Field trips 2.0

[Huntster]

2 hours ago, Doug said:

........Mild climate is what I need, so Western Oregon suits me the best. 

 

AFAIC, coastal Oregon is pretty hard to beat.

[Huntster]

2 hours ago, norseman said:

Sun came out for about 45 minutes. Then it went back to flurries.

 

Snow in spots is about waist deep. Less under the trees. I wish my tracked Grizzly turned like a snowmobile. Instead it turns like a 69 Mack with two front flats…..

 

I really want a snowmobile, but I hate two strokes. In the used affordable market that means only Yamaha. Skidoo’s ACE motor is catching up of late. But still pricey…

 

Why?!! I absolutely love my older Polaris snowgoes! No battery to go dead. They start!

[norseman]

17 minutes ago, Huntster said:

 

Why?!! I absolutely love my older Polaris snowgoes! No battery to go dead. They start!

Every two stroke I ever owned fouled plugs, smoked like a chimney, and cold blooded therefore sled aerobics. The last ski doo I owned had a fuel problem so bad it would bog out just when you needed it. Replaced the reeds and it never got solved. I gave the sled away. 
 

My Grizzly has been rolled like 5 times. Cant kill it. The battery has never left me stranded. I like Yamaha reliability. And I like four strokes.

 

But I may end up with something not my first, second or third choice.😬
 

 

[Madison5716]

On 12/25/2021 at 7:37 PM, Doug said:

It snowed all day here in Dallas Oregon. It didn't stick in town, however, it stuck at my parents house just 325' in elevation from my house here in town. It seems like when it is cold enough to snow here, it's clear skies and when there is precipitation, the temp is just above the point of it sticking.

 

Doug, we got four inches down here, and it's still snowing! It got all slushy this afternoon, so I'm betting tomorrow will be an ice rink. We should meet up sometime. Once NorthWind gets his badass truck, we shouldn't have any problem heading up thataway. 

Edited January 17, 2022 by Madison5716

[Huntster]

7 hours ago, norseman said:

.......My Grizzly has been rolled like 5 times. Cant kill it. The battery has never left me stranded. I like Yamaha reliability. And I like four strokes........

 

When it comes to rolling stock, yeah, four stroke is definitely better. Yamahas are almost as dependable as Hondas. But I even still like two stroke outboards for certain applications. They're lighter than the four strokes, and are great for flying them in small aircraft.

 

When in the extreme below zero cold, not having a crankcase full of frozen oil makes for easier starting. Always carry spare plugs and spare start cords!!!

[norseman]

1 hour ago, Huntster said:

 

When it comes to rolling stock, yeah, four stroke is definitely better. Yamahas are almost as dependable as Hondas. But I even still like two stroke outboards for certain applications. They're lighter than the four strokes, and are great for flying them in small aircraft.

 

When in the extreme below zero cold, not having a crankcase full of frozen oil makes for easier starting. Always carry spare plugs and spare start cords!!!

The mountain sled guys prefer two strokes as well because of weight. And I hear you on the frozen crankcase! The best trappers have barn doors on their cabins and sleep with the sled! I really just want a four stroke utility sled. But finding one used is like trying to find a pink unicorn. Everything around here is a mountain sled. 
 

I did find 4 used Yamaha Venture MP sleds with 15k on them from the local ski hill. Rode hard and put away wet. So I passed.

 

I really don’t mind my tracked Grizzly except that it’s trying to rip my arms off. It’s fine for plowing and short forays. But not all day. I wonder how one with EPS would feel?

[hiflier]

In you're case I would consider EPS a necessary safety feature: https://boostatv.com/power-steering-worth-it/

[norseman]

3 hours ago, hiflier said:

In you're case I would consider EPS a necessary safety feature: https://boostatv.com/power-steering-worth-it/

Thanks! That’s what I tell my wife!🧐

[hiflier]

Might be good for her to read the linked article. This isn't just fun and games considering the magnitude of your snow season so far and potentially hidden obstacles.......heck just feeding the ungulates the way you do. Have you tried one? From what I gather, if one has, the trade in/trade up would probably be instant. If not then can an EPS unit be retrofitted to your machine? If so, it could save a coupla thousand and help with a perhaps a better resale/trade in down the road? But you already know all of this.

 

In any case , at your "young" age, this really about saving wear and tear on you. It becomes exponential if the right measures aren't taken before things like rotor cuff injuries start kicking in, which seems to be somewhat of an epidemic for men from around 60 years onward.

Edited December 27, 2021 by hiflier

[norseman]

9 hours ago, hiflier said:

Might be good for her to read the linked article. This isn't just fun and games considering the magnitude of your snow season so far and potentially hidden obstacles.......heck just feeding the ungulates the way you do. Have you tried one? From what I gather, if one has, the trade in/trade up would probably be instant. If not then can an EPS unit be retrofitted to your machine? If so, it could save a coupla thousand and help with a perhaps a better resale/trade in down the road?

Mine has a salvage title. My daughter sent it off a cliff on the ranch. Luckily she wasn't hurt. So no one would take it in on trade Im sure. Its been around the block.

 

I gotta go pick up a starter for it. I will ask Yamaha if they do 660 EPS kits. Thanks!

[BC witness]

Now that the floods are drained and some of the logging roads reopened to the public, I got out in the woods for a few hours today. Not a Squatchin' trip, just a run out to the Stave Lake mudflats to meet some 4x4 friends for a bonfire and BS session. It looked like every 'wheeler in the area had the same idea, but it was great to get out there anyway. 

 

Of course, when i went out yesterday to sweep the snow off the Hummer and check things out, the battery was completely flat, and wouldn't even jump from my little power booster, so I had to go get a new battery. The old one was a cheap no name that was in the truck when I bought the H3 15 months ago, and looked like it had been in there a long time. The only other problem was about a foot of door weather stripping was frozen to the driver's door sill, and pulled loose when I opened the door. Now I have to find the right glue for it, and a warm dry place to do the work.

 

 

[hiflier]

Does that white hose hook into the cabin heater somehow or some other heat source? I assume it is a length of dryer hose?

Edited January 2, 2022 by hiflier

[BC witness]

Hiflier, the white hose is hooked up to a small diesel heater that's on the ground  just out of the picture. The little girl was holding her hands right up to it for a while, to warm her cold little fingers.

[hiflier]

Aha, thanks, lucky little girl to have such thoughtful and innovative parents. In a BF researcher's perfect world? It would also have a remote start/stop feature.

 

 

Edited January 2, 2022 by hiflier

[BC witness]

I got out for a solo run this morning, with not much to show for it but negative intel. The plan was to check out several mountain drainages on the south side of the Fraser River, hoping to get to a small lake in one, and a spawning creek in another branch of the same river valley. The first 15 km of the old logging road to the lake were in good shape, just a little muddy from recent snowmelt, but the turn off to the lake had some huge puddles, and 1.5 km in, both sides of the road were eroded away by runoff, leaving a 3' wide stretch crossing a side creek, with a 3' drop into the creek on each side. Since that's a couple of feet wider than my H3, I turned around there and tried for the spawning channel on another branch of the valley a few km further in. At the turn off to that area, you cross a bridge over the main river, and just 20' over the bridge, the river had cut a new channel across the road, 6' deep and 20' wide, so that was another no go.  The next valley I wanted to check out is 20 km further east along Hwy !, so I back tracked to the hwy and reached that turnoff shortly. The first 2 km were plowed, but from there on the snow got deeper and slicker as the road climbs fairly steeply, and by km 4 I looked for a turn around and headed out again. by then It started to rain hard, so I headed west to home when I got back to pavement.