Ready for Winter?? (Portland, Brunswick, Bath: house, buying, school)

[Maineah]

Got your snow tires on? New winter blades for the car/ truck? Anti freeze all checked out? Got the sand for the trunk, the blanket, flashlight and candy bars stowed? Dug out the winter coats and boots yet? Got the snow machines tuned up? Ice auger sharpened? Me neither but I've been thinking about it!!

I did drag the smelt shack to the edge of the barn so I can work on the few repairs it needs before the season hits. Door hinges, new lines and some other odds and ends.
Other than that the wood is in, the oil tank is full, and the yard has been cleared of lawn furniture and bird baths.
DW has the plants all covered that need covering or the bulbs dug up that need digging so where almost ready. I just need to change the oil in the tractor to 5w-20 and top off the hydraulic fluid and we're good to go!
I don't think I'm ever done getting ready for winter 'till way after the first real snow fall.

[CoastalMaine]

Check your tire pressure and make sure you carry a tire gauge in your vehicle. Don't forget to fill your wiper fluid too!

I'm off next week for Florida, but I'm just about set here for the winter. Still have to bring in my cushions from the outdoor furniture, but that will have to wait til the sun dries them out tomorrow after the rain we had today.

I won't be gone all winter to Florida, just long enough to get some things done to the house there and get it listed. Now that the prices have stabilized, it's time to get it done.... and to spend Christmas with Mermie and her DH. Then I'm comin' to Maine!!!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by CoastalMaine

Check your tire pressure and make sure you carry a tire gauge in your vehicle. Don't forget to fill your wiper fluid too!

I'm off next week for Florida, but I'm just about set here for the winter. Still have to bring in my cushions from the outdoor furniture, but that will have to wait til the sun dries them out tomorrow after the rain we had today.

I won't be gone all winter to Florida, just long enough to get some things done to the house there and get it listed. Now that the prices have stabilized, it's time to get it done.... and to spend Christmas with Mermie and her DH. Then I'm comin' to Maine!!!

Is that where you carry them? I kept wondering why they keep flying off the valve stems......I dunno Coastal....Florida still looks pretty nice from here about February!!! Good luck selling the place!

[Sunday1]

Does anyone have a favorite place to buy snow tires from in the Freeport/Brunswick/Portland area or are they all about the same in terms of cost? To answer maineah's question....NO, we are not ready. Chicago streets are flat (at least in our area they were) and plowed like crazy so all-weather tires were fine. I'm thinking I want studded snow tires. I had them in Anchorage and thought they were great. DH, who didn't think they were necessary at the time, was always taking my car instead of his! He has a company-provided 4-wheel drive pick up truck right now -- but it doesn't have snow tires on it, so I'm not sure what good that is.

[island mermaid]

VIP on the Bath Rd in Brunswick is a pretty decent place to buy tires. There's always Sears at Cooks Corner too. Lee's Tire is in Topsham and Cooks Corner. Don Foshays, (that spelling might not be right) moved from outer Pleasant St down to the Bath Rd close to Cooks Corner too. There's another place in the Topsham Fair Mall too, might be Tire Warehouse. I don't think anyone of them are any better than the others. I always went to Lee's only b/c I went to school with the family, they treated me right.

Costs will vary depending upon many factors. The vehicle itself and numerous other factors. IMO, a good set of All Seasons would be fine for your area. Studded are a PITA because you'll have to have them removed by a certain date in April, I believe. IMO, that's a hassle b/c then you have to store them and have your other tires put back on again.

As far as your DH's 4WD truck, have him put some weight in the bed and he'll be fine. Concrete blocks always work well for weight. IMO, snow tires are a thing of the past for southern Maine. All Season have always worked well for us.

Relax, you'll be fine!

[Sunday1]

Well, as usual Mermaid - lots of sage and useful advice from you!!!!

Not to mention my "new favorite" acronym: PITA!

Thanks!

[Zarathu]

Studded tires are illegal in PA. So since most cars are front wheel drive now, most people here don't buy snow tires anymore since without the studs they are are not much different that a good all-weather tire. Of course, we don't tend to have as much snow as new england. I have a 4WD Jeep Wrangler and I use that for any difficult travel, which i have been known to put chains on all four wheels. My wife usually makes me take her to work.

I still have to buy some more salt for the driveway, but my snowblower is standing guard at the edge of my garage for use. Local weather forecaster says, based on the weak El Nino, that we are due for about 36 inches of snow this year due to coastal storms that we didn't have in the last sevferal years. This means these storms will storm up the coast into New England and Maine too.

I never had a snowblower until my son went to college. This I lost my snow digger and had to go to a machine. That was almost 9 years ago. I think I'd like to trade my current Weedeater riding mower(I have about an acre of grass to mow) in for a used John Deer with a snow blower attachment. I think that would be cheaper than buying a standalone snowblower big enough for use in MDI. But I have to do it in PA. I noticed that snow-blower prices in Maine are an order of MAGNITUDE higher for the same model as they are in PA. Maybe i should drive to Virginia to get one. ;-)

zarathu

[island mermaid]

Originally Posted by Sunday1

Well, as usual Mermaid - lots of sage and useful advice from you!!!!

Not to mention my "new favorite" acronym: PITA!

Thanks!

You my dear, are most welcome!

[Maineah]

I usually agree with Island Mermaid on most issues but here we part ways. I have found that to depend on all season radials in the snow is not a good idea. My son ended up in the ditch three times last winter with all seasons before we got him a set of studded tires. With the studs he stayed on the road. My wife used to run all seasons on her car but went back to a snow tire several years ago and is very glad she did. I run an agressive tread "quarry" tire on my truck year round as I'm in mud and on dirt roads alot so I need the extra traction all year long. They work well as snow tires plus I have four wheel drive. In the past several years you really have needed to run snow tires in Southern Maine. We have had a lot of frequent storms and the roads get packed quickly. If you need to depend on the town clearing the road to the pavement before you travel you may be sitting home alot. There is also an experience factor as well. If you do not drive on snow much or are new to it the snow tires will give you a much better feel for the conditions, better stopping distances, and better turning traction. If you have any hills to contend with where you live studded tires are the way to go. Most people buy a set of steel rims and mount the winter tires on the spare rims. It's then very easy to change over from the summer to the winter tires.
You're free to do as you like but in our family's experience we have decided snow tires are the best approach to driving in the winter.
As far as weight goes in a truck, a cap works best. A fiberglass cap is fairly heavy and will put adequate weight over the rear of the truck. Aluminum caps are too light and you will need to do the cinder block or sand trick. If you do the cinder block weight in an open truck you will have a hard time shoveling out the back and they will freeze in place for the entire winter so keep that in mind. I never found anything to use for weight in an open truck that wasn't a PITA to deal with. Everything freezes in. If you put the blocks up by the cab you don't get the weight over the wheels where it's needed. If you put blocks over the wheels you have to tie them in place somehow to keep them from moving. I preferred sand tubes when I had an open truck. You had sand if you needed it for extra traction, they stay in place, if they freeze in they are easy to move with a shovel but if they get rained on and freeze they are like ice blocks and the sand becomes a frozen mass. Get a cap!

[Maineah]

Originally Posted by Zarathu

Studded tires are illegal in PA. So since most cars are front wheel drive now, most people here don't buy snow tires anymore since without the studs they are are not much different that a good all-weather tire. Of course, we don't tend to have as much snow as new england. I have a 4WD Jeep Wrangler and I use that for any difficult travel, which i have been known to put chains on all four wheels. My wife usually makes me take her to work.

I still have to buy some more salt for the driveway, but my snowblower is standing guard at the edge of my garage for use. Local weather forecaster says, based on the weak El Nino, that we are due for about 36 inches of snow this year due to coastal storms that we didn't have in the last sevferal years. This means these storms will storm up the coast into New England and Maine too.

I never had a snowblower until my son went to college. This I lost my snow digger and had to go to a machine. That was almost 9 years ago. I think I'd like to trade my current Weedeater riding mower(I have about an acre of grass to mow) in for a used John Deer with a snow blower attachment. I think that would be cheaper than buying a standalone snowblower big enough for use in MDI. But I have to do it in PA. I noticed that snow-blower prices in Maine are an order of MAGNITUDE higher for the same model as they are in PA. Maybe i should drive to Virginia to get one. ;-)

zarathu

My FIL runs a JD lawn tractor with a snow blower attachment. He really likes it. It works well for the light fluffy stuff but no snowblower works very well in the slop of early December, late March and April. He also has a large JD tractor and a 5 foot PTO driven snow blower for big storms. I use a front end loader on a New Holland tractor. It has had alot of use in the past few winters.