Ready for winter?

[Larry Caldwell]

What do you do to get ready for winter? Today is the equinox, and the days are getting shorter as fast as they can. In my idle moments, which I have a bunch of, I'm making a list of things I need to get done before 1 November.

- Waterproof my canvas jackets and grease my boots.
- Put new tires on my wife's rig.
- Service the generator(s) and make sure they start easily.
- Put high lift blades on the rider to make the leaf catcher work better.
- Inventory the battery supply and replace what got used last year.
- Do repair work on the foot bridge over the creek before it starts raining.
- Fill propane tanks and gas cans.
- Put the router on a UPS.
- Screw down some loose metal on the barn.
- Stock up on medications.
- Replenish the household cash.
- Get the chimney swept.

The big task - firewood in the wood shed - is already done.

I'm sure I'm forgetting some stuff. Any ideas? What do you do to get ready for winter?

 

[Thomas]

I start mid October...
Clean ditches.
Clean culverts.
Tire chains on tractor.
PM plow for pickup.
PM snowblower.
Pm generator.
Snow tires on pickup.

 

[Torvy]

What's that? Winter doesn't exist down here.

 

[oldballs]

Oh Yeah!!!...I'll bet some old timers can tell about an unusally cold winter thaat froze everybodies butt off....seeans as how they didn't anticipate what could happen down yonder.

Cheers,
Mike

 

[ruffdog]

We had the propane filled but it is still a bit early to go full "winter prep" mode. It is a busy time for us too but usually it is perfect weather to be out.

 

[Doofy]

Top off Pantry and Freezers.

 

[ovrszd]

I'm not a Winter fan. But I'm "relatively" organized so I'm always ready. I don't burn wood anymore so my timber wood cutting duties are diminished to maintenance. One Son still burns wood and I've got enough trees on the ground to provide him. So I'll work up firewood whenever I feel like it.

I've got some winterizing duties such as sprayers that will be stored in the cold machine shed. I've got some road grader maintenance to do. I've got some small grass seeding projects to do.

My Son is building a new shop. It should be weathered in within the next 45 days. Then I'll spend the first part of the Winter wiring it and customizing the interior, shelves, etc.

Otherwise, I'm ready.

 

[ruffdog]

What's that? Winter doesn't exist down here.

I have been thinking about your comment and here is my thought. I would REALLY miss the change of seasons we have here. I know it is extra work and snow/cold is not for everybody but I love the changes it offers.

 

[ovrszd]

I have been thinking about your comment and here is my thought. I would REALLY miss the change of seasons we have here. I know it is extra work and snow/cold is not for everybody but I love the changes it offers.

I agree.

 

[Slowpoke Slim]

Hmm,

Still about a month or 2 away for us.

But start up the lawn mower and run all the gas out of it.
Run all the gas out of the riding mower and put the battery tender on it.
Put gas IN the snow blower and test start it.
Take the brush mower off the tractor and put the box blade on.
Grab an IBC tote full of firewood and put it in the garage (with forks on the FEL).
Take the forks off the FEL and put the bucket on.
Winterize the 5th wheel (it's already done this year).
Dig out the outdoor timer and get it ready to plug the tractors block heater and oil pan and hydro sump into.

Oops, forgot, take the 5th wheel hitch out of the truck bed, put a pallet of sandbags in the bed, and put about 400-500 pounds of sandbags in the back of my company service van.

I think that's about it.

 

[Torvy]

Oh Yeah!!!...I'll bet some old timers can tell about an unusally cold winter thaat froze everybodies butt off....seeans as how they didn't anticipate what could happen down yonder.

Cheers,
Mike

Record cold in Texas was 1899... Negative 23. Growing up we never had a winter up north than did not reach negative 23. I've personally experienced negative 40. (wind chills about negative 80). Average days below zero were 32+.

 

[Eagle1]

Done
Propane topped up
Hay delivered and put under cover.
1 deer in the freezer

To Do
Put a couple more deer in the freezer
Butcher a steer
Butcher this years turkeys
Add a few domestic rabbits to the freezer
Trench a water line to the coop
Get wood split and stacked
Winterize everything when the time comes around 1st of Dec.
Calves should hit the ground starting next month and hopefully all on the ground before the cold hits for real.
Setup tank heater for cattle.

gonna be a busy couple of months.

 

[5030]

Propane tanks are full (all 3). 6 ton of pellets in the barn, 4 ton of corn too. Just got a new furnace in the house, Bryant Plus 90. We are good to go, in fact, kicked on the Bryant a little while ago, bit nippy here this evening.
it's coming, Looking forward to it actually.

 

[fruitcakesa]

Fired up the wood boiler; fall is here and it is supposed to be 40-50* tomorrow day and into the 30's at night.
Still have a cord or so yet to cut & split but have plenty stacked and dry.

 

[joeyd]

I've covered all my split wood, still too early to move it closer to the house. Still need to top off the propane but I have only used 10% since topping off after winter. Bought a second set of rims for snow tires on the wife's jeep, still need to purchase the tires. Will wait a bit before cleaning the gutters one last time. Chaining up the tractor doesn't happen until snow gets forecasted.

 

[MAX-24-Dean]

Check the freeze point of anti-freeze in vehicles.
Fill the kindling bin for the wood stoves.
Finish moving cord wood to wood shed.
Prep generator for winter outages.

 

[Jstpssng]

Last week I dug out my snowshoes. Every spring I take them out of the truck for the last time with intentions of varnishing them so that it will harden in the summer heat. Every fall I touch them up so that they will last another year. (Time was when that wasn't a concern, as I would wear a pair of shoes out in a winter.)

Pigs are going to slaughter tomorrow, and turkeys are going on Saturday. I do the chickens myself and have been working them along.
It's finally getting cool enough to do firewood. I only burn a couple of cords/year, and pick up log ends from last year's timber harvest to fill the woodshed. I took today off with plans to clean the chimney among other things. We had gotten 2 inches of rain when I checked 5 hours ago and it hasn't stopped yet. The chimney can wait another day, right now I'm burning some of that pollution free electric heat.

 

[Larry Caldwell]

Hmm,

Still about a month or 2 away for us.

But start up the lawn mower and run all the gas out of it.
Run all the gas out of the riding mower and put the battery tender on it.
Put gas IN the snow blower and test start it.
Take the brush mower off the tractor and put the box blade on.
Grab an IBC tote full of firewood and put it in the garage (with forks on the FEL).
Take the forks off the FEL and put the bucket on.
Winterize the 5th wheel (it's already done this year).
Dig out the outdoor timer and get it ready to plug the tractors block heater and oil pan and hydro sump into.

Oops, forgot, take the 5th wheel hitch out of the truck bed, put a pallet of sandbags in the bed, and put about 400-500 pounds of sandbags in the back of my company service van.

I think that's about it.

I will run the weed whacker dry, but I use the bagger on the rider to mulch and collect leaves. I have a lot of leaves, since the perimeter of my yard is surrounded by 400 year old bigleaf maples. My main generator is propane, so all I need to do there is blow the bugs out and make sure it makes 'lectric. One more pass with the tractor mower, then swap the mower for the blade. I have some site work to do.

Oh yeah, dig the long johns out of storage. ;p

 

[fatjay]

Still got about 3 cords of rounds to split and stack.

Need to order #2 diesel, prices are dropping, don't want to buy it before i absolutely need to. I don't want to buy and have it drop 20 cents a gallon the next day, which it has twice in the last week. Then it went back up.

I have 4 chainsaw blades that I need to drop off to get sharpened.

Just serviced the oil heater.

Gotta pull the snow machine in and change the oil and check hydro fluid.

Generator was run 4 times over the summer, topped it off a couple weeks ago so that's still fresh.

I need to get a water heater for the chicken coop to prevent water from freezing.

I need new heat wrap on the oil tank lines.

 

[Torvy]

Still got about 3 cords of rounds to split and stack.

Need to order #2 diesel, prices are dropping, don't want to buy it before i absolutely need to. I don't want to buy and have it drop 20 cents a gallon the next day, which it has twice in the last week. Then it went back up.

Best guess is prices will go up the 2nd week of November. Prices are artificially low due to dumping strategic reserves. That cannot last forever and the incentive to continue will end about then. Of course, world events could modify that.

How long does it take you to split 3 cords? By hand or with splitter? Hardwood or soft?