Contributor
I got the new all-season tires installed on my Pilot Tuesday. Now I want to buy a good grain shovel to use as a snow shovel. I purchased and tried on some new snow boots in June. My tire chains reside in the compartment below the deck in the rear of the Pilot year round. I think I'm ready.
Ken
So much to learn, so little time.....
Contributor
O'dark -thirty sets in around 5:00pm soon & stays that way for a long time. Used to be cold and snow didn't bother me all that much. Now that I live my entire life at the end of a 25 foot oxygen tube, cold raises holy hell with my ability to breathe. It's not the cold really, it's the dry air. I should move to a rain forest somewhere!
Oh well, soon enough I won't have the cold and dark to whine about.....I guess I'll whine about that when it happens!
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans." - John Lennon
Moderator
A little hint...for where you live, always shoot for an "all weather" tire rather than an "all season" tire. They are different. The former has a 3 peaks rating and is substantially better performing in colder, winter conditions while not sacrificing warm weather performance. The formulation of the material doesn't harden up at colder temps as fast as typical "all season" tires.Originally Posted by Ken Fitzgerald
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
It feels astonishingly like Spring here, even though I know you're right that Winter is just around the corner on the calendar. We have been in the worst drought in the settled history of the area all year (less than 4" total rainfall, and nonewhatsoever from the second week of July through mid-September). It finally broke with a 3-4" overnight rainfall ten days ago. Suddenly the world is green again - I'm going to actually have to mow for the first time since June, and we have fresh herbs and produce from plants in the garden that I had taken for dead.
Meanwhile, we just completed a major energy efficiency retrofit of the house. Tightened and insulated the foundation and crawl space, replaced the remaining old windows, replaced the old propane furnace with a new heat pump. We traditionally have heated primarily with wood, with the furnace as the steady state backup, but as we've aged, the fractions of heating load carried by wood vs propane have rev,ersed. Now the central heat will be as much powered from our farm as the wood is (via solar generation capacity), so I guess we're ready on the heating front. Final part of that project will be to redo the interior and floor of our bedroom, and then after 45 years working at it, the house is done ... finished. No more construction, barring a disaster that knocks some part of it over.
I dislike any temperature much above 68oF, so these coming months are among my favorite of the year. I like Winter too. Farm chores take half an hour a day, so the possibilities for new learning and shop projects are endless.
Member
Thank you Steve!
Windsurfing season is ending soon here. Seasonal adjustment is tough for me. You inspired me to clean up my shop and start the indoor season.
"Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t - you’re right."
- Henry Ford
Contributor
It’s been dark here all Summer. Canada dust ? Worst Summer I’ve seen . I bet happy pills …of different kinds have all been big
sellers.
Contributor
Wow.... a 45 year WIP. Congrats on the completion.
Now I don't feel so bad about my 15 year WIP.
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
Contributor
Yeah, I feel good about it. I'm pretty sure my wife thinks I'm 40 years late on my promise to build her a house, though. We started with a 32' X 24' one room schoolhouse sitting in a hayfield, with no insulation, no electricity and no plumbing (but beautiful QS White Oak floors) and about $12,000 total to work with. 45 years on, thousands of hours of our own labor, and hundreds of trees and other plantings, It's now a gorgeous little cottage sitting in a little piece of paradise.
And, of course, I'm old now. Guess that's how life works.
Contributor
My tires are the best rated carried by the dealer for the Pilot I am driving. They are rated for M&S too. I never cut corners on tires and don't run them more than 4-5 years depending on the physical condition of the tire. As a teen driving every horse the 283 or 327 would produce, I had two tires blowout while driving. Surprisingly, when the rear tire on my '56 Chevy blew it was much worse to handle than when the front tire blew on the same car. 3 years later when I married into a readymade family my attitude changed dramatically.
Ken
So much to learn, so little time.....
Contributor
Wife has New Years trip to Mexico booked so we are ready for winter.
Contributor
The nature guys doing the film voice -overs always say , “Soon it will be Winter , food will be hard to find” .
Contributor
"Winter is coming."
"What you see and what you hear depends a great deal on where you are standing.
It also depends on what sort of person you are.”
Moderator
They sound fine. Just as an aside, the 3 peaks rating is higher than M&S should you feel that will be helpful the next time you need new ones. It's just a more malleable material when it gets cold without becoming wear sensitive in warm conditions like dedicated winter tires would. One example is the Falken Wildpeak AT Trail which is one of the most popular tire today alongside of the Michelin CrossClimate 2 (directional tire). They are especially popular for folks who live in northern areas that have actual winter but don't "require" dedicated winter tires.My tires are the best rated carried by the dealer for the Pilot I am driving. They are rated for M&S too. I never cut corners on tires and don't run them more than 4-5 years depending on the physical condition of the tire. As a teen driving every horse the 283 or 327 would produce, I had two tires blowout while driving. Surprisingly, when the rear tire on my '56 Chevy blew it was much worse to handle than when the front tire blew on the same car. 3 years later when I married into a readymade family my attitude changed dramatically.
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The most expensive tool is the one you buy "cheaply" and often...
Contributor
Thanks for the reminder. I need to get my snow blower tuned up and ready. I know it sounds blasphemous, but I'm leaning toward a new, battery-powered snow blower. I'm getting envious of my neighbors who simply roll out their electric snow blower and go while I'm filling mine with gas, pushing on the primer bulb, plugging the electric starter into an outlet and trying to get the engine to start then actually stay running. I've already replaced the factory carburetor that NEVER did run right. If I any more trouble, I'm going battery-powered.
Contributor
Pat, that's my plan in general, for all the outdoor tools I have - rechargeable technology is a game changer for lawn homeowners.
I usually get the snow thrower ready to go (test start) on the same day I put the lawnmower away for the winter (oil change, air filter, spark plug, sharp blade). So I can swap their places to be nearest the door. Lawnmower's last use is in November to bag up leaves.
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