Happy New Year!   It is currently snowing at my cabin, Lake Effect off Lake Ontario, currently 18" and still going strong.  Looks like snowmobile season can finally get started, about a month late unfortunately....

MD -- good news it sounds like, though I hate not getting to the cabin enough to keep an eye on it so I understand!

jsahara24 -- my snowmobile days are over but not my Jeepin' days and I hope to get The Old Jarheads Jeep up there very soon!  It will be interesting to see how it does in three feet of snow! (unless some melts off and it isn't that deep.

My biggest worry is getting up to the cabin and sliding my way down -- I'll have to see if I can find chains for 35's!

Going to test fit a set of chains for the jeep tonight and if all goes well I'll have them on hand for my up coming cabin trip.  I have 315x75R17's which measure 34" (they are almost the same size as 35x12.5's on my wifes jeep but hers are on 18" wheels and measure maybe 1/4" taller) and the club member with the chains he's willing to loan said they were made for his 34's -- here's hoping!

I really didn't want to buy chains now (I have 2 pairs for 16" wheels and 265's and a set for 32" tires as well as for my truck which has thinner 17's) due to the ridiculous cost and the fact that I just wouldn't use them much but hate to head to the cabin and it's icy roads without them!  The driveway leading up onto our property is VERY steep at about 21% at it's worst and it ices up a LOT so it's always a concern.  Here's a video of driving down from it in the jeep last year with the stock wheels and tires:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6fvwwJWQCo  It's the first minute of an otherwise boring video LOL

I'll try to do a better one this winter if I get a chance now that I have better camera setups!

Anyway, I have some wainscoting to install as well as some paneling so I'm hoping to get up and check on the place and then do some work! 

Ended up making a set of chains out of two others.  Had four ice chains for the old jeep and now have two for the new one.  Basically just cut the old chains and spliced in a section from one of the spares to make them longer.  They are a tad narrow but still wrap over all the tread and slightly down the side.  As long as I don' go crazy and they are tight I think it will be fine and I'll try them out this Sunday when I head up there.

Meanwhile, for those who've seen my sawmill, I milled up a nice black walnut this week and it was amazing!

+1 liked.

That would make a beautiful electric guitar. 

Absolutely!  Amazing stuff!

Just got back from the cabin!  Had a great trip and got some things done like the wainscoting, some insulating in the porch and paneling, adjusted solar panels and topped off the batteries

Had a bit of a scare with a sink that was dripping while I was gone and a the drain froze causing the sink to overflow!  But I got it cleaned up and thawed out so it drained.  Shut of the valves to stop any dripping (not sure how that happened actually since the water was off but got it stopped and the drains filled (again) with antifreeze.  It's always something!

Drove the jeep to the top of the hill in close to two feet of snow too and some deeper drifts   It was an awesome trip!

Quote from: OlJarhead on January 26, 2022, 09:54:32 AM
...It's always something!

I know what you mean.  Our cottage is rented in the high season, and every time I show up after a rental there is something to fix (I hate plumbing).  I was COVID border locked from my cabin in NY state for 2 years, finally made it down before the holidays only to see a huge hole in the roof (raccoons ate  away at the roof to gain entry because I had blocked off their usual ingress in the eves).  Now we are blocked again... so that is a mess I will have to deal with at some point... maybe with a match and just start from scratch.  I might put in a few large traps inside the cabin, hopefully deter they a little.. or some poison... not sure what's legal, need to check.  That or just sit there with a 22 for a weekend in a blind and take them out one by one.

I have laid waste to a lot of wood rats for that reason lol but eventually (knock on wood) figured out how to keep them out! ha!

Sorry to hear about the cross border trouble.  My son, two sisters and my dad live North of the border and I can't go see them (survived Covid so don't need a vax) until Herr Trudeux stops being and Brandon too......well never mind but you get the idea.  Meanwhile, I'm planning my next trip up in two weeks   Actually a week and a half as my lady wants to make a trip up with me this winter   We'll take her Jeep this time and see how it does....or maybe we won't!  I have a winch and that beats no winch all day long

I'm working on a vid of driving up there and doing some snow wheeling then another on my time at the cabin which I hope to have out soon   Got more done and super stoked to get back and do even more and relax in front of the fire again and just read!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8Ke_eGDAqo
WhooHoo!  Now THAT was a trip to the cabin!

Great video, looks like a lot of fun.  I thought your wife would be with you on that trip, but I misunderstood that she'll be on the next one.
Definitely not a drive I would take with my old Toyota Corolla.... even in the summer!

You seem to be well equipped for YouTubing, with all the cameras.  Anytime I've tried to document a build or trip, I forget to take certain steps or angles and the quality is never quite up to snuff.  You also have a good radio voice, which helps with the narration.   I'll be watching out for future videos.

Wow thanks

Truth is I start with a cell phone and a crappy Kodak 5 megapixle camera a dozen years ago....then got a free to me El Cheapo Vivitar 'sport cam' which is what you see on the hood of the jeep -- with the ziptie holding the door closed! hahaha -- but I told my subs I'd buy a new GoPro at 200 subs and did that.  It's my main camera still  

I'm trying to learn to get more B roll and get more angles etc but it's a learning experience....meanwhile a new vid drops tomorrow!  It's the old jarhead sitting in front of the woodstove talking about this 12 year build.  Part one drops tomorrow, part two hopefully within 24hrs!   Took me a week though just to get part one done! LOL  One hour of video edited down to 15 to 20 minutes when it's all talking has been a real challenge.

Anyway, thanks again and stay tuned!  More to come

PS.  yes the wife is coming out this trip (Friday)...she hates being on camera though so may not be seen

OH and I still use a cell phone now and then but the GoPro9 has been very good.  I'm almost at 500 subs which surprised me LOL since I did this mostly to show customers my milling stuff and to share cabin and jeep stuff with folks in forums like this -- it's actually easier in some ways than trying to take pics and share them LOL.

And John, if you are still around, I plan to do a short one on the plans I used...will have to think about it a little but plan to do something about your plans and the forum since it's really the best place for cabin builders and dreamers

Part one of my Cabin Build discussion for those interested
There is a link at the end to part two if you are interested though as members here you probably know most of it now.  But if not....

Thanks for the honest talk, even if going against some of the more hard stances against certain foundation types, etc.
I tried to post on your YouTube directly, but couldn't figure out how to.

I see it similar to you, in that I can not afford to do a big $50,000 build.  I put away a fixed amount automatically every pay, and whenever I reach my next goal of money needed for another step, I withdraw and do the work.  Right now it is a bit demoralizing, what with border closings and raccoons eating away at my roof, but you've re-inspired me somewhat.  Once we are back to normal and allowed to freely travel again, I am going to make an extra effort to get my build back on track.  I know a lot of people would have given up on my shanty, but I still think it will be easier to gut and redo than starting fresh, even if it takes me another 10 years to get it done.  If not, then at least I had 10 years of being out in the woods doing something instead of rotting in front of the TV.  Now to go watch your flood video... 

Yup - we mere mortals have to do things on a budget, one step and paycheck at a time!

I am heading back up this weekend to try to finish the paneling in the porch.  I may do some video on my solar system as many seem interested in how I cobbled it together LOL though I always advise them to come here to the off-grid thread/forum discussion as there are folks far more knowledgeable than me there!

Anyhow, can't wait to get back but in the meantime, I finished this table for our living room at home.  It took a LONG time to finish but mostly because I had to dry it first since I milled the logs and then moved and had to build a shop in order to get back to it!

SO we had this sink that exploded.....and a sewage pipe that was frozen solid....But it was a great trip to the cabin! ha!

A rough weekend at the cabin is better than a good week at work!

Here ya go!  My latest rather eventful cabin trip!

Time to fix a sink!

We made it up there and got the sink fixed!  Also figured out why I have no cold in the bathroom (the tap is the problem so I'll have to pull it again to fix it).

Heading back up soon to spend a week working on things, watching the grands play and running the sawmill

Here's hoping for good weather!

Spent a week at the cabin mostly milling, relaxing and splitting wood   It was blissful!

Then I quit my job!  Woot!

Going to mill and YT instead

Quote from: OlJarhead on April 14, 2022, 03:45:56 PM

Then I quit my job!  Woot!

Congrats and good luck!  I am definitely jealous, my job has been getting in my way for quite a while now...ha

Thanks!

Here's a couple vids from our last two trips!



and...

Now I just need to get up there, work on the thinning project and get the tractor out so I can get it fixed but I'm concerned it may not happen this summer   If not, I'll survive but it's been too long already!

Anyway, more to come as I try to get back to the cabin for some milling and getting more done!

Get the thinning done and remove the duff around anything important.  Our work paid us back off with the wildfire dropping to the ground and just burning off some grass as it approached our cabin. We have 60+ pines around our cabin that still have glorious full green tops even though the lowest 5 or 6 feet of the trunks are blackened. The grasses in that area have grown back. We are waiting on the logger to begin clearing out all the dead trees where we had not thinned as much or removed all the fallen needles and duff. That should be early august. He has 40 acres to the east, then another 20 belonging to someone else before working westwards to us.