A Former Plow Drivers Take on Winter Driving

A Montana Winter driving from a former plow Driver:

This is my and my alone opinion act accordingly

After a Few seasons of running a highway plow I have seen a few things and want to pass them on to you.

Without further ado

Vehicle:

o   Tires, Winter tires are preferred but all season tires do ok, make sure they have good tread nearly  ¼ inch or more is ideal

o   Fluids check coolant level condition to make sure it wont freeze, oil level and winter grade washer fluid

o   Wipers should be replaced every fall with winter wipers for maximum slush removal

o   Check light operation

o   Chains, find out if you can run chains on your vehicle, purchase and learn how to install them, this step is much easier on concrete when it is dry and warm.  ( my chains go under the backseat so they are not frozen when I need them)

o   Get your battery load tested and replaced if marginal

o   Consider a block heater

o   Find your tow points and tow hook. Often on modern cars and Suvs the tow point is down by the spare and inaccessible when you need it. Find it and put it in a door pocket or glove box so it is accessible

o   Tow rope and shackle (kinetic rope is best rated for your rig) also learn how to attach it to your tow hook and purchase what you need. Tacoma Screw has all the rigging you need (chain without brain is bad and deadly)

o   Consider a 12v tire pump too it’s a lot easier to put air in a tire than change one when its cold.

o   Good shovel Get the best shovel you can fit. Dirt shovels are great

o   Wire cutters

o   Learn how to disable traction control

o   Bag of sand

o   Cellphone chargers and phones

Comfort and survival

o   Pack a bag to keep in your vehicle of blankets, Warm Clothes, Water and food. (I recommend high calorie foods that last a long time such as candy bars with nuts and induvial packaging) Good Socks and boots, think outdoor work in the cold and pack that.

o   A basic tool kit helps even if you are not capable of fixing much a good Samaritan might be!

o    High visibility vest are cheap and good to wear on the side of the road.

o   Learn how to manually turn on your headlights and turn them on manually whenever it is snowing or foggy  this one simple step on a bright snowy day doubles your visibilty

Driving habits

o   Keep your gas tank above half tank. Idling is the best way to stay warm when stuck.

o   Clear all the snow from your car.

o   Clean lights at every stop. Modern LEDs don’t melt off like incandescent did

o   Put the phone away, hands free is best.

o   Turn the cruise control off if it has snowed since you last new the road was perfectly clear and it is below freezing

o   Do Not use your 4 ways when moving so you are more visible, yes it helps now but in the long term it desensitizes drivers from flashing lights and people don’t slow down for them any more putting plow drivers, and first responders at greater risk.

o   Slow down and give flashing lights space to work  

o   Don’t crowd the plow  give them space to work especially in the accident scene that plow is going to turn the road brown as much as he can your going to get hit.

o   If you do get stopped in traffic on snow get over and make a path for the plow the faster he gets thru the faster the problem goes away.

o   If it is a  big multi car pile up and smooth  flatish shoulders head for the fence get some distance between you and the meat grinder

o   It is much easier to chain in a parking lot than the ditch

Plow Truck facts

o   If you are complaining about plow lights being to bright to the rear you are following to close. Plow drivers want to be seen and green light is not natural and carries best thru snow clouds.

o   If you don’t like the yellow plow lights just remember bright lights coming at you are better than a plow in the ditch, slow down and deal with it.

o   You know the fatigue after driving in poor condition, yeah that, plow drivers do that for 12 hours a day the duration of the storm without breaks or the benefit of a plowed road. Give them grace and a thanks when you see them at the gas station.

o   Don’t pass a plow on the right or in the cloud. Around here the farthest a plow will ever travel is park city to reed point its 35 miles and wont kill your time.

o   Unless you are a semi the plow will win in the accident if you hit them.

o   Broken plows are not effective plows as they are not out. Don’t hit them

o   In the worst conditions a plow drivers visibility is worse than yours so give him room.

o   A plow is 16 feet wide with both plows down  at weights that would shock most people.

o   They sand as needed, sand does not stick to roads that are cold with traffic as the sand just blows off.

o   They are out, they are just busy, when the police sign in for the morning the plow has been out  for a couple of hours.

o   Plows monitor fire, ems and their own dispatch radios to be as effective as possible.

o   Plows are not first responders their job is keep traffic moving but will call in accidents as the see them.

o   511 is actually updated please understand the a plow driver updates it, but they are constantly driving the conditions so they are used to them and tend to report as a professional driver used to the conditions in the very heaviest rig on 3 axles.

o    

Stuck

o   Look around make sure everyone is safe and unhurt.

o   Attempt to back out.

o   Rock your vehicle if you can move at all disabling traction control will help as you will not loose power as soon as you  get moving.

o   If you are still stuck ensure traction control is off at the end of the rock opposite the way out. Stop catch your breathe and get ready, in the exact opposite move the driving people tell you shift and put your foot on the floor and give it all your rig has the extra power and momentum might get you unstuck. Don’t let off till all hope is abandoned or you are back up on the road. At this point you are already calling for help if this does not work so its worth a try and works quite well.

o   Dress warm and shovel out around and under stay dry and warm hypothermia is real and comes on fast when you get wet.

o   Try again.

o   Put your chains on.

o   Try again

o   If you are safe and in no danger and still need a tow refuse the law enforcement tow as when they call they call in rotation and the tow company is required to come fast and they charge accordingly. Only do this if you are comfortable and safe. If you are a hazard it is not worth  your life to save a few bucks.

o   Keep your exhaust pipe and hood clear of snow to allow heat to work the best.

Out With The Old Then What?

New Fence often follows the route of the old fence. So, what happens to the old?  Something has to move be it the old fence or the new. Leaving the old fence and installing new presents challenges and is not only not very cost effective due to space constraints but also is very ugly and dangerous as the old fence falls into disrepair. We chose to remove the old fence and haul it away it is the most time-consuming option but is the best option for the landowner. It really bothers me to see a new fence with the old fence piled next to it for years simply because the contractor did not plan for the old fence to be disposed of.

So, what happens when we dispose of your old fence? The old wire is always scrapped. It cost more money to roll up old wire for reuse than it would to buy new wire. Any Non treated wood post is upcycled into firewood for my shop, rotted treated post are disposed of in the land fill or saved for a future project idea I have in my head. Rusted and bent T post are also scrapped, good used posts are usually hauled off unless the landowner would like to keep them. ( I don’t use them so don’t ask, but they are great for repairs) if I keep the post they are kept for when a need arises in our communities, such as a rancher who suffers a fire and all his fence is burnt gone and needs something cheap to keep his livelihood around, or they are donated to a local nonprofit whose goal is to help people, and happens to use livestock to do so we will give them out used material. We love people and we love helping people. So, if you or someone you know needs fence material after a disaster, or your nonprofit (that helps people) needs fence material contact us we may be able to help.

As we Enter Mud Season (Spring)

I hate staying home when I could be out building fence, but I hate getting stuck even more, it ruins the day, a long walk and more equipment is always needed. There is something else I hate more than that, and that is leaving a mess behind that will be noticed, if only by me, for years. Now I wont lie and say I have never been stuck but like to avoid it. I will admit that I had one project that felt the like the Corb Lund song “Truck got Stuck” where in the matter of half a mile of fence everything I had on that job was stuck at one time or another, it was a slow week productivity wise. It was a very swampy river bottom field, and the mud has never dried up, so it was unavoidable. That being said with our climate it is pretty easy to just wait a day or two to keep from damaging the roads and fence lines. I really like a fence to look like it just grew out of the newly mowed patch in the ground, we strive for a clean fence line with minimal disturbance. the downside of this is it a three-day rain can have ripple effects in the schedule for weeks to come. So, rest assured we have not forgotten your fence, you are on the Schedule, and we will get to you. it just might be delayed a bit because we treat your ground like our own, we take pride in all we do and we take pride in not leaving you a mess that needs cleaned up.

Our specialized equipment allows is to not have to turn a machine at every post to drive them tearing up the sod, rather we can drive the edge of the fence one time and put all the post in. the wire we put up with the Atv to keep soil damage low.

You love your land and want it to look the best. so do we. Consider us for your New Fence.

The Fence Post

The fence post is nothing to write about, right? Wrong! There are so many different types of posts we can’t possibly cover them all, but i am going to try!

T-Post:

Lets start with our most commom post the T-post the most Common post is a 5.5 1.33 post but what does that mean? that means that the post is 5.5 feet long and 1.33 pounds per foot. this is your run of the mill post. but when used on a 4-foot-tall fence they are only in the ground about 14 to 16 inches or burred to the top of the spade. this works unless the ground is soft, or the fence is more than 4 feet. Unless the ground is super hard and stable this is not enough post in the ground and the post will lean as soon as the fence gets rubbed on. a low-price fence contractor will use the shortest and lightest post that he can find to save a few cents per post and will use 1.25 light duty posts, this poses a problem as the post are very easily bent or broken therefore no longer safely containing livestock. Our standard post is a 6 plus foot 1.33 post meaning we have more post deeper in the ground so that your fence will not lean. in addition to longer t-post, we also add a pipe or wood line post every 6th post to add that extra strength to your new fence. we have all seen a fence that is full of weeds that is leaning to the east because the wind pushed it over. in our experience the extra post length and pipe posts go a long way to keep your fence standing up.

Pipe Post:

have really become common in the last decade as nearly permanent solution for fence braces. in our dry climate used drill pipe makes an excellent long-lasting choice. the price is comparable to wood posts and will last a very long time traditionally sold in 31-foot lengths it can be hard or dangerous to haul Stillwater Fencing has made significant investment to be able to haul long pipe safely. One reason I invested in a long 37-foot trailer is when hauling pipe on a short trailer I was in constant fear of being rear ended and having a pipe go through a windshield and hurting or worse the occupant of the vehicle. a long trailer prevents this and the pipe does not stick off the back at all. After the pipe is purchased and to the yard it is unloaded and processed into the various size posts that i need, mostly 8- and 10-foot pipes. this is a heavy and time-consuming process that we go thru to get you the best fence. I typically use 2 7/8 pipe and 4 inch pipe with a .20 and .45 inch wall thickness respectively. Pipe has the advantage of compact yet strong fence material, you can haul a mile wire of pipe line post on a heavy-duty pickup with room for wire and T-post. the same number of wood post would require a trailer. in wetter climates such as the Midwest and east coast where oil-field pipe is not available we recommend a galvanized pipe post very similar to a chain-link post. The galvanized post, more expensive as it is, is also a great option if you want a fence that your grandkids will not need to replace.

wood posts:

wood posts are the best-looking post at the trade of longevity and strength. the options in wood post are railroad ties, Rot resistant wood post such and cedar or hedge, or treated posts. at Stillwater Fencing we believe that Railroad ties were pulled from service for a reason, they were starting to lose strength and no longer fit for they intended purpose, also known as they are starting to rot, hanging a fence off a post that is starting to rot in my mind is not a good use of funds so we do not install them. The logistics of getting a load of hedge post brought in is a deal breaker as they are very heavy and awkward to haul meaning a project would take multiple semi loads of hedge post, or one pickup load of steel. Cedar is available locally but the cost of harvesting them and posting them in the ground makes a commercial post seem cheaper. We have used several types of treated post in the past and have settled on using a true CCA treated post, preferably southern yellow pine. these posts are packed in easy-to-handle Skids and bundles so they store excellent and haul good. we bring our post in from Texas if the project allows giving us the Best post available. We do not use Farm Store post and they are mass produced as cheaply as possible. if i put my post next to the farm store post you can see the difference. we choose the cca treat post as we strive for the best and cca treat is the best.

We always recommend post for the longest service life and for us on our climate this means steel, one advantage that steel has that we have not mentioned is steel in naturally fire resistant and if the fence in not in a huge fuel area such as timber or cedar bushes a metal fence will continue to protect your livestock after a fire burns thru, obviously no fence can handle a hot forest fire put a prairie fire on the plains of the grass has been grazed off as it should be keeping your cows contained will be the least of your worries when recovering from a fire. we hope you never experience a fire but if you do we hope all your fence lines are clear of big fuels and your posts are metal.

The T Post Clip

This is one area where nothing has changed practically forever right? Wrong! I have never been fond of the t post clip one good impact, and it is gone out in the grass never to be seen again. well, that is true for the free clips that come in a metal mind puzzle bag with every T post known to man. I found some clips that I liked better years ago they were much stronger but hard to install. well, I went back to standard clips fast forward to 2022 I saw something called the eztwist drill clip. It is not a new concept it was designed for chain link in prisons and other high security areas. however, it was round for pipe so, it worked great for pipe post. some one shaped them for t post and it was off the races for me this simple change allows me to clip faster with less fatigue and a stronger more consistent fence. the only downside is the cannot be removed to re-stretch old fence. My counter to that is go read the post on high tensile wire not needing re-stretched.

sorry for the short blog post but hey its a long paragraph about the humble t post clip.

Barbed Wire

This may seem like a very boring subject after all wire is wire right? Wrong there are three common barb wire types. Commercial, low carbon 12.5 gauge, and high Tensile 14 gauge.

Commercial spec is what you see on top of chain link on the barb arms it is never very tight and rarely sees anything push on it. it is a commercial spec galvanization that is very thin: and a very low strength wire, as such it has no place in the farm fence world this wire is cheap for a reason and will require constant tensioning. the barbs are short and dull.

Low carbon wire is the wire that we have all used since the inception of wire fence 100 years ago or more. it is a continuous wound 2 12.5 gauge wires that have the barbs wrapped around one of them. (some even have bright painted red barbs and as much as i love red paint i hate that stuff the most) it has slightly thicker galvanization than the commercial wire. this wire typical has a tensile strength of around 36,000 psi and that works out to a breaking strength of around 1100 pounds. it also has about 15% elongation so a 100 foot stretch will have about 15 feet of stretch before it snaps. Many contractors to get this stretch out “kill the wire” or pull it until the weakest spot snaps splice it then put it up. The problem with this method is you are now dealing with wire that has been pulled to the weakest links breaking point. But What is the nest weakest spots breaking point? in my opinion this wire has been compromised. further this wire has no ability to absorb a impact or cold temperature and must be re-stretched after a significant impact or cold spell that has stretched the wire adding to the spring chores that need done.

The final type of wire We will mention is high tensile Class 3 Galvanized wire this wire will last the longest without rust because the coating is the thickest. This wire is in the neighborhood of 170,000 psi even a smaller diameter it is stronger. High tensile wire, this wire has 3% elongation rate and is wound in a reverse twist method this means that every few inches the wind switches directions this twist is the magical element that sets this wire apart from every other wire. when impacted this wire acts like a spring and the twists temporarily untwist and the wire is able to stretch. the magic happens when the stress is removed and the wire springs back to the original length and tension. now there are downsides to this wire that have cause some to dislike this wire, if you “kill it” you have ruined the wire and it will completely untwist and not absorb stretch then break, the other is there is a learning curve to tying this wire as regular twisting and loop or western union splices do not hold tension. it must be spliced with the proper high tensile knots. with this wire a double wrap on the braces does nothing but waste wire as the knot will hold all the tension without it. paired with our dry climate, good metal bracing, modern EZ twist post ties the better strength and coating this fence will last much longer with less maintenance. giving you the landowner a fence with a lower cost per year than any other wire. while also freeing your time for other projects or some family time.

in Summary when it comes to barb wire like everything, you get what you pay for if you want to keep your upfront cost as low as possible, but don’t want to factor in longevity and Maintenace cost and peace of mind then chose low carbon wire. if you are okay with a fence that cost a few percent more upfront but will last longer with less maintenance cost per year, resulting in a significantly cheaper fence when broken down in cost per year. high tensile wire is for you. We here at Stillwater fencing use exclusively high tensile wire, as we want to build you a fence that will save you time and money even if it cost more the first year.