| LIFE Operation Empty Nest

[It Takes Eleven]

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[TerryP]

 

[planomateo]

One of my heat sources is out due to what I'm hoping is just a thermocouple. Tankless water heater for the in-floor heat isn't keeping the pilot lit. The tankless water heater company no longer exists and you can't buy the thermocouple anymore, but I think I may have found a match for a part in the UK. For whatever reason they wouldn't let me buy this from the US, so had a buddy in London help me out...I think it's stuck in customs somewhere. Worst case I'm buying a new tankless water heater if this doesn't work, I'm trying to do it on the cheap. Plumbers get paid...

Added to next years to-do list -- wood burning stove.

Gonna be cold here in a few days. It could be 10 degrees colder as I'm 20 miles away and +900' in elevation to the below temps.

 

[Bamabww]

Check with your Homeowners insurance, it might cover the replacement. ALFA in Alabama would.

 

[BamaFan334]

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Gah lee, you need to let me hunt a big horn and a moose.

 

[planomateo]

Taken this morning on the Blackfoot. The larches are a nice mix of yellow in a green pine forest.

 

[Bamabww]

Beautiful spot. Appreciate you sharing these.

 

[planomateo]

Turkey in the valley. I drive along this stretch daily, always nice to see some wildlife.

 

[planomateo]

3 vehicles in ditches on the way to work today. People drive too fast.

This road is slick during the winter. Canyons prevent sun from hitting it during the winter months, so things will get interesting. I happened to be driving on it this afternoon before the plows got to it. This is one of the more dangerous sections.

Plow truck further down the road doing good work.

Driving through the neighborhood.

How's this for a treat...you get an idea of how close they are, they showed up as I'm creating this post, no bulls yet. I haven't seen elk on the property since June. Saw some about a week ago about 1/8th of a mile from the property. For reference, I'm sitting around ~4300' in elevation and it's about 15 degrees outside at 6:40p.

Got about 3"-6" of snow today. Hard to tell because the wind was blowing 30+mph today.

 

[planomateo]

My replacement of the thermocouple was unsuccessful this past weekend. More than likely I'm going to be DIY'ing a tankless. I'm already irritated dealing with plumbers today, they want to charge by the hour for the entire trip ($110-$150/hr), several won't make the drive ~25 miles outside of Missoula, and several want two visits to tell me what I've already told them, bring me a new tankless.

Then I found this site, can you say Nirvana! They only do radiant heat DIY Radiant Floor Heating | DIY Radiant Heat | Radiant Company

What does my in-floor heating system look like? I have 3 zones in the house, you can see 3 silver boxes in the center of the photo that are to each of the zones. There are a few pumps (green devices) that circulate water in this closed loop system. I have two tankless, the one on the far right without the front (behind the green garden hose) is the one for the in-floor heating, the one just to the left of it is for the domestic water.

 

[planomateo]

And I bought a tractor, a RED one with a cab . I'll post up some photos soon enough, it's in the shop at the moment. Thanks for your guidance @Bamabww. Most appreciated!

Few more items I need to take care of before winter really hits. I'm going to be buying tire chains made by a company outta Finland called Ofa - I figure the Finns know a thing about driving on ice/snow. They are studded chains that will stay on the tractor all winter long and should help me get up the road that's 7% grade just outside the property. I have R-4 tires on the tractor and there is just no way I want to risk it sliding and getting damaged.

Still have to figure out if I'm gonna buy a snow pusher or a snow plow. There are benefits to both, just haven't decided on which one I'm going to pursue.

Picked up a 6' offset rear blade for the tractor a few weekends ago off of FB marketplace about 3 hours east of me for a great deal. This will give me the ability to also move snow from the rear PTO. If I had to guess the rear blade weighs about 400lbs. Somehow 4 of us managed to cram it in the back of my LC. I had 3 hours of driving to figure out how I'm gonna get this outta the LC by myself. I have an embankment off the driveway that I was thinking would be nearly level to the tailgate. Sure enough, it was perfect. So I used my 45 to winch the rear blade outta the back.

Photo of me getting it outta the back (6' blade in the back ). Funny thing, there was a small black bear track through this clearing, noticed this as I was getting things setup to winch it out. Those yellow trees are Larches - they are my favorite trees.

 

[Bamabww]

Coldest morning this season so far in Lawrence County, Alabama @planomateo, 27 degrees at 6 a.m.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

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Do you have a trailer, Plano? If you have SUVs only, they can be really handy. We've had two in the family for some time, a single axle 6x10 that's handy for hauling smaller loads and equipment and a 16 foot tandem axle that will haul most vehicles (a Tahoe is a wee bit too wide, I found out), the tractor, and I've had at least 5,500 pounds of construction materials on it as well.

 

[planomateo]

@It Takes Eleven don't have one in Montana, will eventually get a tandem trailer. Contemplating building one.

At this point a trailer isn't a necessity, in time it will be.

 

[Bamabww]

Any update on the heating unit that wasn’t working?

 

[planomateo]

It's broken, I have a plumber that is looking to see if he can find a replacement valve assembly. This would be a short term fix.

Ideally I'm redoing the whole thing with an H stamped boiler instead of a tankless water heater. Going to be expensive doing this as a DIY with the assistance of a neighbor. Will redo the plumbing in the summer time to do this the right way.

 

[planomateo]

Drove out to Idaho to get a snow plow today. 150 miles that took 4 hours, 99 miles of twisty roads along a river and a fair amount of snow and slush on the road.

Kooskia, Idaho. The fog was a nice surprise.

Someone had a nice collection of old trucks. There were ~30 of these.

​

Random photo along the river.

I ran across at least 10 flocks of Turkey in Idaho.

I hit the road around 4am and crossed into Idaho around 5:30a MST. Decent amount of snow on the ground. I was towing a small trailer which made things at time a bit sketchy.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Nice. The holiday graphics fit nicely with your post.

 

[planomateo]

Got about 6" of snow last night or this morning that puts me over 36" of snow for the season.

Of course this meant I got to play in the snow for a bit today. Had to use the rear blade as I need get some hydraulic hoses made to use the front blade. There are a few local outfits that make hoses while you wait. Having a front and rear blade should make snow removal quick.

I'm also seeing some tracks that I don't recognize, long strides, narrow offset, long narrow footprint. Some game cameras would be a treat.

 

[rick4bama]

What is and Empty Nest anyway?