Snow now too deep to get into the woods

[BJE80]

What a bummer. I was really hoping to be able to get into the woods and work here now after the holidays. The deep snow held off long enough just to tease me. Now It is at that 10-12" mark which makes it not worth it without snow shoes as it is too hard to get around. Now I have to hope for an early spring so I can get a jump on things. Unlike the last two years which the snow put me way behind.


You guys in the south don't know how lucky you are to be able to get into the woods and work year round.

 

[Jim Timber]

That was my last year. So cold when it snowed there was no structure to it. Even with my big snow shoes rated for another hundred pounds over my weight I'd sink 8-10" every step. Talk about kicking my ass... I walked to the top of the plateau from my low ground to where I have a stand on a small clearing and it wiped me out. My knees hurt, my lungs hurt, I was done! Didn't go back into the woods until we had that warm spell late winter and it got a crust on it. That's when things got easier to scoot around in. Still had deep snow, but with shoes you could stay on top of it. Heck, it was nearly firm enough to go with boots if you placed your feet soft enough not to punch through.

Yep, winter is a cruel gal who often shows no mercy.

 

[BJE80]

That was my last year. So cold when it snowed there was no structure to it. Even with my big snow shoes rated for another hundred pounds over my weight I'd sink 8-10" every step. Talk about kicking my ass... I walked to the top of the plateau from my low ground to where I have a stand on a small clearing and it wiped me out. My knees hurt, my lungs hurt, I was done! Didn't go back into the woods until we had that warm spell late winter and it got a crust on it. That's when things got easier to scoot around in. Still had deep snow, but with shoes you could stay on top of it. Heck, it was nearly firm enough to go with boots if you placed your feet soft enough not to punch through.

Yep, winter is a cruel gal who often shows no mercy.

My first year owning land I went out and worked in the deep snow with and without snow shoes. I just ended up killing myself and not getting much done anyway. I told myself no more work unless you can do it in boots and can walk decent.

 

[bat man]

Send that snow down to Jordan and his off season training issues are GONE

 

[Jim Timber]

I agree about not getting any work done when on snow shoes. You could probably get away with using a silky and folding little stuff over; but if you're using a chainsaw and cutting wood that can potentially hurt you - DON'T do it on snow shoes! You can't move fast enough to be safe. No freaking way.

 

[ELH]

About five inches on the ground here in Buffalo Co. WI. 1-3 inches expected here tonight. Snowing hard right now. Put several cords of wood on the ground yesterday with hopes of hauling it out later in the week when temps moderate.

 

[SD51555]

You really can't have this conversation about this without a "typical day" in the life of Chummer. Maybe he'll chime in with where he's at. Parts of South Dakota caught up today with upwards of 8 inches in places.

 

[ELH]

You really can't have this conversation about this without a "typical day" in the life of Chummer. Maybe he'll chime in with where he's at. Parts of South Dakota caught up today with upwards of 8 inches in places.

Very true. I think most of us in the midwest do not have anything to complain about so far this winter season. At least compared to the last two winters.

 

[MoBuckChaser]

More snow here at our place in Missouri than at home in MN. Go Figure!

 

[chummer]

I dodged two bullets yesterday. Where I have a snow plow business we were suppose to get 5-8", we got nothing! My camp was in the 12-24" range and only got 6". In between home and camp 28". The band of snow set up right in the middle and never moved. Same set up for tonight calling for another 12-24" and again on Friday. I have just under 1.5' at camp right now but it hasn't settled yet. We were off to great start but that is all going to change this week.
This was pic from last March. This is a 5' cage. You could walk on top of this snow without snow shoes and not break through. It does work good for high hinges and pruning old apple trees.

 

[wiscwhip]

Do the deer ever hammer the tops of those baby apple trees when conditions get like that? I would assume that could be very bad if you were trying to establish a new wildlife orchard.

 

[chummer]

Do the deer ever hammer the tops of those baby apple trees when conditions get like that? I would assume that could be very bad if you were trying to establish a new wildlife orchard.

This is my million dollar question. Last year I only had 8 caged trees and they did not bother them. After next year I will have 45. I did switch to 6' cages but I still don't think it is going to be enough in years like last year. I can see them figuring out that the cages are markers for a tasty treat and hit every cage. We get a snow pack like that once every 3-4 years. Usually it is around the 3' mark. With the 6' cages I need a couple winters to get the tops out of reach. I am really just trying to protect the central leader and hope for the best. I think it is going to be impossible to protect all the side branches. The wild apples have a browse line 9-10' up the tree. Of coarse with the deer numbers as low as they are it might not matter.

 

[Jim Timber]

Would a tractor mounted snowblower work?

My cages are spaced far enough apart that I could theoretically back down the rows and remove the access without too much time into it. Snowblowers aren't cheap though.

You could also use hot water to melt the snow around them. Again, assuming you had a tractor you could get some water up near boiling with wood heat and roll through the orchard with a sprayer to cut the crust down around the trees.

 

[chummer]

Would a tractor mounted snowblower work?

My cages are spaced far enough apart that I could theoretically back down the rows and remove the access without too much time into it. Snowblowers aren't cheap though.

You could also use hot water to melt the snow around them. Again, assuming you had a tractor you could get some water up near boiling with wood heat and roll through the orchard with a sprayer to cut the crust down around the trees.

Unfortunately I only get up a couple times during the winter. I shut everything down around thanksgiving and usually get up a couple times if there is a fluke warm weekend. The snow gets so deep only a snowmobile can get around and they have to stick to the trails. In a normal winter the snow banks on the side of the road make it to 10'. It makes doing anything up there a nightmare. How anyone lives there year round is baffling to me.

 

[Jim Timber]

I hear ya there. I don't get up to my place over the winter much either. We end up with banked snow along the road and can't get into the driveway - wind up taking half the road parked along the mounds. It's not a huge deal, since there's only 2 neighbors beyond me on a dead end, but I still don't like leaving my truck in the dang street.

In a few weeks that'll change though. Being able to use the loader to clear the driveway is going to work a treat! I brought the atv up with the plow once and ended up spending a lot of time getting very little accomplished. Not to mention towing that combo on my tiny trailer was a bad experience. Tail happy and wiggling all over the road from lack of tongue weight. No thanks!

 

[chummer]

I hear ya there. I don't get up to my place over the winter much either. We end up with banked snow along the road and can't get into the driveway - wind up taking half the road parked along the mounds. It's not a huge deal, since there's only 2 neighbors beyond me on a dead end, but I still don't like leaving my truck in the dang street.

In a few weeks that'll change though. Being able to use the loader to clear the driveway is going to work a treat! I brought the atv up with the plow once and ended up spending a lot of time getting very little accomplished. Not to mention towing that combo on my tiny trailer was a bad experience. Tail happy and wiggling all over the road from lack of tongue weight. No thanks!

This is my last winter plowing snow so we are talking about doing some upgrades on camp so we can go up during the winter. I have a tractor so I could use that to open the place up if we got a lot of snow in between trips. My wife wants to get into snowmobiling which was a huge surprise to me. I hate towing stuff in the winter. I occasionally haul around a skid steer for snow stacking. It is middle of the night work and towing something that heavy on slippery roads makes me pucker up good. Once going over an overpass I looked in my mirror and I could see the skid steer was almost perpendicular to the truck. That was about as scared as I have ever been, never told the wife about that one.

 

[Jim Timber]

What? You don't enjoy a load heavier than your truck trying to outrun you? Pansy! :p

 

[chummer]

What? You don't enjoy a load heavier than your truck trying to outrun you? Pansy! :p

That is exactly what it felt like!

 

[Bowsnbucks]

When I saw the heading for this thread Chummer..... I KNEW you'd get in on this one !!!!!! I've been in one of those non-moving bands of snow up there. Diarrhea of snow. And just like a case of the shits..... it doesn't stop.

 

[Jim Timber]

When I saw the heading for this thread Chummer..... I KNEW you'd get in on this one !!!!!! I've been in one of those non-moving bands of snow up there. Diarrhea of snow. And just like a case of the shits..... it doesn't stop.

But you can take Pepto for that and your suffering ends in a few minutes. Ain't no pink stuff to fix the white shit.