Month: October 2021

Fall is fully upon us now. Temperatures normally drop below freezing in the overnight, rising into the fifties during the day. It feels good this year, and feels normal. We did not suddenly plunge into the depths of winter and are gradually transitioning this year.

There is much equipment to move and relocate. I have learned where the wind whips the hardest, where the drifts formed, and how brutal, blind and lost anything outside can be, left untended. Nothing is left out this year. Nothing is untended, unsorted, or has no home. This place enters a form of stasis, once the snows persist, and a man comes to rely on his equipment out here, so tending is a must.

I am also extracting and tuning for the winter. Re-greasing every fitting on Moon Bug. Changing the oil in the generators. Rotating tires on the Jeep and Tacoma. The log splitter might be safely stored for the long winter, but other equipment is just ramping up its required usages, so we shift from Summer equipment to Winter. Summer clothing to hats, gloves, and wind proof jackets… Even a shift is required in mentality – from the Summer time full of warmth, beating sun and little side by sides buzzing the open roads to one of hunkering down, chimney stacks smoking, and quiet reflection by a near constant fire.

Getting the tracks on Moon Bug was a much different adventure this year. No stress as to the seasonality; I am early for it is still t-shirt weather most afternoons, but that is okay. Early is comforting. Being late last year, amidst all the unknowns, was not.

The night before the install I had set out all the tools I expected to use, and dug the tracks out to get things ready.

We did the front tracks first for they are more difficult to install, so let’s climb the largest hill first whilst the energy reserves are highest. Heavy duty jack stands and a three ton jack with an eighteen inch lift were large improvements over last year, as was the air tool to remove the tires.

The rear tracks are larger, heavier, and bulkier and we both pondered how I managed to get them on by myself last year. I surmise cussing. I cussed far more last year than this one. It was also far less stressful for I had my friend helping. We gut laughed many times, queried what we were doing a few times, and obviously blamed the engineers and designers a time or two.

Three hours or so, break and all, and Moon Bug was tracked up. I need to adjust the steering limiters and grease up the tracks, but she is ready for the snow even if my mind is not quite. My soul is truly enjoying the extended Summer feel of the light Fall.

Last year I put the tracks on Moon Bug the first week of November, and it was late. Late as in I sat home waiting for a storm to melt to get all the gear together, and get my truck properly down the mountain for the over winter stretch ahead. Late in the sense my neighbors left the mountain on tracks whilst mine sat idle.

I am putting tracks on earlier this year, today in fact. It feels even earlier due to the milder October we’re having versus last year. In 2020 I got my first 8 inches of heavy wet snow on September 8th and October was cold, heavy, and laden with several snow storms. This year I got the mildest of snow dusting on the last day of September. Comparatively, this October we have had one storm, there are still aspens clinging to their leaves, and yesterday was t-shirt weather before dinner time.

Last year it took me seven hours over the course of two days to put my tracks on. I sat in the bellowing winds both days, struggling, learning, and precariously jacking up Moon Bug with improper gear.

Today I reflect upon last year, and I am far better prepared. A large floor jack will lift one end of Moon Bug in twenty seconds instead of layered jacking. I have air tools to remove tire and install track lugs. I have the experience of having done this before, both installing last Fall and removing this Spring.

Compared to my two day adventure last year? I expect it to go smoothly today. I have had three separate offers from friends to help me install them. I am taking one friend up on that offer today, and now? It will still be work, but I have help, company, and will have great conversations during the work. A small self reflection, but compared to a year ago, this is another good aspect of the changes the ranch can proffer a man.

The winds have returned to our little corner of the world. It is only my second Fall transition in this magical place, but the pattern has returned. Most of the Summer had moments of wind, but not like the Fall and Winter winds. Bone rattling, feet lifting, furniture moving, step ladder relocating winds. It is a sight and feeling that is still a bit new to me, but a challenge to prepare and plan for. Empty buckets or bins? Plan to descend the ridge behind the house and go hunting.

I am unsure of the speeds we reached overnight, but it was enough to waken me at one point, merely for the sounds. Up for an hour now with coffee and music, a full moon makes it easy to read the trees and see the motions, the level of violence the wind is creating.

I can happily report the house is more stable than it’s ever been. The three eighths inch thick steel plates are strong, long and tying eight logs together with thirty two three inch heavy duty lag screws. A man of technology not structural engineering, I do not know why the second window broke, but my confidence is greater heading into winter with the updates made thus far. Finding workers here is tough on short notice, so stabilization for the Winter, and finding an engineer over same to get the house inspected next Spring is the plan, unless I get lucky and find someone between gigs.

For reference, below is all that was left of my nine inch D-log under the windows. More stable than it was with this versus my new D-log, and sans steel plates? I can only hope it is more stable!

It was a calm, quiet, introspective weekend in the ranch.

The weather has taken a turn this week. A cold front moved in, but not so much moved in as blew into the region with dizzying speed and fury. The winds were wild for an afternoon, and then the snow came. The first large accumulation of the year; several inches, and drifts of eight to ten inches in varying places. Temperatures dropped, fires were lit, and the seasonal shift was noted.

My wall repairs were not sufficient, it would seem. The patched wall, now settled, sealed and all trim replaced, is still not up to structural integrity even with the new log beam, which may or may not be the solution. Long story short, another bay window cracked in the overnight. The largest and heaviest of the three split into three sections.

In the interim, another patch that was in progress was sped up today. Large steel plates had been ordered, drilled, painted and prepped. Each plate can tie four D-logs together, thus stiffening the wall, or so is the intent. Lag screws arrived last night and were picked up this morning. Merely lamenting my window woes via text this morning and a ranch neighbor, and real friend, dropped his day to come help me. We had the plates installed a little after noon.

There is a far sturdier, stiffer and more stable wall today. I have to shave the window trim around the braces, but as a balanced pair, they look fine, and have added much stability to the window wall. Alas, a day or two late to save a window, but winter is fast approaching. If not addressed now, when?