Saturday Snow Coffee,

coalkirk wrote:Final tally, 20".

We have a winner! Wow.... dat's one for the books.

Looks like the snow is all done here. I'm 45 miles from the coast. We got an official dusting. Not even enough to turn the driveway white.

"Official" total here is 15".

Two tanks of gas and 6 hours later and I'm don't with my house/street, the in-laws house/street, and my mother's house.

Time to stoke up the stove and sit down with something stronger than coffee!

The storm is passed and now for the clean up. The schools were scheduled to be open Monday, Tuesday with an early close on Wednesday but now due to the road conditions - packed snow frozen to ice - the schools are offically closed until Jan 4th. The buses can't roll tomorrow and it's not economical heat them for one and half days. The tow truck that came down my street turned around and went away. I haven't seen a sand truck. I can't say that I'm sorry, I drive on some pretty narrow country roads. It will be nice to be off for a while. I hope everyone has a safe holiday. Lisa

I talked to some buddies just 20 miles south of here that got a foot. My buddy in Worcester got close to that. We got about 1" or less. Strange one!

Just got the call from school too. One hour delay and kindergarten canceled. At least my wife will have extra time to clean her car which we never got to today.

Any body seen Wood'nCoal today? Did he get the 2N up?

We got about 6" but it's hard to t3ell with the wind pushing it around on this hill. Friends in VA got 20 -24 east if Old Rag Mt.. Nothing moving there except the tractors.

I think Wood'nCoal said he had some jobs to do today??

Here in Michigan, we had a few snow flurries. We have a dusting of snow on the ground,, the grass is poking up through the snow layer.

Got up early this morning, had half a pot of coffee, finished some insulation and painting on 'The Project'. I'm hoping to get some kitchen cabinets installed this week.

Freddy, those name plaques are nice.. like someone said, a personally made item is much more meaningfull than a chinese made trinket in a plastic blister pack !!

Greg L

Unfortunately the 2N didn't run today. I found the problem, both halves of the float were collapsed (how does that happen?). I made another trip to TSC (should have bought a float yesterday when I got the carb kit). The only way I suppose it could happen was there was some water in the tank that made it to the float bowl and froze or it was condensation in the bowl itself. About 2 months ago we had a few days of really cold weather then a day or so of heat and humidity, everything metal outside was wet. My anvil was dripping all day. The carb is cast iron so it holds the cold (or heat). It was fine until the cold weather hit. I have some drygas for the tank.
These tractors are notorious for not starting when the weather gets really cold, and mine is outside. It refused to fire, usually it will kick a few times and then start. The plugs could be gas fouled. One of my buddies has his 8N in the barn and warms the manifold side of the engine with an infrared heater before he starts it. I had just enough daylight left to get the deck off of the JD 316 and the blade on and clear the driveway. Should have done that all along, but I am stubborn.

Wood'nCoal wrote:Unfortunately the 2N didn't run today. I found the problem, both halves of the float were collapsed (how does that happen?).

Check for pin holes in the float halves. Are they brass? I am assuming so. Acidic water or bad stuff in gas will corrode those clean thru. They are very thin. You MIGHT be able to drain them dry, then a little RRTV on the pinholes shuld hold for a year or so.

Now that I re-read your post, yes, it appears water in the carb has frozen, colapsing the floats. Have you ever had to drain water out of the bowl before? Try that once in the spring and once in the fall. May cure alot of your starting issues

Bought a new float today, Chris. The old one did weep a little gas out of one of the seams. Brass.

Wow am I sore... Shoveled today for like 5 hours... final amount 25 inches!! That is the most snow I have ever seen at once in N.J. ! There is now a new mountain range in my yard...

Have you ever had to drain water out of the bowl before?

No, but that's why there is a drain plug there, It's the lowest point in the fuel system.

final amount 25 inches!! That is the most snow I have ever seen at once in N.J. !

It's about time you shore guys got a taste of what us guys up in the hills have to deal with

Yep - classic example of moisture in the float bowl. Sometimes you can save them by tossing them in boiling water (if not cracked & still airtight), ..... or drilling a hole in them, popping them back out with compressed air & soldering the hole shut ..... or just replace them -- sometimes that works better! All depends on the budget.

Wood'nCoal wrote:

Have you ever had to drain water out of the bowl before?

No, but that's why there is a drain plug there, It's the lowest point in the fuel system.

Alot of owners complaining about carb, tank and gas line problems on older equipment since they switched from MTBE to Ethanol. The Ethanol is more hygroscopic = it's sucks water out of the air. If there's enough of it making it into the tank, it can separate out. The alcohol is more corrosive to plus it strips off years of varnish deposits and plugs the pilot holes. Some opps replace the vented caps on the tanks w/a solid unvented style while not in use to keep humidity and condensation out. I had the same thing happen to my old Gravely during a blizzard. That sucked but at least water in gas was more common then and there was a glass sediment bowl under the tank that helped me see the problem.

I've used a gas stabilizer and lead replacement additives in all my gas cans for 10 years now. It works by forming a micro thin layer of "oil" on top of the gas as it sits. This layer acts as a barrier and keeps moisture from contacting the gas and contaminating it. It doesn't stop condensation from forming in the headspace of any partially full tank but there's not much else to do about that other than nitrogen padding!

Just downloaded the video my wife took of me snowblowing the driveway on Sunday. We only got 10 inches, but it was fun using the blower.....