[AT] Cold snap

Sun Jan 7 02:34:03 PST 2018

Spencer,

In my case they weren't antiques yet. 😊 How about including starting an antique tractor in cold weather story to go with the submission?

 In my case my story submission would be when we had a hand start JD A with a mounted two row Corn Picker on it. John Deere included a long shaft that one could attach a steering wheel to the  shaft and that shaft would slide through the flywheel side of the corn picker to reach the flywheel. This would allow starting a hand start tractor while the picker was mounted and ready to go.  A reasonably good idea but quite often the weather would be below freezing and the corn picker tractor might not cooperate, especially if it had been left out in the field.  So, another tractor was required to pull start the Corn Picker tractor.  However, if the tractor to pull the corn picker tractor wouldn't start it was not uncommon to light a CONTROLLED fire under the crankcase, if we got desperate.  I have no idea why we didn't blow up a tractor or ourselves in the process.  In those days multi-viscosity oils were not yet invented and warming up the oil in the crankcase was a great help in allowing the flywheel to be turned over faster. I don't recall block heaters being available then either. If they were we didn't have one.  My memory is very foggy on what container my Dad used for the Controlled Fire but was either lit by Kerosene or actually burned Kerosene.  I think it was kind of like Kerosene space heaters without the blower. Anyway the flame was really controlled and was much smaller than the actual crankcase casting.  It would get setup right under the drainplug.  Maybe it was something like the old Kerosene blow torches.  We thawed out frozen galvanized water pipes using two or three really dry corn cobs that had been soaked in Kerosene with some bailing wire wrapped around them with the wire extending out for a handle.  They burned in a controlled fashion and it didn't take long to thaw out watering fountains etc.  Maybe that is what we used under the tractor but I remember something more contained than that.  In NW Iowa the winter weather was viscous and -40 degrees F was not uncommon with wind chills off the charts.  I don't remember Wind Chills being measured or calculated then but many a farmer got killed when getting lost out in the farm yard in a blizzard with high winds and horizontal snow. Dad tied a rope between the house and the milking barn during those kinds of weather conditions.

Dean VP
Apache junction, AZ

-----Original Message-----
From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of Spencer Yost
Sent: Saturday, January 6, 2018 9:46 PM
To: Antique tractor email discussion group <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Subject: Re: [AT] Cold snap

I'm splitting my bet.  Putting half on Ralph and half on Mattias.

Do you have to live there? If not, the dark horse in this race might be Dean when he was stationed in Greenland.

Maybe the rule should be an antique tractor has to be within 500 yards of the domicile you suffered through the cold  (-;

Spencer Yost

Spencer Yost
> On Jan 6, 2018, at 9:52 PM, Dean VP <deanvp at att.net> wrote:
> 
> Ok, who has the record of the most days in a row that the weather never got above 0 degrees?  
> 
> My entry is 26 days in the winter of 1961/1962 in NW Iowa. 
> 
> Dean VP
> Apache junction, AZ
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com 
> [mailto:at-bounces at lists.antique-tractor.com] On Behalf Of 
> pga2 at basicisp.net
> Sent: Saturday, January 6, 2018 1:53 PM
> To: Antique tractor email discussion group 
> <at at lists.antique-tractor.com>
> Subject: Re: [AT] Cold snap
> 
> Ralph, Why is the engine coming out again? My rememberer ain't workin' 
> too good. :o)
> 
> Phil in TX
> 
> --- alfg at sasktel.net wrote:
> 
> From: Ralph Goff <alfg at sasktel.net>
> To: at at lists.antique-tractor.com
> Subject: Re: [AT] Cold snap
> Date: Sat, 6 Jan 2018 14:21:10 -0600
> 
>> On 1/5/2018 10:02 PM, Spencer Yost wrote:
>> One day a few tenths of a degree above freezing). If tomorrow stays below freezing, which it is supposed to, we will officially be #2 in the record books for most consecutive days where the temperature doesn't get above freezing.
>> 
>> PS: The shop is 36°. You can bet your %]!{!} that there has been no 
>> progress on the 430 :-)
>> 
>> Spencer Yost
> We went about ten days without getting above zero F here. Had to go to town one day and the high was -22F. The old 81 GMC got the job done without a problem.
> I was so inspired when it got above zero that I went to work in the shop and lifted the engine from my "new" 53 Mercury. Checked the temp on the wall at +6F.
> Its in my youtube channel but I can't seem to post links here.
> Veritable heat wave here today in the 20s.
> 
> Ralph in Sask.
> 
> 
> 
> ---
> This email has been checked for viruses by AVG.
> http://www.avg.com
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at
> 
> 
> ---
> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
> https://www.avast.com/antivirus
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> AT mailing list
> http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at

_______________________________________________
AT mailing list
http://www.antique-tractor.com/mailman/listinfo/at