Arctic Blast Worries

We got over a foot of snow in Mason and temperatures have been below zero.  I had to wonder how things were faring at the farm.

This was the snow in Mason.  I started worrying about how much propane there was at the farm (for heat).  Then I started worrying about whether the propane delivery guy would go down the driveway if it wasn't plowed.  He won't.

Then I looked at the forecast and didn't see any melt forecast in the next 10 days.  Then I looked at the negative temperatures and wondered if the diesel fuel in my machines and in the bulk tank were turned to gel. Diesel gets cloudy around 20F, gels around 10F, and won't flow at all below 0.  Unless treated.  My tanks were filled in the summer and were likely untreated.

So I had Amazon deliver some anti-gel stuff and I made a plan to go out and plow the driveway.  But I wondered whether I could get the Yukon in before plowing or if I would have to walk in.  And then I wondered if I could get the Kubota or the Bobcat to start.  And if I did, and got them out on the driveway somewhere and then the fuel system clogged - what then?  Dead machine, blocked driveway, wait for warm weather?

So I did the best that I could preparing for the worst and I headed out that way.  Minus 9F on Friday morning. I stopped and bought more fuel additives, an electric heater, and a shovel for if I got stuck on the way in or had to clear snow to get the gate open.  And this is how it looked on arrival.

The gate swung clear and I drove straight into the barn. Less snow than at home.

Even the diesel in the outside storage tank looked clear.

There was less snow than in Mason.  Maybe 6 or 8 inches versus 12 or 14.

The back blade worked fine on this amount of snow.

I got the driveway good and clear.

Propane level had gone down about 8% in the week of frigid temperatures.  I probably could have waited for the melt.

Since I was there and had a few minutes before dark, I made a partial camera tour.

The tracks are always fun after a snow.  This went right down my trail.  I assume bobcat.

And it went right past one of my cameras.  But nothing showed up on it.

I just checked the easy to reach cameras.  I wanted to get out before dark.

I had battery maintainers on all of the machines that I don't run every week.  

But I went ahead and picked up 3 more to cover the new Polaris machines and the Kubota.

This is the driveway on the way out.  Turned out to be no drama - easy peasy.

I don't usually share the squirrel photos but this one was fun.

It has been surprising how long this food block has been lasting.  The crows have no trouble feasting on it at 4F.

This camera got a hawk capture too.

These shots give you the feel for the winter out there.

The deer eat the pine buds in winter.

I don't know how they survive.

Out feeding even at these temps.

And the "clean up crew" is always waiting for weaklings.

Winter Blast In Process

Probably only the people in Florida will have any sympathy.  The rest of the country is getting it too - maybe even worse.  But this is winter in Ohio - the real deal.

We went wanted to get home before the snow rolled in on Saturday evening.  15" total predicted between Saturday and Sunday.  But what comes after is worse - a long spell of really cold weather.

I hunted Friday night.  Here I am heading to stand at a balmy 20F.

The wind was blowing at about 10 mph and I couldn't take it anymore - so here I am heading in before 6:00 and it's 11F.

In the meantime, I sat in the driveway stand and shivered.

I also got a new phone this week - I replaced my iPhone 14 with a new iPhone 17pro max.  As an example of it's capabilities, here's a view down the atv trail from the stand.

And here's a zoom in down the trail.

I had the "romper room" of spike bucks come out for a visit.

They hung around for awhile before heading up to the main field.

I was freezing so I got down before last light and started to walk in.  I wasn't very quick with the camera but there were at least 8 deer up in the main field and another 6 or so in the barn field.  Even though it was 11F, they knew worse was on the way and they were out feeding while they could.

Here's another example of the new phone.  This shot of the bird feeder is from my spot eating breakfast.  It's typical of what I got with the old phone.

Here's an example of what the new one can do.

I wanted to run the machines so I also did the camera tour.  This is what I was doing for dexterity on the card swaps.

There was some range in the temperature readings from these cameras.

But I can confirm that it was cold.

I used both new Rangers to get them some run time.

I also ran the Kubota.

Everything else had battery maintainers.  It's going to be 10 or 15 degrees colder this week.

This is a pretty spotted bobcat that looks young to me.

I don't think that it is the same one as in these two photos.

The usual coyotes.

This looks like a red fox.  I haven't seen them much in recent years.

I think this is a gray fox - we've had more of them.

Some shots of the turkeys on the move this week.

Big crowds of them.  I'm amazed that this feed block is still around.  It must be frozen too solid to eat or something.

The deer are amazing  to survive in this weather.

The do seem to pile into the fields at times.

A few bucks around.

Antler shedding should start from now thru March.

And here's a couple shots from Joan and I making the tour a week ago - in balmy weather.

We are shut in and bundled up to weather the storm.  15" of snow and below zero low temps for a week.  It's enough to push a guy to go to Florida.