Plain sorta weather

[gcreekrch]

=27 c morning. Feed truck was grumpy. Warmed to -22 at 2 pm. Cattle fed, calves bedded and truck is in shop with tractors. Cooling off again. Silver probably colder.

 

[Silver]

We had some brilliant sun dogs today. I think I’m supposed to know what that means. I think it means it’s cold out.

 

[Farm Family]

-30 and with wind chill -38 tonight. We too had sun dogs and agreed- it seems to mean “cold out”.

 

[Lucky]

@gcreekrch do you guys have trouble with premature engine wear in the really cold climates? I'd imaging you use block heaters and try to keep tractors in the shed but the cold starts have to be really hard on engines.

 

[Mrcopier]

=27 c morning. Feed truck was grumpy. Warmed to -22 at 2 pm. Cattle fed, calves bedded and truck is in shop with tractors. Cooling off again. Silver probably colder.
View attachment 54098View attachment 54099View attachment 54100View attachment 54101View attachment 54102View attachment 54103View attachment 54104View attachment 54105View attachment 54106

Those animals look in really good condition

 

[gcreekrch]

@gcreekrch do you guys have trouble with premature engine wear in the really cold climates? I'd imaging you use block heaters and try to keep tractors in the shed but the cold starts have to be really hard on engines.

Two trucks are at 350 and 400,000 km. Change oil when I think of it. Had to change a head gasket in one a year ago. No tractors under 11000 hours, no engine rebuilds yet.
Shop has feed truck, two tractors and bale processor in it. Little tractor we use to rake feed bunks is plugged in outside
Two tractors at other place are plugged in in am and will start after lunch to feed main cow herd. We have a residence there where a couple that works for us stays.

 

[gcreekrch]

Those animals look in really good condition

Thanks, they don’t always stay in great shape but an old friend once said it it best to keep cattle in salable condition at all times so we try.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

Keep that cold weather up there. Been rather pleasant with 20° F temps during the days here, though that looks to change.

Wish I could send you some snow though you seem to be lacking as your rows of bales are still visible. Lol

 

[gcreekrch]

Keep that cold weather up there. Been rather pleasant with 20° F temps during the days here, though that looks to change.

Wish I could send you some snow though you seem to be lacking as your rows of bales are still visible. Lol

We would gladly take 2 feet of your wet snow off your hands. Won’t add tariff either.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

2 feet Canadian or American?

You pay the trucking and I'll load you free of charge.

 

[Lucky]

Two trucks are at 350 and 400,000 km. Change oil when I think of it. Had to change a head gasket in one a year ago. No tractors under 11000 hours, no engine rebuilds yet.
Shop has feed truck, two tractors and bale processor in it. Little tractor we use to rake feed bunks is plugged in outside
Two tractors at other place are plugged in in am and will start after lunch to feed main cow herd. We have a residence there where a couple that works for us stays.

That's amazing to me. A couple years ago we had the bad freeze (for us) were it got below zero for several nights, never got above 10* during the day, and the wind was terrible. I work at a Natural Gas Combined Cycle power plant so we pretty much push water around to turn it into steam. We've pretty well got the water freezing issues sorted out but had Ice buildup break a ground line going to one of the generators. The line was 120' high and needed to be cut loose to run the generator. They brought equipment from all over to get up there. If the equipment would run the hydraulics would freeze up. Had a bucket truck drive 6 hrs to get there and when they engaged the hydraulics two lines blew out. We couldn't convince the crane operators to cycle the cranes every hour so their fuel and hydraulics froze up. It was just a mess. We just weren't prepared for that kind of weather.

 

[Lucky]

Wish I could send you some snow though you seem to be lacking as your rows of bales are still visible. Lol

We might get a little snow every other year here but generally just a few inches. Everytime we do I think about you guys up North while I'm shoveling feed troughs out. I guess you guys have a better system than a shovel or just don't use feed troughs?

 

[Mark Reynolds]

We had some brilliant sun dogs today. I think I'm supposed to know what that means. I think it means it's cold out.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:parhelio_en_Saskatoon,_Canadá,_el_25_de_diciembre_de_2022.jpg
Not usually ever cold enough here. I think I saw a couple as a kid in Indiana abt. 50 years ago.

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

We might get a little snow every other year here but generally just a few inches. Everytime we do I think about you guys up North while I'm shoveling feed troughs out. I guess you guys have a better system than a shovel or just don't use feed troughs?

I dont use feed troughs except for the occasional sick animal/seperation use and that ones inside a building.

 

[Ouachita]

That's amazing to me. A couple years ago we had the bad freeze (for us) were it got below zero for several nights, never got above 10* during the day, and the wind was terrible. I work at a Natural Gas Combined Cycle power plant so we pretty much push water around to turn it into steam. We've pretty well got the water freezing issues sorted out but had Ice buildup break a ground line going to one of the generators. The line was 120' high and needed to be cut loose to run the generator. They brought equipment from all over to get up there. If the equipment would run the hydraulics would freeze up. Had a bucket truck drive 6 hrs to get there and when they engaged the hydraulics two lines blew out. We couldn't convince the crane operators to cycle the cranes every hour so their fuel and hydraulics froze up. It was just a mess. We just weren't prepared for that kind of weather.

That's always been my thought on hydraulics in those temperatures. Are they made from different material?
I've only ever replaced mine on condition. Do you folks up north replace them on a calendar schedule?

I've had a couple hoses blow in warm weather, just because they get old, hard, brittle, and then when I'm curling the bucket they blow. Just replaced all flex hoses on my 6610 last summer. I get a bit nervous when it gets down single digits, so always let the tractor warm up close to normal ops temp, and cycle the 3 point and loader slowly through full travel several times before making it work hard.

Maybe I'm being overly cautious, but I'd rather have a stick in the eye than 1500psi hydraulic fluid. Fortunately, we only have a few nights that cold each year, so I wait until the warmest time of day.

I have been smart enough to treat my fuel the past few years before these cold spells.

 

[RDFF]

=27 c morning. Feed truck was grumpy. Warmed to -22 at 2 pm. Cattle fed, calves bedded and truck is in shop with tractors. Cooling off again. Silver probably colder.
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I have a hard time figuring out how you guys make a "pickup truck" work for feeding out on pasture if you get snow (which you obviously do)... must be because I have a Chevy?

 

[RDFF]

Hydraulics get stiff, for sure. Can use synthetic fluids if concerned about it, and that will help... usually have to let machines warm up pretty good if well below 0, and I keep what I need to use plugged in all the time if below 30°F (thermostatically controlled tank heaters). Some of the newer equipment have block/tank heaters AND hydraulic oil heaters installed. Best is to have your required equipment stored in a heated shop. I don't have that luxury... yet... but I'd sure like to. Even just keeping it up around freezing is enough, and having the place to work on stuff when necessary is sure nice. I have an insulated area I can put them in and use a Knipco if I have to. I make sure to blend my fuel down well ahead of winter so I won't have problems with that... nothing worse than trying to "ungel" a froze up diesel outside in the weather!!!

 

[chevytaHOE5674]

That's always been my thought on hydraulics in those temperatures. Are they made from different material?
I've only ever replaced mine on condition. Do you folks up north replace them on a calendar schedule?

Same hoses and fittings. Change them when they leak or blow.

Keep good clean oil in your equipment. Any cloudy or milky oil means moisture which will freeze up and cause issues in the cold.

Warm everything up and cycle your functions then goto work.

 

[Silver]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:parhelio_en_Saskatoon,_Canadá,_el_25_de_diciembre_de_2022.jpg
Not usually ever cold enough here. I think I saw a couple as a kid in Indiana abt. 50 years ago.

That’s exactly how it looked

 

[Silver]

Same hoses and fittings. Change them when they leak or blow.

Keep good clean oil in your equipment. Any cloudy or milky oil means moisture which will freeze up and cause issues in the cold.

Warm everything up and cycle your functions then goto work.

Our equipment generally comes with better quality hoses than machines sold down south. A company I used to work for used to buy Texoma drills out of Texas and the first thing we’d do upon delivery was remove and replace all hoses, drain the hydraulic fluid and replace with a suitable quality. That was after an expensive lesson to get us on track.