I just watched the first couple of minutes of the news and it was all about the weather. Officially we had 6" of snow here which sounds about right to me. It looked like 5" on top of my truck when I swept it off, and maybe an inch afterward. I just looked outside and it's coming down very slowly. They had 13" of snow in Clare which is about 35 miles north of the geographical center of the Lower Peninsula. I guess that makes it "up north", and it usually gets colder and snows more up north than down here in the southern half of the L.P. They probably had a lot of snow on the ground before that too.

 

Not having any luck with the 4x4 plow thingie.... for one thing its all new to me, and 2 the blade is only 5' wide (my snow shovel is almost that wide) another thing is the turning around in the drive with these aggressive tires, was plowing/grinding up more driveway gravel than snow lol. I was afraid this was going to happen! I finally gave up after a few passes and grabbed the ol' trusty shovel/blower. It did do really great on sidewalks though, or.....we'll find out after the thaw, to see how much of the yard was sliced up....my wife will slice my head off if there's one blade of turf disturbed lol She takes ''a lot'' of pride in her yard upkeep....I'm dead, might as well, start pack'en!
I went out late last night after rain and greased up the rubber door seals on our vehicle to keep them from freezing up overnight. We'll see how well this worked, with temps around 18 this morning.

 

My drive is so well packed almost nothing gets churned up. I turn around on the paved road and make long passes. Also I dont have to make any sharp turns as the drive is at least 3 cars wide. Sharp turns with your overly aggressive tires are causing the problem. You need a much bigger driveway!!

 

Waiting on the snow. We're supposed to get maybe 6". No big deal.

4-tracker, I wouldn't worry about snowfall less than at least a couple of feet. Building codes (unless your house is ancient) take into account snow loads for the zone we live in. I only start cleaning off the roof if ice dams build up or if there is 3' or more.

Has been in the teens for a couple of days here. A couple more doesn't phase me. I've been impressed with the Cummins diesel engine in my Nissan Titan. Has not come close to failing to start.

 

THIS COULD HAPPEN IN YOUR LIFETIME.... AS IT HAS MINE!
The great ice storm struck Lower Michigan in March 1976. The ice storm is still the worst widespread ice storm in Michigan's weather records.
Everyone asks why I worry about removing heavy snow off the house and property, well its not the snow, so much, but the freezing rain falling on THE snow, that nearly killed me in 1976! After a heavy snow fall in SE Mi. It warmed up over night, after snow fall, with freezing rains .... (like last night), froze solid! We had a large aluminum awning back then, 10' x 20' on back of the house. The next day we had an icicle that reached from the gutter of the awning, (around 12'' wide) to the ground, 6 1/2 feet in length, less than 1/2'' in dia. at the point touching the ground. Suddenly without warning the entire awning, with tons of solid ice up top, dropped down on me like a rock, or as quick as a meteor crashing to the ground, and sounded the same. The only thing saving my life was an old converted trailer, off a 50's pickup truck, that I had just parked there, a few days before, and had never been parked there before, nor anything else that would have cushioned that weight! I only got brain damage is all, or what most of my dear friends must think lol Almost every awning in the southern part of the state of Mi. experienced the same awning damage event, with roofs imploding, trees and limbs, heavy with ice crashing onto power lines everywhere! And last night was following that same weather scenario/pattern, with 2 separate days of snow buildups of 5'' ea time, then rains last night causing me to pull down that very wet heavy snow, that was about to freeze over night, from all our buildings and house, and some of them, large awnings and a vehicle quonset hut. A lot of exhausting work, especially when having to shovel it all up, and away from the buildings afterwards, but better to be safe! When I only have to remove snow its real easy, but when its wet and heavy, like last night, its hard work! But its getting me physically ready for this next season, of trails up north, here in Michigan! If any of you are up to the challenge.... lets do it up north here with soooo much sandddddddd and the great up north wilderness'essssss, it has to offer! CAMPING!! LAKES!! SAND!! TRAILS FOR A MILLION MILES..... AND IN A MILLION DIRECTIONS!!!!!!!!! YOU'LL NEVER EXPLORE IT ALL!..... IN A LIFE TIME!!!!!!

 

We had some snow last night/this morning. I think it was only 1/2" or so of powder, but the way the wind kicked up it's hard to say. It looks like we had 1/8" since I swept off my ATV and truck several hours ago. The ATV doesn't have anything on it now because when the wind blew under the cover it shook the snow off. I think I found some riding partners for you Steve. I heard 2 snowmobiles go by 1/2 hour ago. It sounded like they were going kind of fast but there are stop signs at both ends of the block and hopefully they stopped. A lot of cars run stop signs all over my neighborhood so maybe they did too.

 

ANY EXCUSE, WILL DO!!
I rode again yesterday! all around the neighborhood!.... with plow on, (just in case the cops saw me), and hoped they'd leave me be, and in case I did get stopped, I had my spiel all ready....officer I'm out here helping my neighbors plow their walks/drives....sir! lol
I've got this buddy/FRIEND? lol, I found/met off Craigs years ago, while desperately, in search of a trail riding friend, who now, that just happens to live exactly a mile from me, that uses his 4x4 for trails, and for plowing his property with, but yesterday he was having problems....again!, keeping it running, because of a faulty ign. switch. I offered to ride over and help plow him out, and just as I was prepared to leave, he called saying he finally got it going.....again, then later on, said it gave him a little trouble....again, keeping it running, but finally got it finished/plowed. I ordered him a new switch....finally yesterday, but he knew about this switch problem, after our last trip up north, way last summer, and has waited until now, when he's out in the cold, aggravating himself, over a stupid little $8 switch....preventive maintenance! Something he's real,really, horribly bad at, by always waiting, until things totally die/blow up/catch fire, before fixing/cleaning/checking/replacing....procrastinates! I had a long write up last summer on here, after out last trip up north, about his 4x4, remember, where his breaks leaked fluid onto his hot brake pads/rotor exploding on fire, with him racing down the trail, unaware of the flames shooting out the back end, like a flag blowing in the breeze, behind him, if I would have just had a camera, videotaping it all lol Then on same trip next day his motor overheats and blows his rad. hose out spraying hot scalding coolant all over his extremely hot motor....too bad it didn't all happen, all at the same time, where the coolant could have extinguish the fire on brakes lol I'm sorry....you really needed to be there, to find this so hilariously, rib aching funny, but all that could have been prevented, had he checked/inspected/cleaned, because the coolant blew out simply because his rad. fins were clogged solid! with mud/dirt/bugs etc. and his breaks overheated and melted rubber brake line, because pads locked up from faulty caliper freezing up. Not done yet....Plus the switch on the last day there, started elec. arcing on off, from switch killing the engine, causing us to finally cut the trip short, packing it all up, leaving for home early! Nightmare of a trip, and all this, just for lack of gen. maintenance! Sorry for going over all this again, but he still hasn't replaced, brake assembly, getting by using just front brakes, with a brand new caliper/pads/brake line, I order months ago, and to lazy to just, get right on it, after parts arrived!! And the only cleaning of his rad. was from a helpful resident up north last summer, when his rad overheated, allowing him to use her garden hose, while she just happened to be out watering her flowers lol So Sad!! See how hard up I am, trying to find a human to ride with....I go through hoops some times, in doing so. Please help me!! and just go on one stinking trip....please....I beg of you!! lol But please check your ride first....ok?
Here's how I remove snow from roof....so simple! lol

 

Too funny. Reminds me of one of the years in the mid-90's where we got snow just about every other day. Roof had about 3.5 ft. of snow built up and I knew it was time to get it off. My method, if the roof is too steep to safely walk on, is to get up on the ladder and use a plastic snow shovel to cut the snow into blocks from beneath. I would cut to my left and to my right and had 3x3x3 blocks coming off nicely. Pried one on my right side and the snow stayed together in a 6x3x3 block that was then sliding at me. I hugged the ladder thinking how much it would look like Wile Coyote at his best riding the ladder down. Hit me and almost knocked me and the ladder over. Once it hit me it broke and fell to either side. I was thanking God quite loudly.

 

Well, vehicle battery is drained from these -40 wind chilly temps! I just put the trickle charger on, and since its going down even colder tonight, I might just leave it charging all night! Beautiful day though, very bright and sunny, it usually is when its too cold to form a cloud! lol
My friend just called asking about needing a orv sticker permit here in Michigan, for his 4x4, while out riding and pulling ice shanty, on the lakes fishing, I told him I didn't think so, since my thinking was there are no dnr trails on the lakes, lol but after checking on the net, it looks like he was right! Unbelievable!

 

Any time you go onto public property you need a permit. If you live there the cost of the permit is pennies for all the opportunities you have to use it. Be glad your state is offroad vehicle friendly, in many states you pay a few but get nothing back in return. Michigan is right up there near the top of user friendly states that cater to the atv crowd. Look at all the small businesses that have developed from having a good trail system, all that takes money, so keep that in mind when laying ot that few bucks for your permits!