Brrrrr

[janos1]

I am thinking about going on the road doing powerplant outages. Many of the possible places to go are in cold country. What is needed to properly winterize these trucks. Probably an easy one for most, but to those who have only seen the white stuff once, Necessary.

Janos1

 

[Agnem]

If your truck starts with a bump of the key, you need not worry. However, if your return lines are old and brittle, you might want to consider refreshing them. New rubber tolerates the cold better than old rubber does.

 

[69oiler]

good working glow plugs, fresh batteries, and a strong starter will get you started down to the single digits F pretty reliably.

 

[argve]

Mel and Rob have pretty much nailed it down.... Good rubber, batteries, starter and glow plugs will be the main concern... Also drop some weight in the bed - in front of the rear axle to get you good traction front and rear...

 

[Dsl_Dog_Treat]

Yup, bout a 1000#'s ought to just nicely for weight on a twoo wheeler dually.
Flat ground they do ok on solid ground. Get em on the hills and well hang on.

Other than that, keep some anti gel additive in the truck with ya as well.

 

[RLDSL]

Start running Howes in your fuel now BEFORE you get to cold country and keep running it continuously through the winter and you will not have any problems with fuel gelling, no matter how bad the fuel gets, go to their website and check it out, if you do gel up, they'll pay the tow, never heard of it happening if used correctly, and I've used it in -80
that's still not going to help you start if your truck doesnt' like to start down below zero though. If you are going to be spending extended time in cold country, you might want to invest in an Espar fuel fired block heater These things are a mini furnace that fires up on diesel and heats and circulates your coolant through the block and heater core on a timer and even turns your heater blower fan on and clears your windows and heats up the cab nice and toasty all ready to go if you hook it in. You are going to find more and more motels up north that do not have outside plug ins anymore for block heaters like they used to, and even fewer job sites are going to supply that convenience, plus if you get stranded out on an interstate ( where you will ALWAYS be carrying a weeks worth of emergancy rations and subzero sleeping bag, in case the plows don't come out or can't get through due to multiple accidents, stop by a surplus store, a weeks worth of MREs will fit in very little space) the Espar unit uses very little fuel to keep you warm

 

[forcefed]

Not to change the subject, but thats what I'm doing right now in conesville powerplant. Are you a union electrician? And far as the cold goes, I've only had trouble one time last year and thats when it was -27 and I worked 12 hours on a shutdown and no place to plug my truck in. I found out I had one battery not up too par so bought new batteries and never had a problem since. Good luck on finding work, if you are going to Clarksburg, WV be prepared to wait awhile, like a year, 1500 people on book 2.

 

[janos1]

plus if you get stranded out on an interstate ( where you will ALWAYS be carrying a weeks worth of emergancy rations and subzero sleeping bag, in case the plows don't come out or can't get through due to multiple accidents, stop by a surplus store, a weeks worth of MREs will fit in very little space) the Espar unit uses very little fuel to keep you warm

Wow!! I forgot about that kind of thing. Starvation /Cold would be a tough one.

I am looking to get in with a sub from VA as a machinist. I will prolly have to get my TWIC too. But getting in is the hard part. I knew a co-worker who was a condersor mechanic, not the smartest guy you would meet but made good coin doing it.

 

[Freight_Train]

Buy a beater truck.Don't take a nice one up to the salted north unless you want to bring it back in plastic baggies!

 

[Exekiel69]

Yup, bout a 1000#'s ought to just nicely for weight on a twoo wheeler dually.
Flat ground they do ok on solid ground. Get em on the hills and well hang on.

Other than that, keep some anti gel additive in the truck with ya as well.

:***: Holly crap how did it do that

 

[janos1]

What has weight in the back got to do with anything??? Does it make it handle better in the snow?

 

[Freight_Train]

Empty you will just float on the snow.Zero traction what so ever.The front will dig and plow.Duallies suck on anything other than dry pavement and hard packed dry dirt!

 

[jhnlennon]

What has weight in the back got to do with anything??? Does it make it handle better in the snow?

Gives ya traction. A dually in the snow is pretty much useless without weight in the back( And I mean alot of it). Even then, without 4x4, they are a trick to drive. I made the mistake of buying a 2wd dually once and it will never happen again, as long as Im in the snow belt anyway.

 

[ericboutin]

What has weight in the back got to do with anything??? Does it make it handle better in the snow?

I only know the answer to that question cuz I grew up up north! But that is funny right there!!

This is where Ron says...."You ain't from round here are yah boy!??

 

[janos1]

So the prospect of doing a WVO setup would workout good in that respect. 250 gal= aprox. 2000#. But that would probably turn to lard, huh. I guess that will have to wait till it gets back to FL.

I suppose I'll have to be extra careful when going off the blacktop.