Here is grit. Here is America.

[Cecil S.]

True grit indeed with a good mix of American gumption. They just dont make'em like that anymore. I hope your friend Judy is well.

 

[SPQR70AD]

Like I said, it's a day in the life. Most would never consider what they do to get by, day to day, as being anything special. It's just life. It's kind of a trade-off. You trade convenience and comfort for a sense of self sufficiency. Sadly, this self sufficiency is an affront to the modern civilized society. They prefer that we be live in a comfortable, leisurely, and reliant manner. Various levels of government dictate how we use our property, how we earn our money, how we live.
25 years ago, we had no power, no phone and I had to walk a half mile out to the road because the snow was too deep for me to drive into the house with my 4WD truck so I parked out there. Today, I have an electric bill, an internet bill, a phone bill, a TV bill and have various levels of government crawling up my butt all the time. I think I was better off 25 years ago.
Today, if the snow gets too deep, I have a D-4 cat which starts easily with several pulls on a rope and once started, with two or three passes, the drive is clear. I still have to cut my firewood but today I just have to throw it in the dump truck and, to unload, I just pull a lever. Luxury. Comparatively speaking, as I sit here, watching the BS news and pecking away on my laptop, I'm pretty spoiled. I just dumped my second load of wood in the yard this afternoon and since I contrived to run over the handle of my splitting maul with the dump truck (misjudged my location) I won't have to split it until I put a new handle on the maul. If I don't feel like starting a fire or if it is cold enough I want to keep the house warm overnight, I can just start up the pellet stove.
Seriously, even though we have chosen to live a comparatively independent lifestyle, I don't think I do it as well as my grandparents could because they were born to it. Sometimes, I feel like I'm faking it. WH

you start a D4 with a pull rope?

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

The grit has washed off the east and west coast, replaced with participation awards and out stretched hands.

 

[DHuffman]

you start a D4 with a pull rope?

You start the pony (starting) motor with the rope then engage it to start the engine.

 

[DHuffman]

You start the pony (starting) motor with the rope then engage it to start the engine.

 

[Will Henry]

you start a D4 with a pull rope?

This D4, a 1951, is only a couple of years younger than I. The pull rope (usually) starts the pup motor which cranks the diesel. The pup motor is a horizontally opposed twin which runs on gas. The nice thing about it is that the exhaust warms up the head of the diesel while cranking the engine with the compression release open. On a really cold day (-20 or colder) I can let the pup motor crank the diesel while I have a cup of coffee so the diesel engine is sort of warmed up and it will start no matter what the temp. Admittedly, if it's much colder than -20, I'll look for something else to do. There is no cab and no heater on this machine! The other feature is the six way adjustable blade. All I have to do is climb down off the machine, knock out two pins. angle the blade with a bar and reinsert the pins. I can tilt the blade too; with the application of the bar on the adjusters. As a certified geezer, climbing up and down to make these changes is more work than it would have been twenty years ago! WH

 

[SPQR70AD]

that is amazing. the video was great. there are a whole bunch of procedures to remember to start that beast. I would have to write them down in order lol

 

[dolek]

The grit has washed off the east and west coast, replaced with participation awards and out stretched hands.

Sweet story bro.

 

[Adam in WI]

That makes me smile, lol.

 

[CT10ring]

I know this lady. She lived 3 miles from me up until about 3 months ago. She and her family have been our neighbors since the early"60's. She just had auction and moved to Bismarck. Her and her sister used to ride on my dad's school bus.

Small world. Blessed. Maybe I'll see you up there in that hard land one day. At least you know I'm not not making up - my posts. honored.

 

[CT10ring]

Bill, The Love of a friend is certainly expressed by you. Just the fact you saved a her letter since `09 says alot. Good for you. I hope all is well with Judy. This site is sure something this morning. Go with GOD in all your travels. Jeff

OK this is an odd post by me. Simple. Random. Real. I will go with God. As we all will.

 

[CT10ring]

Like I said, it's a day in the life. Most would never consider what they do to get by, day to day, as being anything special. It's just life. It's kind of a trade-off. You trade convenience and comfort for a sense of self sufficiency. Sadly, this self sufficiency is an affront to the modern civilized society. They prefer that we be live in a comfortable, leisurely, and reliant manner. Various levels of government dictate how we use our property, how we earn our money, how we live.
25 years ago, we had no power, no phone and I had to walk a half mile out to the road because the snow was too deep for me to drive into the house with my 4WD truck so I parked out there. Today, I have an electric bill, an internet bill, a phone bill, a TV bill and have various levels of government crawling up my butt all the time. I think I was better off 25 years ago.
Today, if the snow gets too deep, I have a D-4 cat which starts easily with several pulls on a rope and once started, with two or three passes, the drive is clear. I still have to cut my firewood but today I just have to throw it in the dump truck and, to unload, I just pull a lever. Luxury. Comparatively speaking, as I sit here, watching the BS news and pecking away on my laptop, I'm pretty spoiled. I just dumped my second load of wood in the yard this afternoon and since I contrived to run over the handle of my splitting maul with the dump truck (misjudged my location) I won't have to split it until I put a new handle on the maul. If I don't feel like starting a fire or if it is cold enough I want to keep the house warm overnight, I can just start up the pellet stove.
Seriously, even though we have chosen to live a comparatively independent lifestyle, I don't think I do it as well as my grandparents could because they were born to it. Sometimes, I feel like I'm faking it. WH

Will Henry, Maybe you just need to forget the "news". You are not spoiled or faking it. I moved to central ID 3 yrs ago and have internet, Amazon deliveries. A Sh**ton of firewood on porch, deck and loafing shed. My splitting maul is still here. Reckon yer truck was heavy. D-4?! I use a D-1 most days. Here'e some snow fer ya. I'll take the self suffiency. Greetings from central Idaho. No TV bill for me. no cable. no phone. see ya.

 

[Will Henry]

Great pictures. When I was a kid, we used to travel from Boise, over to Worland, Wyoming; often in the winter. I can recall looking up at the snowbanks which the plows had cut through. We were in a '56 Dodge though. WH

 

[skeeljc]

I lived just west of Fargo for ten years. Folks in North Dakota have grit. It takes grit to stay there. Winters are long and brutal. If you are caught out in a winter storm you can die. They will not come looking for you until the storm passes. They have gates on the interstate ramps. The fine for driving around the gate was $1000.

 

[Will Henry]

Just imagine what it was like for those folks in wagons and on horseback who settled there. I often wondered, when travelling across the Dakotas and through eastern Montana, what would have possessed people to want to stop there? I theorized that the oxen died or the wheels fell off the wagon. Travel through that same country in late May or early June though, and you can see the allure. From then on, when the summer ended and winter began, they just had to deal with it.
My son and I drove across ND and through Montana over night one time in December. It was 23 below with a brisk wind out of the NW. As we passed some of those farms, I thought those people had to be about half tough to live there.
By the way, we made it from Duluth to Kalispell, driving in shifts, in under twelve hours in a Budget rental. WH

 

[antelopedundee]

Great pictures. When I was a kid, we used to travel from Boise, over to Worland, Wyoming; often in the winter. I can recall looking up at the snowbanks which the plows had cut through. We were in a '56 Dodge though. WH

With a bit of Google help there are lots of videos of clearing the snow off of the Beartooth Highway when winter is over.

 

[CT10ring]

Thank You for sharing that note, reminds me of a farmer's wife that lived at the end of the dirt road I grew up on.

When my grandfather left for WW 2 my Grandmother was pregnant with their first child. Too make ends meet she sold the cows and machinery and moved in with a neighboring farm family. When that husband and wife were well into their eighties I stopped one late fall afternoon to check on them. They were both quite upset and when I asked why they told me that lookng out the window and not seeing a wood pile in November was keeping them from sleeping. Seems there sons did not want them to have a wood stove going, or did not want to work up the firewood. Being raised in a house that only had a wood stove I saw her point and brought her a heeping load of some of the knotiest hickory I had ever worked up. It did not pile well and the wife kept pulling out the nasties pieces.

When I asked if she was gonna put them on top of the pile, she replied "No, I am gonna hide them so the boys don't use them during the day. Knot wood like this will let me sleep from 11 till atleast 6."

When I have a bad day I just go home and look at the knot wood in the pile and think about how I can atleast sleep all night. A famer or rancher's wife can teach you alot about perspective.

Seems knot wood has a lesson or 2. Thanks for speaking up. Some hard lives & I don't pretend to have lived any of em. You have to work up the firewood - if that is your heat.

 

[CT10ring]

Seems knot wood has a lesson or 2. Thanks for speaking up. Some hard lives & I don't pretend to have lived any of em. You have to work up the firewood - if that is your heat.

 

[CT10ring]

Just imagine what it was like for those folks in wagons and on horseback who settled there. I often wondered, when travelling across the Dakotas and through eastern Montana, what would have possessed people to want to stop there? I theorized that the oxen died or the wheels fell off the wagon. Travel through that same country in late May or early June though, and you can see the allure. From then on, when the summer ended and winter began, they just had to deal with it.
My son and I drove across ND and through Montana over night one time in December. It was 23 below with a brisk wind out of the NW. As we passed some of those farms, I thought those people had to be about half tough to live there.
By the way, we made it from Duluth to Kalispell, driving in shifts, in under twelve hours in a Budget rental. WH

 

[D Coots]

Oh yea, started the pony motor many times on the D-4 with the D-2 cable front loader 1.3 yard bucket.

Also had a pony motor on the D-13000 Cat power unit. It ran at 900 RPM's and used a gallon of oil a day...normal consumption.....I remember the day the rod came out the side of the block and I had to go up and shut the throttle down to kill it.

Back in my Quarry days.

Later
Dave