snow stories

1030 TOM

Member
we all got stories lets tell a few about snow storms and tractors , my adventure started when 2 tractor trailer coal trucks couldnt get turned around on a 1 lane county road that they were not supost to be on ,they both got crossways and stuck ,4:00 5 degrees 6 inches of snow and ice,being the only family in the area with equ. the local sheriff ask me to help,I drove my 1030 no cab 5 miles to haul our 450 case dozer to the stuck trucks that was 5 mile the other direction. the 450 was on our hill farm ,aswe called it. got to it about 5:00 hooked up the trailer loaded the 450,after 30 minutes of jumping the batteres, at this point im froze ,after a slow trip off the hill on gravel,about a mile i got to black top ,now being a teenager and not real bright Ilearned real guick ,a tractor pulling a dozer on ice bad idea, less than 100 yds i was over a bank not bad but stuck. unloaded the dozer side ways ,busted 2 tires ,almost turned over,no help , left the tractor,its not in the road any way,it over the dang bank. drove the 450 4 miles to the house,got dry clothes , its dark now no lights ,drove it 5 more miles,followed with a IH scout for light. got to the trucks about 8:00moved a mound of dirt 2 hrs to make a spot big enough to turn them around . drove it home .450 no cab or heathouser got a thank you and picture in the paper. road was blocked 6 hrs .had to feed and clean up the milk house wheni got back ,drove 450 next day back to the tractor got it out drove tractorhome ,put 450 back on the hill
 
how many years ago was that ???, yes we all have stories ,, blizzard of 77 was 10 below during day .78 was just as bad . no electric for 3 days or more , roads were snow boundwith drifts up to 8ftor more ,. neighbors needingg wood , and without electric., no one was able to start anything around us , and we had to grind feed for 180 hogs,my brother and i hand cranked the DC to life ..The Dc pulled Pops 430 Diesel til it started ,, then we started the 830 diesel ,, ,Dad took the 430 to start neighbors pilkups and tractors and get wood , brother took 830 and started blading the roads,, county roadtruck was in the ditch about to roll over..the 51 DC pulled it outsafely .. we were off school at least a week or more
 
Well guys;
Back in 1957 I was 10yrs old. The Uncles had taken over Clinton Camp Farm from Gramp.He and Dad were running the family Case Dealership a half mile down our road, on US RT 20.Dad, the uncles, and Gramp also ran a 40A sugar bush, so Dad ordered in two 310 crawlers with straight blade, PTO, and rear remotes. One for the farm, and one for sale.
We had a "hard Winter" that year with a lot of snow and wind. The farm had switched from cans to bulk storage, and were shipping milk to Albright Daries, down in the Mohawk Valley. They were running tractor trailers. (single axle truck and single axle trailers, at the time.
I had been driving tractors since I was 8, so that winter, I got the task of keeping the yards and drives open for the farm and dealership with the 310. We had several storms when the town plows (2 Walters and a LYNN track drive plow, all Vplow with wings) were busy trying to keep the more traveled roads open. Several days that winter i spent most of the day keeping our road open. about 10:00 in the mornings it was time to clean the barn, so I would hook onto the Case 105 spreader and haul 3 loads of stuff out also. I managed to get stuck several times with the dozer and spreader. (chewed through the built up packed track into soft snow) Wasn't fun to tell the uncles that I was stuck, because there was not any wheeled tractor that would even get to where I was stuck. Learned how to use the blade to jack the dozer up and kick/shovel snow under tracks, and ease it without spining it, to jack myself out. Left a few piles of poo in the farm roads that I had to push to the side also.
About Feb. the focus turned to the sugar bush.
Had to cut wood for the evaporators, and tap the trees. The 310 was the main workhorse. I skidded firewood , and sale logs out to the sap house, pulled the Bob Sleigh which we loaded all the limb wood on, and in early season pulled the gathering sleighs/tanks in and out of the woods.
Shortly (2013)we will be back in the woods cutting wood for the evaporators again.
Loren
 
Ain't going to tell any stories but have I got a question for you about snow and tracked vehicles........what do you have when an M1A1 Abrams tanks looses traction on a steep snowpacked tank trail?.........a 70 ton bob sled! Don't ask how I know.......


Rick
 
In the winter of 81/82 we had a blizard. I had left the farm and was farming on my own, but Dad had had a surgery, I think for a hernia. So I had to go milk the cows for him, I lived 10 miles away. The morning after the storm cleared I got up to a totally white world and -30 temps. We got about 2' of snow so there was no way to drive my truck there so it was the 930, it had a cab but no heat. The snow was so deep that the ditches were level with the road so I couldn't see the road and several times I drove off the road into the ditch. Then had to shovel the tractor out. Sure was glad to have the shovel I used for cleaning the manure spreader along with. Took me several hours to drive the 10 miles that morning. That night they still hadn't plowed the road so I took Dad's 970 with heat in the cab home.
 
January 1978 we had about two foot of snow and six foot drifts. I was a senior in high school and we missed the who month of january and two weeks of febuary so I didn't get out of school till last of June. Dad had a VAC case we put a blade on and I push snow pretty good with it. Then we had some freezing rain on top of ths snow then it turned real cold and everything froze. The Ohio river froze over and you could walk across the river from kentucky to Indiana. Back to the VAC we took log chains and wrap around the tire and rim to able to keep pushing snow people would see me out pushing snow and they all wanted there roads cleared. So why I was missing school I did make some spending money and the old VAC did a good job sure would have been nice to have had a cab it sure was cold.
 
I could tell you many but it is to late and I am to tired to do so right now. But will say this. One morning i got up and could not see my 1974 Dodge van but when found drove it out of where the snow had it hid
 

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