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Oooooh - that's a right nifty ute! I love mechanical vehciles and tools and such... when they're appropriate and necessary. Diesel doesn't work so great up here since it gels up most of the winter when we're below -20 for 3-4 months; but that vehicle would be awesome in our terrain. Our truck is lifted with big tires to handle off-road, and we have our ATV and snowmachines; but that sucker would cut through our trail like a hot knife through butter Geez, now I might have to add this to the list under the tractor/FEL. It would need a heavy-duty brush guard on the front to perserve some of those lights, but at least it already has a hefty winch.
---Diesel doesn't work so great up here since it gels up-----
Really ?
Nobody but an ignorant outsider would consider using #2 diesel in cold temps.
My son has his 140 hp tractor with loader and uses it everyday.
All my neighbors have diesel skid loaders that are used every day.
Our temps get below -32 many times in winter and -20 isn't considered a very cold night.
Back in the 60's we heated with heating oil but knew #2 in an outside tank would gel in winter.
That was a known fact for at least 50 years.
Many semis used in Alaska in winter.
All of them know you can't run #2 in cold weather.
Geez! And I'm the one who's supposedly anti-social!!
You sound like a pure capitalist to me. You could be insisting that the village hire an excavator and tax everyone to pay for him to come to the village. Then you would be a socialist. Or, you could be the village chief who decrees that no one needs excavation and forbids it under penalty. I think that would be something like Commie word.
---Diesel doesn't work so great up here since it gels up-----
Really ?
Nobody but an ignorant outsider would consider using #2 diesel in cold temps.
My son has his 140 hp tractor with loader and uses it everyday.
All my neighbors have diesel skid loaders that are used every day.
Our temps get below -32 many times in winter and -20 isn't considered a very cold night.
Back in the 60's we heated with heating oil but knew #2 in an outside tank would gel in winter.
That was a known fact for at least 50 years.
Many semis used in Alaska in winter.
All of them know you can't run #2 in cold weather.
Yes, I know that #2 gels, and that #2 isn't even the best diesel for engines (better for heating). I knew that long before I even came here. Unfortunately, there are times out here when all that you have, or all that you can afford or get is #2.
I wouldn't use #2 unless I absolutely *had* to, but all diesel gels at low temps without additives. Every trucker and resident up here knows that. The semis up here never shut off their engines in the winter unless they are in a heated garage or plugged in.
It doesn't just get -32 a few times in the winter, it's below -32 consistently for a month or more (usually Dec/Jan). It's consistently below -20 from about November to February. We *might* get a warm snap of zero for a few days like the rest of you get a cold snap below zero for a few days. A cold snap for us below -60. With the added delight of only 2-4 hours of visible daylight... cool beans, eh?
You sound like a pure capitalist to me. You could be insisting that the village hire an excavator and tax everyone to pay for him to come to the village. Then you would be a socialist. Or, you could be the village chief who decrees that no one needs excavation and forbids it under penalty. I think that would be something like Commie word.
Pshaw - I've recently discovered that I don't seem to perfectly fit any labels. How frustrating that must be for the haters (and disappointing for normal allies who suddenly see me on the other side of the fence, I suppose)
I got something you don't got, you got something I don't got, we both want what the other's got... so let's work it, Baby. Lording and hoarding is just plain self-defeating, that kind of behavior is gonna bite you in the butt eventually. Mooching and glomming -- also self-defeating. We all stand on our own two feet and we all help each other stay upright when needed
I noticed you mentioned batteries. Do you use solar charging? I have a marine battery backup system with a device that charges continuously with 110v and when the circuit is interrupted switches to battery power with a 2000 watt inverter. I use it to maintain my steam heat system in the winter but when we have a power failure in the Summer I use it for ambient lighting.
I've lived in upper New England, and I've lived in the upper Midwest. I've lived in Germany near the Alps. I've been through some downright cold and miserable winters in all those places, and they can put a hurt on many a folk. Nut the simple fact is, no matter how nasty things get there, it just ain't even close at 40 lat to what it is like closer to 65 lat.
One of my best friends lives in MN, she has some seriously frigid winters... but she can grow corn and tomatoes all summer without plastic and/or greenhouses because it isn't so cold for so long that soil temps get and stay too low for these crops to grow easily (not air temps, soil temps). She can also grow eggplant, which I can't without block-out shades because the sun never goes down here in the summer so the eggplants won't fruit!
My sister lives in TX... woohoo, world of difference there. She can grow broccoli for only about two weeks in early spring before it bolts in the heat. I can grow broccoli for the entire season without it bolting, but I only have 100-day growing season!
The thing is... we all live in different places with different conditions and different resources. Do what works for you in your place with what you have... stop freaking out if someone somewhere else with something different does it different.
Of course, anyone who lives between 60 & 65 deg lat... feel free to berate me for my stupidity as usual
I noticed you mentioned batteries. Do you use solar charging? I have a marine battery backup system with a device that charges continuously with 110v and when the circuit is interrupted switches to battery power with a 2000 watt inverter. I use it to maintain my steam heat system in the winter but when we have a power failure in the Summer I use it for ambient lighting.
That's similar to the system that we will eventually get set up. Our system will be split across PV (primarily summer) and wind (primarily winter) with the inverter running 110 AC (and charging the bank) while it's generating and switching to the batteries when not.
PV doesn't work so well in the winter here, since we only get about 2-4 hours of extremely low angle sunlight... we get enough from that and lunar radiance off the snow to cover lights but nothing heavy like heating. Luckily refrigerators and freezers are completely unnecessary up here in the winter
Conversely, PV generates 24 hours a day in the summer for about 3 months (right when we don't need it for lights LOL) and an oversized system can be a problem... we will be installing an electric hot water heater just to serve as a useful power sink if we're generating more than our freezer and/or pumps can draw off. (note, the main objective being to find a safe use for the excess power, not to produce hot water electrically)
We don't really have a lot of heavy draws on our current system (generator only for now - panels & turbine are on order) or the system we'll eventually end up with. Other than the water pumps and the freezer, the only big draws we have are the tools and those are occassional-use.
Yes it is, that's why I'm glad I'm married to an electrical engineer
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Geez, now I might have to add this to the list under the tractor/FEL. It would need a heavy-duty brush guard on the front to perserve some of those lights, but at least it already has a hefty winch.
