OT - The wonder of the snow!
- Thread starter RSHERMVIKES
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I see the blizzard of '78 mentioned above...I was there, I have stories..... (just one more, I think)
I was plowing a few driveways at that time, maybe 12 or 15, hadn't really chosen a definitive career path yet. Had separated from the Army a year or two earlier.
I owned a '74 F250, had access to a Lincoln welder, an active imagination, and a 'why not?" outlook.
Common sense was probably missing from the equation....
I grafted a 10-1/2 foot Frink vee plow to my Fisher plow frame.
Realistically it was way too heavy for the truck to be carrying and probably too wide to be exactly legal. Didn't care.
There were folks that told me that it would never work and the truck wouldn't be able to push it - they were wrong.
On a straight run I was able to push through snow that was up to the headlights of the truck and it pushed like a dream. The design of the plow lifted the snow rather than shoving it to the side. I couldn't turn and had trouble backing up once I stopped, but I opened up a LOT of driveways that other folks gave up on.
Ford used to have an ad campaign back then, "Built Ford Tough" and that '74 proved that slogan many times during those few days after the storm.
I was plowing a few driveways at that time, maybe 12 or 15, hadn't really chosen a definitive career path yet. Had separated from the Army a year or two earlier.
I owned a '74 F250, had access to a Lincoln welder, an active imagination, and a 'why not?" outlook.
Common sense was probably missing from the equation....
I grafted a 10-1/2 foot Frink vee plow to my Fisher plow frame.
Realistically it was way too heavy for the truck to be carrying and probably too wide to be exactly legal. Didn't care.
There were folks that told me that it would never work and the truck wouldn't be able to push it - they were wrong.
On a straight run I was able to push through snow that was up to the headlights of the truck and it pushed like a dream. The design of the plow lifted the snow rather than shoving it to the side. I couldn't turn and had trouble backing up once I stopped, but I opened up a LOT of driveways that other folks gave up on.
Ford used to have an ad campaign back then, "Built Ford Tough" and that '74 proved that slogan many times during those few days after the storm.
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Great story 64Zcode! I too remember that storm well. At the time we lived in Cheshire and I had a Chevy Blazer. As a ham radio operator I was monitoring the frequencies when a call went out requesting help in getting blood (from Farmington???) to St Mary's Hospital in Waterbury. I convinced one of my friends to come with me. He thought I was nuts.
84 was officially 'closed' but we made it ok to pickup the blood. On the way back, I think in Southington, there was a massive snow drift across the highway. I sped up to about 35mph so we could hopefully plow through it - praying there wasn't a car buried in there.
We made it and the blood was delivered - all's well that ends well
84 was officially 'closed' but we made it ok to pickup the blood. On the way back, I think in Southington, there was a massive snow drift across the highway. I sped up to about 35mph so we could hopefully plow through it - praying there wasn't a car buried in there.
We made it and the blood was delivered - all's well that ends well
I grew up in NW CT and we always considered January to be the cold month, and February to be the snow month.
I think we've had so many easy winters lately that we tend to forget that February can be pretty nasty.
Feb of 2013 was another one for the record books - I think Hamden got 40" on the 8th, if Wiki can be believed.
I was working for a municipality as a mechanic and had been on shift for a couple days before they let us leave.
I was living in Avon with my girlfriend (who was on a business trip out West somewhere).
A neighbor was kind enough to snowplow enough room for me to get my car off the street while I attacked the mess in the driveway.
It took me a while and that snowblower delivered beyond expectations but I got it.
I think we've had so many easy winters lately that we tend to forget that February can be pretty nasty.
Feb of 2013 was another one for the record books - I think Hamden got 40" on the 8th, if Wiki can be believed.
I was working for a municipality as a mechanic and had been on shift for a couple days before they let us leave.
I was living in Avon with my girlfriend (who was on a business trip out West somewhere).
A neighbor was kind enough to snowplow enough room for me to get my car off the street while I attacked the mess in the driveway.
It took me a while and that snowblower delivered beyond expectations but I got it.
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The blizzard of 1966 hit the Appalachian Mountain region of Maryland hard with I would guess around 20 inches of snow (hard to tell with the wind and drifting) and high winds for several days on end. We had a snow drift in the front of our house (we fronted US 40) that was up to the second floor windows of the house. My father was shoveling snow off of the roof and we had to dig a path from the front door to the road to get out to go anywhere. It's the only time I can remember when a V plow with a wing plow was necessary to plow the main road through town. US 40 had sections closed for days due to drifting snow.
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