Winter comes to Minnesota Lakes Country with a Bang and a Jolt.

TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
We have had an unusually nice fall, with weather about 20 F above average most of the time. On Tuesday I was down at the lakeside repairing a neighbor's dock in lovely warm sunshine.

Yesterday evening a cold rain turned to snow with a stiff wind. We awoke to a major blizzard, which is now just subsiding and will be out of here by 9:00 PM tonight. The snow is wet and very heavy. It is also drifted. I have been on a walk about with my ruler and we have had 14" to 15" so far. I suspect we may get another inch.

This is my SUV between the bushes.



View from the studio door.



View from the kitchen door.



This snow is very wet and heavy and I'm very concerned about the snow loading on the roofs.



If I can get the road and drive way open tomorrow with the tractor, I will get the roof shoveled. I just spoke with my roofer who also plows snow. Both of his plows are in the ditch and well in, and he is not happy.

I understand the roads in all directions round here are plugged with snow and especially stranded vehicles. People just need to hunker down and no go out on the roads!

I made a loaf of spelt bread this morning and French onion soup from scratch for me and my wife for lunch.

Seems there is more snow on the way for Tuesday.
 
Grassy

Grassy

Full Audioholic
Wow, nice photos.I am not used to living in them conditions as I never see snow mainly just sunshine and hot weather. Would love to go to Canada one day though and see another part of the world.The pic off the snow on the hand rail is a good one and I find it interesting seeing how other people's surroundings are so different to mine.I get sick of the heat after a while.Great pics.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
Wow, nice photos.I am not used to living in them conditions as I never see snow mainly just sunshine and hot weather. Would love to go to Canada one day though and see another part of the world.The pic off the snow on the hand rail is a good one and I find it interesting seeing how other people's surroundings are so different to mine.I get sick of the heat after a while.Great pics.
The power went out two and a half hours ago, after a lot of surges. Then the generator started and has been running since 7:06 PM central time.

The generator was built in 1995. It was one of the last productions of the famous Wisconsin V4 air cooled engines. It is mated to a Kohler generator. I bought it unused in 1999.



Without it we would be getting cold by now. In addition we were cooking supper when the power went out and we would have had a ruined supper.

The roads are awful, and I fear the power crew will have a hard time not only finding the downed line, but also getting to it. A lot of the lines run through the deep forest. We are in the Paul Bunyan State Forest.
 
Grassy

Grassy

Full Audioholic
Wow, very impressive.I live in a suburban area where there is plenty of people around and plenty of water and power and after seeing your pics I can understand how one as myself can take all the comforts for granted after a while.Or for that matter not even think about it.Its also amazing how all that beauty of nature can be disastrous in some ways.It seems you are well prepared.Great pic of the genny.
 
Grassy

Grassy

Full Audioholic
I had a look at your studio too, very impressive.Absolutely loved it,man you have some gear.:cool:
 
ParadigmDawg

ParadigmDawg

Audioholic Overlord
I went cycling in shorts yesterday and likely will gain today. Snow looks cold.....yuck.....
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
It was a really hard clean up.

I've lived in this area, Manitoba, North Dakota (the longest) and now Minnesota. I have never encountered anything like the conditions I did today.

This snow was full of water. You could not blow it, it turned to ice in the bucket and shovels and did not easily spill out of the blades to make the spoils. In addition the ground was not frozen, which meant you had to be very careful and not have a wheel spin.

I was very concerned my 1948 John Deere model A would not be up to it. I was looking around for extra help, but the plow trucks were having enormous trouble. One of my neighbors who has a blade on his truck wrecked his transmission.

I should not have worried, the old model A did fine. It plowed it in second gear, the two cylinder engine really popped loudly with that characteristic JD Waterloo engine sound, especially plowing up the steepest hill. The bucket quickly became full of ice. This was heavy. So were I normally stack I had push up piles like a bulldozer. Those two cylinder Waterloo engines with their firing cycle where the cylinders fire 180 degrees apart have prodigious torque and are very hard to stall. The enormous heavy flywheel hanging one the left side of the tractor stores enormous energy.

The heavy snow blown into the trees by the fierce winds, had brought down lots of trees and branches. This unfortunately has done immense damage to the trees especially all the evergreens.

Another of my neighbors had a huge tree right across the entrance to his driveway, which had to be dealt with before I could plow him out.

I'm pretty much opened up now. I still have the lower forecourt to open up and the hill down to it.

It has been quite a day!
 
ParadigmDawg

ParadigmDawg

Audioholic Overlord
That's sounds like a lot of work. I liked when I had accounts in MN as it was always fun to visit. I also like going to Wyoming, Colorado and Lake Tahoe but I would not enjoy living any place cold during the winter. It's awesome to visit and awesome to leave it behind.

I seriously think I may have to wear a long sleeve jersey on my ride today. It is a tad chilly here today but should still hit the low to mid 60's.
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
That's sounds like a lot of work. I liked when I had accounts in MN as it was always fun to visit. I also like going to Wyoming, Colorado and Lake Tahoe but I would not enjoy living any place cold during the winter. It's awesome to visit and awesome to leave it behind.

I seriously think I may have to wear a long sleeve jersey on my ride today. It is a tad chilly here today but should still hit the low to mid 60's.
Wimp!
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
It was a really hard clean up.

I've lived in this area, Manitoba, North Dakota (the longest) and now Minnesota. I have never encountered anything like the conditions I did today.

This snow was full of water. You could not blow it, it turned to ice in the bucket and shovels and did not easily spill out of the blades to make the spoils. In addition the ground was not frozen, which meant you had to be very careful and not have a wheel spin.

I was very concerned my 1948 John Deere model A would not be up to it. I was looking around for extra help, but the plow trucks were having enormous trouble. One of my neighbors who has a blade on his truck wrecked his transmission.

I should not have worried, the old model A did fine. It plowed it in second gear, the two cylinder engine really popped loudly with that characteristic JD Waterloo engine sound, especially plowing up the steepest hill. The bucket quickly became full of ice. This was heavy. So were I normally stack I had push up piles like a bulldozer. Those two cylinder Waterloo engines with their firing cycle where the cylinders fire 180 degrees apart have prodigious torque and are very hard to stall. The enormous heavy flywheel hanging one the left side of the tractor stores enormous energy.

The heavy snow blown into the trees by the fierce winds, had brought down lots of trees and branches. This unfortunately has done immense damage to the trees especially all the evergreens.

Another of my neighbors had a huge tree right across the entrance to his driveway, which had to be dealt with before I could plow him out.

I'm pretty much opened up now. I still have the lower forecourt to open up and the hill down to it.

It has been quite a day!
Sounds like the early/late snow we have in MKE, close to Lake Michigan- it's similar to wet mashed potatoes and it always clogs the chute of my snowblower, wastes a lot of time and makes me cranky (to put it mildly). Even if I remember to spray the chute with silicone, it doesn't help. My little paddle-type snow thrower did a better job with that stuff but with my driveway, it just couldn't handle the volume. Fortunately, I don't need to clear a longer driveway or any roads.
 
highfigh

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
That's sounds like a lot of work. I liked when I had accounts in MN as it was always fun to visit. I also like going to Wyoming, Colorado and Lake Tahoe but I would not enjoy living any place cold during the winter. It's awesome to visit and awesome to leave it behind.

I seriously think I may have to wear a long sleeve jersey on my ride today. It is a tad chilly here today but should still hit the low to mid 60's.
You need one of these-

http://www.qvc.com/qvc.product.H209690.html?ref=GAS&cm_MMC=GOOGLESHOPPINGFEED-_-For the Home -_- Decorative Accents -_-The Ultimate Slanket: The Blanket with Sleeves&H209690-848-000&cvosrc=pla.google.The Ultimate Slanket: The Blanket with Sleeves&cvo_cid=85296123267&CAWELAID=120240770002615102&mkwid=sxA7jY2C4|dc_pcrid_85296123267_pkw__pmt_&CAGPSPN=pla&CAAGID=24630306267&CATCI=pla-332394293437&catargetid=600006460007116718&cadevice=c

Yeah, I said it!
 
R

rollinrocker

Audioholic
very cool read TLS...very cool. I thought Ohio was bad...went from 76 degrees Friday to 35 yesterday with flurries, so I aint complainin'...

studio pics are great too!
 
TLS Guy

TLS Guy

Seriously, I have no life.
very cool read TLS...very cool. I thought Ohio was bad...went from 76 degrees Friday to 35 yesterday with flurries, so I aint complainin'...

studio pics are great too!
Thank you for your kind comments. This thread has generated quite a bit of interest so I will end the story of this event and post some pictures of what is used here at Walberswick House to clear us out of snow.

I finished up today just before noon. I was too tired to finish yesterday, and its dangerous to use this equipment when fatigued. It takes enormous concentration when using equipment like this in the conditions this last storm caused.

The main piece of equipment is the 1948 John Deere Model A tractor built at Waterloo Iowa.

It is equipped with a Farm Hand front end loader of the same vintage built in Hopkins Minnesota. This is an inner suburb of Minneapolis. Like everyplace else it is now full of endless shopping centers. I doubt there is anything of any use or value built there now.

Like all Waterloo built tractors the engine is a horizontal two cylinder, with firing 180 degrees apart and then both cylinders go through the exhaust cycle before the cylinders fire again. This gives all Waterloo tractors their unique famous and loved sound. The harder they work the better it gets. This tractor is 39 HP. However I have seen them on the Ergometer at Rolag, and in good shape the peak at around 63 HP before the engine goes into decline from excessive loading. They have unbelievable grunt even at low revs and throttle. Peak revs are 900 RPM!

I bought it at a farm auction at Oakwood ND, when Gallagher Farms sold out. The tractor was originally sold to bean farmers at Cavalier ND. They only owned it one year, as they bought is for an unsuitable application. Then Gallagher farms owned it until I bought it on a very cold early November day with snow on the ground. That snow fall caused the auction to be postponed from the week prior. Everything sold poorly until the Model A came up for auction and then collectors came out of nowhere. My final bid was $3,300. I made it clear I was not going to drop out so the others did. I wanted that tractor I had known Niel Gallagher and his father. They were good farmer mechanics and I new the tractor had been well taken care of. I have done my best to be a good mechanic to her.

The tractor has been in constant use here since. It built the new road in, has kept it graded though all seasons.

I took these pictures to show off the new seat and comfort covers my neighbor three doors down made for me. She did a fantastic job and they are a perfect copy of the originals. It is very rare now to find an old tractor that still has its winter comfort covers.



I heavily modified this 8' grader from Tractor Supply and made the floating top link and fabricated the leveling single wheel attachment.





This shows the belt pulley on the right side of the tractor. The belt pulley contains the clutch which is a hand clutch on the Waterloo tractors.



This left side view shows the flywheel cover which houses the enormous and very heavy flywheel.



I had another pleasant surprise today, as my 1981 John Deere 214 did blow the snow in the lower forecourt and around the 1000 gallon propane tank. It did not plug once like others have been round here.

This tractor I bought new in 1981. It has a single cylinder upright four cycle Kohler engine built in Wisconsin. It is a cast iron 14 HP air cooled engine.

I don't have a picture of it here, but I do have one from when we lived on Grand Forks.



That has been a great little tractor. The blower is 36" and for summer it has a 48" mowing deck.

For mowing and general utility I have lovely 1958 John Deere Dubuque built 420 vertical two cylinder engine. John Deere never built a tractor with more than two cylinders until 1960.



It is turning cold this evening. Despite that life goes on. I grilled outside 36 sausages this afternoon and my wife made 120 sausage rolls for Christmas.

I have a nice beef roast outside on the rotisserie for supper and to make cottage pies.

There is another storm in the forecast now for Tuesday.
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
We have had an unusually nice fall, with weather about 20 F above average most of the time. On Tuesday I was down at the lakeside repairing a neighbor's dock in lovely warm sunshine.

Yesterday evening a cold rain turned to snow with a stiff wind. We awoke to a major blizzard, which is now just subsiding and will be out of here by 9:00 PM tonight. The snow is wet and very heavy. It is also drifted. I have been on a walk about with my ruler and we have had 14" to 15" so far. I suspect we may get another inch.

This is my SUV between the bushes.



View from the studio door.



View from the kitchen door.



This snow is very wet and heavy and I'm very concerned about the snow loading on the roofs.



If I can get the road and drive way open tomorrow with the tractor, I will get the roof shoveled. I just spoke with my roofer who also plows snow. Both of his plows are in the ditch and well in, and he is not happy.

I understand the roads in all directions round here are plugged with snow and especially stranded vehicles. People just need to hunker down and no go out on the roads!

I made a loaf of spelt bread this morning and French onion soup from scratch for me and my wife for lunch.

Seems there is more snow on the way for Tuesday.
Hope you have a few bottles of good whiskey!
 
lsiberian

lsiberian

Audioholic Overlord
That's sounds like a lot of work. I liked when I had accounts in MN as it was always fun to visit. I also like going to Wyoming, Colorado and Lake Tahoe but I would not enjoy living any place cold during the winter. It's awesome to visit and awesome to leave it behind.

I seriously think I may have to wear a long sleeve jersey on my ride today. It is a tad chilly here today but should still hit the low to mid 60's.
It was definitely a little chilly this weekend. But this morning was delightful on my run.
 
M

Midwesthonky

Audioholic General
Thanks for the pics. I was wondering how the snow was in Minnesota. That early snow is usually so wet that you can't do much with it. I had one of those when I lived in Iowa. Forecast was for 1-3" of snow. When I woke up, it was 13" on the ground and still coming down. Wet as a sponge. If you spun the tractor's tires, you made an ice sheet. I was on a hill and had to use the bucket to push me back up the hill.
 

Latest posts

newsletter

  • RBHsound.com
  • BlueJeansCable.com
  • SVS Sound Subwoofers
  • Experience the Martin Logan Montis
Top