Winter moments

[harmony]

As many of us face the thoughts of putting away our cars, I'll bet there are "4 season enthusiasts" who brave those obsticles and just look at it like just another day.   Back in the day I had a 59 Cheve Apache pickup, that I drove year round in snow that averaged around 3 feet deep all winter, not counting the common storms that usually dumped a couple more feet each time.  It was tough going with vacuum wipers covered in ice.  I think it would be interesting as well as entertaining to see pictures of your cars battling the elements during the not so favorable weather conditions. 

The image I added of my 48 Windsor which is well protected, is sort of not really the same thing as I'm talking about.  Because I waited for the freak snow dump to melt which only took a couple days, before I drove her again. 

[keithb7]

[Los_Control]

I watched a youtube vid today .... guy was chipping ice from his driveway and claimed was -5C

Guy did push out his car and pull the engine. I sat indoors and waited for it to get 60F Then put on a heavy sweat shirt and went out to the garage.

Was a good video also, guy really pushed a load leveler to it's limits 

[keithb7]

@Los_Control pay no mind to the snow and ice. Totally normal around here.

Edited November 16, 2020 by keithb7

[harmony]

18 minutes ago, Los_Control said:

I watched a youtube vid today .... guy was chipping ice from his driveway and claimed was -5C

Guy did push out his car and pull the engine. I sat indoors and waited for it to get 60F Then put on a heavy sweat shirt and went out to the garage.

Was a good video also, guy really pushed a load leveler to it's limits 

I was waiting for the car to role away from him.  

[keithb7]

5 minutes ago, harmony said:

I was waiting for the car to role away from him.  

Would’ve been enough drama to make a video go viral.  Lol. No tranny. No park brake! No gears to hold the car back. Ice-y roads....Would have made great family entertainment! Not.

 

If ya learn to embrace winter snow and ice, you can do anything outside. Look at what the Norse Vikings accomplished! 

[Plymouthy Adams]

5 hours ago, keithb7 said:

Would’ve been enough drama to make a video go viral.  Lol. No tranny. No park brake! No gears to hold the car back. Ice-y roads....Would have made great family entertainment! Not.

 

If ya learn to embrace winter snow and ice, you can do anything outside. Look at what the Norse Vikings accomplished! 

yes, recognized early ocean going explorers in small boats....it was that important to find a better climate.....?

[DJK]

Don't mind the snow and ice, it's the damn salt they saturate the roads with that upsets me.

[Tooljunkie]

Nope. Not doing it. Too many bad drivers out there. I wouldnt risk wrecking a classic because some dumbass kid failed to negotiate a stop. Let em run in front of my plow truck instead.

[Dan Hiebert]

Thankfully, I don't have to battle any elements since I retired a couple years ago.  When I was still working, I prided myself on getting to work each and every day, especially the ones when "locals" thought it was too bad out to leave the house.  I was never reluctant to designate administrative days (excused absences due to weather that didn't count against employees' leave) when appropriate, or send employees home an hour or two early due to weather.  But, that was only our support folks, the LEOs still had to work.  In Buffalo, it was a tad humorous to me because I thought it was a matter of principle that bad winter weather couldn't impact work, after all, Buffalo had a reputation to uphold, but safety always won out.  And I certainly don't brave any elements with the old cars, all my northern experience is in places that use really nasty stuff to keep ice off the roads even before the first snowflake falls.  So, no photos of our D24 in the elements, but of my '01 Dodge.  Photos are from the winter before I retired, in the parking lot halfway through a bad/good (depending on your point of view) snow day, then safely at the house after taking almost an hour to make what was usually a 15 minute commute. Snow was over the bumper most of the way, over the hood in a few places. 

[harmony]

3 hours ago, Tooljunkie said:

Nope. Not doing it. Too many bad drivers out there. I wouldnt risk wrecking a classic because some dumbass kid failed to negotiate a stop. Let em run in front of my plow truck instead.

Point well taken,,,,,,  As I mentioned, around here it's rare to see snow.  But when it does come for a day or two once or twice a year on average, most drivers have no idea how to drive in the stuff.  Pedestrians aren't even safe.   

[keithb7]

Notice both of my pics above, Mr. Green is in my driveway. It’s never been more that 100 ft past my driveway in snow.  If the roads are dry, and the sun comes out in the middle of winter I may go for a brief drive. Where there is no traffic or gravel. I’ve been known to do this on Christmas day or Boxing day.  It’s becoming an annual tradition for me. If the weather and road conditions allow.
 

Must be:

No ice. No salt. No other chemicals on the road. No moisture on roads. No gravel at high speeds to fling about. Sun should be out. Fair day. Colder temps is good! Keeps the roads dry. The cold dense air gives me a little more oomph up the hills.  Like a little extra turbo boost!...Then I head out for a Christmas drive. Gets me out from under Momma’s feet in the kitchen, while she prepares the roast beast for the masses. 

[harmony]

There are some areas of Canada where salting the roads are not permitted.  

I've always liked making fresh tire tracks in an overnight snowfall, on a bright sunny morning.  I also like that crunching sound.  On Keith's first shot, my eyes went straight to the tire tracks and a flood of memories came to mind.  However not all of them were so romantic.  As a young guy with my first 4 wheel drive, I soon realized once the belly of the vehicle has bottomed out in knee high snow, it's not going anywhere soon.  

[Hickory]

I'm not scared too drive in the snow or the other drivers either. Here In Syracuse area use to it. It's the salt and liquid brine they put on the roads that would melt my car before the snow melts. ?

[Plymouthy Adams]

one should for all accounts be able to depreciate their cars in the RUST BELT

[Plymouthy Adams]

to qualify the above statement....law says the exhaust is too loud and needs replace.....guess that was all they looked at.....

 

[Los_Control]

I swear it is a conspiracy!!!  ... I bet new car companies supply the ice de-melter to counties, at a reduced cost to destroy the new cars and force replacement 

 

[bamfordsgarage]

First photo is my '47 D25 some years ago the day we had our first big dump of the season. By good fortune I had a pre-arranged appointment for 8:00 that morning to get my studded knobbies installed (getting to the tire shop was a challenge). The summer tires are bagged up and in the carrier. Time to swap them out again.

 

[TodFitch]

9 hours ago, Hickory said:

I'm not scared too drive in the snow or the other drivers either. Here In Syracuse area use to it. It's the salt and liquid brine they put on the roads that would melt my car before the snow melts. ?

 

6 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

one should for all accounts be able to depreciate their cars in the RUST BELT

 

1 hour ago, Los_Control said:

I swear it is a conspiracy!!!  ... I bet new car companies supply the ice de-melter to counties, at a reduced cost to destroy the new cars and force replacement 

 

 

Way back when I was an engineering student I sometimes roamed the archive areas in the main library stacks looking for odd information of interest. One time I came across a graduate thesis/study on the engineering economics written a few years after wide spread use of road salt started in Upstate New York. The fellow compared the total costs to society before and after the salting began. This was before environmental issues of salt runoff into the watersheds was worried about so that was not included. What was included was medical costs, automotive repair costs, costs of salting and plowing.

 

As I recall, one major result was a change in the rate and magnitude of collisions. Before salt there were more accidents but they happened at very low speeds. After salt, there were fewer accidents but they happened at higher speeds (regardless of how well salted there were still some slippery areas which were now approached at high speed as opposed to low speed).

 

For collision repair the cost was about the same before and after salting. Fewer expensive repairs after salting were about the same total cost as more cheap repairs before salting.

 

Medical went way up because the low speed collisions had nearly no injuries but the high speed collisions resulted in higher death rates and higher medical for those who didn’t die.

 

Just between those two factors, salting was a net cost to society.

 

But then if you added in the dramatically reduced life of the vehicles and the cost to purchase and apply the salt you were costing the public way more money by salting the roads than by simply plowing them.

 

But the salt mines and auto manufacturers were happy and people could have a winter commute time closer to that of summer due to the roads being mostly clear allowing faster speeds. So the political will was to spend more to salt the roads.

 

I don't know how much that has changed with revised auto design. But it was an eye opener to me back then.

[Tom Skinner]

Drive em! We are here for a short time and gone forever. Drive em!

I have from NJ to NC for 47 years. They won't melt. You won't melt. Drive em!

Snow driving in an old Mopar is soooooo much fun. Live for God's sake Live.

[Plymouthy Adams]

Nice read Todd, thanks for sharing your archive find.   The here and now take precedence it seems....fast times at anyhighway.com...folks just need to slow down and enjoy life and quit trying to rush the end so quickly.

[harmony]

5 hours ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

to qualify the above statement....law says the exhaust is too loud and needs replace.....guess that was all they looked at.....

 

Woooow!!

[harmony]

3 hours ago, bamfordsgarage said:

First photo is my '47 D25 some years ago the day we had our first big dump of the season. By good fortune I had a pre-arranged appointment for 8:00 that morning to get my studded knobbies installed (getting to the tire shop was a challenge). The summer tires are bagged up and in the carrier. Time to swap them out again.

 

Great shot

[harmony]

1 hour ago, TodFitch said:

 

 

 

Way back when I was an engineering student I sometimes roamed the archive areas in the main library stacks looking for odd information of interest. One time I came across a graduate thesis/study on the engineering economics written a few years after wide spread use of road salt started in Upstate New York. The fellow compared the total costs to society before and after the salting began. This was before environmental issues of salt runoff into the watersheds was worried about so that was not included. What was included was medical costs, automotive repair costs, costs of salting and plowing.

 

As I recall, one major result was a change in the rate and magnitude of collisions. Before salt there were more accidents but they happened at very low speeds. After salt, there were fewer accidents but they happened at higher speeds (regardless of how well salted there were still some slippery areas which were now approached at high speed as opposed to low speed).

 

For collision repair the cost was about the same before and after salting. Fewer expensive repairs after salting were about the same total cost as more cheap repairs before salting.

 

Medical went way up because the low speed collisions had nearly no injuries but the high speed collisions resulted in higher death rates and higher medical for those who didn’t die.

 

Just between those two factors, salting was a net cost to society.

 

But then if you added in the dramatically reduced life of the vehicles and the cost to purchase and apply the salt you were costing the public way more money by salting the roads than by simply plowing them.

 

But the salt mines and auto manufacturers were happy and people could have a winter commute time closer to that of summer due to the roads being mostly clear allowing faster speeds. So the political will was to spend more to salt the roads.

 

I don't know how much that has changed with revised auto design. But it was an eye opener to me back then.

That all makes sense, wow!

[harmony]

1 hour ago, Plymouthy Adams said:

Nice read Todd, thanks for sharing your archive find.   The here and now take precedence it seems....fast times at anyhighway.com...folks just need to slow down and enjoy life and quit trying to rush the end so quickly.

One of the advantages of having Fluid Drive " Life in the slow lane"