Let It Snow-- New England

[BigBill]

Back in the blizzard of '78 I felt hopeless with being snowed in for 4 days. Luckily we went to the store before the storm so we had food but the power never went out we were lucky. By the spring it was time to install a woodstove for back up heat. Then i felt with 3 small kids we could survive anything. I been heating with wood now since '78.

I believe with this storm my FCUB would of done a great job in plowing the snow too. With its higher ground clearance we could clear the snow from it being packed under it. Most of my neighbors have front end loaders. That oughta tell us something about the snow fall north of rt84.

I do know that most of these snowplow guys don't know how to plow too. These guys with 1 ton trucks can't be so bullish with 3'+ of snow. When the snow gets deeper we need to push it side to side to open the path up first then clean it with the plow angled to the left and right.

The bottomline is snowplowing is an art and we learn as we go too.

[ScottyD'sdad]

Not a happy camper in Massachusetts. My brother says I should be having fun. I am cold and sore from shoveling and snow throwing wet snow. When the storm hit and knocked out power the only heat I had was out in the Cubhouse, well 80 mph winds took care of the insulated stove pipe knocking that off the roof. So on Saturday morning early I got a ladder and climbed out onto the roof to fix the stove pipe and get a fire going. I was really nervous climbing an icy ladder onto the roof. As some of you know I fell a few months ago off a roof and broke my arm and hand in 20 places. I got the stove pipe in place and snapped a picture from the roof of the Cub House.


I have had no power since Friday and estimates are no power until this Friday. Saturday night temps hit 12 degrees and finally it has warmed up and is raining. Another storm is headed our way and I seriously doubt I will have power for another week. OUr electtric company got fined for not dealing with the last storm properly. All weekend long I did not see one utility truck. This is demoralizing when 3 days go by and the road hasn't been plowed and not a single (f)utility truck is in sight. All but one of the families in the neighborhood is still here. The others fled. I can't imagine being elderly with no heat, horrible winds, lightning and trees dropping left and right and not having any contact with anyone. Glad I am younger and don't mind hardship...am at work warming up. Hope those effected are hanging tough. Spring is just around the corner.

Time for a generator, and wood stove in the house, Chris! Ed

[CapeCodCubs]

I took the wood stove out because I've already had the roof burn off the house once before. My brother came down with a generator. He lives in NH and has 5 of them. It is a Honda and runs for 3-4 hours and needs fuel. I am planning on buying a generator....never expected to ever be in this mess. Seems to me you went through the no generator thing last year until you got rescued by another forum member, Ed.

Chris

[DickB]

Wow, Chris. You sure got it right on the chin and then some! We were without power for about a week when, several years back, there was a massive ice storm here in western MA. The woodstove saved us, and it's metal chimney took it, with stranded wire bracing on the roof. But with power out we had to go to a stream for water for flushing, for the animals. And, luckily, someone came by with potable water for us. Freezer stuff went outside to the back of the pickup truck --safe from bear and whatnot, and the temp. was cold so the stuff didn't melt.

Our grown kids didn't think our stories much to laugh about (we enjoyed our roughing out), so they got us a portable gen. as a gift. Have it wired in to some circuits in the house.

I've been watching this forum to see when you guys in eastern MA would dig out and get online again. Wondering how those Cubs did.

Should think those winds would have put some stripers and blues up on the beach for the taking. No? Perhaps some great whites, gasping and grinning with eyes on your ankles?

Hope all dig out, start repairs, and get life going again. -- DickB

[ScottyD'sdad]

I took the wood stove out because I've already had the roof burn off the house once before. My brother came down with a generator. He lives in NH and has 5 of them. It is a Honda and runs for 3-4 hours and needs fuel. I am planning on buying a generator....never expected to ever be in this mess. Seems to me you went through the no generator thing last year until you got rescued by another forum member, Ed.

Chris

Chris, I had a generator. It chose to pick that time to malfunction. Worked fine, this weekend, with its new carb. Was nice to be rescued by Spaceghost! Ed

[Buzzard Wing]

I was sure there would be a very long wait for power... guess there is an advantage to living in the big city near a commercial area

Today was pretty warm and raining, OK as long it stays above freezing. They mostly have the roads under control, but storm drains are a pretty rare sight. Surely Mr Plow has got to be tired. Typical for here, the mountains are shrinking quickly at 40F.

Probably could have made a small fortune with the Lo Boy, but opted for cleaning up around the house and a bit of sightseeing. The guys that bought a plow truck after the giant winter snows of the other year hopefully got some return on their investment.

Never came close to getting stuck with the chains. It took less time to install them than it did to find them and I knew just where they were too, hiding in the deep snow.

[telleed]

Yeah I bought myself a diesel generator back in 2005 and the neighbors and everyone else thought I was crazy. Since then we lost power in MA in order: Ice Storm, Halloween Snow Storm, Hurricane.We did not lose power during the blizzard though. They no longer think I am crazy, BTW.
I have a generator I made up to fit on the drawbar of the cub and runs off of the PTO. It is a nice rig but cannot compare with the diesel for fuel. Standby consumption is key. The sweet spot is 6 to 7.5 KW unit for standby: 1/4 to 1/3 gallon an hour. 0.8 to 0.9 under full load. Do not go bigger than that if you can help it. You can run a dryer or dishwasher or AC if you take turns, it is no big deal. 30 gallons in the tank is good for 5 days straight or two weeks if you power off at night.

[DickB]

I opted for a gas powered gen. Small -- 4400w -- size with ~4 gal. tank. 120 / 240v. About 100 lbs. on wheels, battery start. We park it by the tractor, and can hand wheel it anywhere. Based on in-law family's experience on LI after Hurricane Sandy black out, we chain/padlock against theft (something new, right?). And have a hookup direct to house panel via a transfer power panel so there are no cables running through holes in wall, open doors, etc. Works, but so far haven't had to use it. Prefer it that way.

[CapeCodCubs]

Power is on! Days ahead of their schedule. Wish list....generator. Someday

Frozen Cub..thawed out today with temps in the high40's-low50's

On the plus side...a tree right next to my parents house fell. It's a tall cherry,very old, 24" diameter. Dropped in the road.Told my dad to watch for the town crews...he did and they saved a huge length of the cherry tree and skidded it off the road for us! Sawed some other good size logs for my nephew to turn into bowls.

[CapeCodCubs]

Yeah I bought myself a diesel generator back in 2005 and the neighbors and everyone else thought I was crazy. Since then we lost power in MA in order: Ice Storm, Halloween Snow Storm, Hurricane.We did not lose power during the blizzard though. They no longer think I am crazy, BTW.
I have a generator I made up to fit on the drawbar of the cub and runs off of the PTO. It is a nice rig but cannot compare with the diesel for fuel. Standby consumption is key. The sweet spot is 6 to 7.5 KW unit for standby: 1/4 to 1/3 gallon an hour. 0.8 to 0.9 under full load. Do not go bigger than that if you can help it. You can run a dryer or dishwasher or AC if you take turns, it is no big deal. 30 gallons in the tank is good for 5 days straight or two weeks if you power off at night.

Post some pictures of this...would be cool to see

[Teakettle]

While we have a blade and chains on the Cub I didn't even try to use it in the 24" of snow we got, as the drifts in our driveway were about four feet high. Last time I tried to use the Cub with snow that deep it took multiple passes and much cussing.

The process this time was, put on snowshoes so I could get to the barn, shovel out the barn door so I could get the snowblower, blow enough snow from around the truck so I could open the truck door, try to plow with the truck, realize that I'm running out of places to push the snow, run the snowblower up and down the sides of the driveway to create places to push snow into, get back into the truck, etc. Then today it was almost 50 degrees and a whole lot of the stuff melted.

[ScottyD'sdad]

45 degrees, here, today, and breezy. Pushed some more snow, that was softened, by the warmth. Lost a good 6 inches, to melting already. Our dog has a large red ball, that he plays with a lot. It was "missing" yesterday, and half uncovered, today. Ed

[wfmdfm]

Well working for the power company and the amount of time I am away during storms I see the need for a generator. I got one about 8 yrs ago after earning a bunch of OT $$ on storm duty. Since buying it I have never needed to put gas in it. Well this storm as I was working we lost power. Over the phone I talked my 21 yr old and 17 yr old daughter thru starting it and hooking it up to the appliances( for them the only need was cell phone charging). 2hrs later they got there lights back. I will drain the tank and carb and hope it sits for another 8 yrs.
Wally
PS- I got back home tonight

[ScottyD'sdad]

Well working for the power company and the amount of time I am away during storms I see the need for a generator. I got one about 8 yrs ago after earning a bunch of OT $$ on storm duty. Since buying it I have never needed to put gas in it. Well this storm as I was working we lost power. Over the phone I talked my 21 yr old and 17 yr old daughter thru starting it and hooking it up to the appliances( for them the only need was cell phone charging). 2hrs later they got there lights back. I will drain the tank and carb and hope it sits for another 8 yrs.
Wally
PS- I got back home tonight

Wally, buy the girls car chargers for the cell phones. Cheaper than gas, for the generator. Ed

[telleed]

CapeCodCubs...

I'll see if I have a picture of my genset setup with it mounted. There was one in my old digital camera when I built it.
If not right now I have the counterweights and plow on (see video) so it will have to be in the spring