottle.   By 8am it's supposed to be 33°.  Not taking any chances. Plenty of other things can go wrong as it gets colder.  Bad start to a day subtracting an hour's labor for something preventable with 5 minutes effort.

[woodmills1]

diesel bar oil doesn't freeze

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Good idea. 33 is not real cold, but its cold enough to get into the habit of being prepared.
I imagine it will get a lot colder than 33 in CT. this winter :D

Good post "T"! 

[drobertson]

No doubt, locked and loaded with wwf as well. almost thought it was sleeting this evening, not, just a good stiff wind and a cold rain..    david

[Peter Drouin]

WWF all the way, cooling off 28 this morning and the hydraulics where slow too  :D :D

[Magicman]

I posted this LINK to Sparks' chart for WW fluid in another thread.  Yup, an ounce of prevention.   

[Dad2FourWI]

You bet... mine has been full for the last week here in WI !!!

Just bought a case of WWF from Mendards.....

I would be all set for Winter if only I had the wood shed full.... too busy with everything else... <groan>

Cheers,
-Dad2FourWI

[JohnM]

I put maybe a 1/4 gal of wwf with 2 gals of water in my tank last week.  It was 18.9* this morning when I got up to go hunting and didn't check the tank when I went by (have to walk right by the mill on the way to my stand).  I did look at around 4pm and it seemed 'ok' (not frozen), it never got above 38 here today.  I'm wondering though, am I pressing my luck cutting the wwf that much?

[GDinMaine]

There is some good info in this 2005 thread. 
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=10926.0

I have 1/2 Gallon of WWF in 3 gallons of water and it was OK down to about 20F.  However the mill head is covered so that does provide a little bit of temperature protection as well. I will soon increase the WWF in the tank and by January will use no water at all.  The blue stuff cost almost $3/gallon so it can get expensive if using 4-6 gallons in a day.

[JohnM]

The is some good info in this 2005 thread. 
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=10926.0

I have 1/2 Gallon of WWF in 3 gallons of water and it was OK down to about 20F.  However the mill head is covered so that does provide a little bit of temperature protection as well. I will soon increase the WWF in the tank and by January will use no water at all.  The blue stuff cost almost $3/gallon so it can get expensive if using 4-6 gallons in a day.

It wasn't that long ago that that stuff was like 79 cents /gal.   Not sure what it's made out of but apparently there's a shortage of it. :

[Magicman]

I did some internet searching:

"Methanol is used in commercial windshield washer fluid. It is the best ingredient to prevent freezing at low temps. 25% (vol. %) methanol/water freezes at approx. 0 degrees F, 25% ethanol/water is about 10 degrees F, 25% isopropanol/water freezes at about 13 degrees F (all temps are approximate). Methanol should be treated with care and used in a well ventilated area. Wear gloves at all times. Methanol attacks the optic nerve in excess quantities inhaled or on skin."

[terrifictimbersllc]

Forecast says 28° F at 7am at my sawing site tomorrow.  Purged my Lubemizer line with straight WWF.  Added about a half gal of same to my water bottle.   By 8am it's supposed to be 33°.  Not taking any chances. Plenty of other things can go wrong as it gets colder.  Bad start to a day subtracting an hour's labor for something preventable with 5 minutes effort.

Well, the temp actually was 33° not 28° as predicted.  But I was safe rather than sorry at least as far as the lube went.   But the cold was helpful in revealing I needed a new battery.  My hydraulics seemed a bit weak and my indicator lights were dim. (see here:    https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,7789.msg934188.html#msg934188 )      Using the voltage meter in the Accuset 2 diagnostics routine I saw the voltage dropping to 8.5 volts when the log turner was going full out.   I got by all day until the end when I tried to turn a 30x10' oak log.  Nothing doing.  Anyway I stopped at Carquest on the way home (the i-phone is amazing!) and went home with a new 31HDP30 battery.  Also had some diesel flow problem whose description will wait for another time.   So much for my first cold day of the season.