glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Yes, a bad summer usually leads to a hard winter
Last edited:
Winter 1981
- Thread starter glasshouse
- Start date
- Location
- fakenham-norfolk
Ditto to the above.I remember starting up the Fowler Challenger 3 and getting out to a major road to get some food & collect the post/Lasted about a month if I remember correctly.
- Location
- Darlington
Thing is though, if we get a major snowfall now, farm equipment has moved on so much it will take no time to clear roads.
DeeGee
Member
- Location
- North East Wales
If you mean 1963 I think it started on Christmas Day or Boxing Day 62 and lasted almost until the end of February. There were one or short respites in between, but I think it was basically two months of snow and everything being frozen up.
Others who are older and had to work through it will probably remember it better than I do.
- Location
- fakenham-norfolk
Yes,I do.Lived during daylight hours in the farm workshop heated by a crude /waste oil burner that we lit with the oxy/acetalyn cutter.
- Location
- Acton Scott, South Shropshire
The milk tanker couldnt get through - was at least two days before it could get to Craven Arms so the the by-roads were a 'no-go'. Took me a whole day to dig us out with a 2wd zetor and front end loader 
. Dad and several other local dairy farms bought the big black plastic tanks that had held orange juice being transported from Israel. They needed a lot of washing out to get rid of the taint. Mounted on a farm trailer, we were able to get to craven arms to meet the tanker. Once emptied, there remained at least a foot of ice/milk icicles on the inside of the tank so the second day there was considerably less milk inside. Just as well the MMB were taking estimated amounts rather than measured quantities.
. Dad and several other local dairy farms bought the big black plastic tanks that had held orange juice being transported from Israel. They needed a lot of washing out to get rid of the taint. Mounted on a farm trailer, we were able to get to craven arms to meet the tanker. Once emptied, there remained at least a foot of ice/milk icicles on the inside of the tank so the second day there was considerably less milk inside. Just as well the MMB were taking estimated amounts rather than measured quantities.It could be interesting to see on how modern kit will cope when we get a decent winter like we were getting in the 80's. When driving to work you'd see burnt out piles of paper or straw on the road where folks had to heat up the diesel lines running under the floor or along chassis rails, bit of a Russian roulette thing in that what happened first, did you get it running before it caught fire
I remember the JD SG2 cabbed tractors we had with the glass rectangular fuel filters up on the cab firewall waxing up due to the cold air been pushed at them from the engine fan, covering them over with plenty of rag kept them warm and the fuel flowing.
The biggest arse is going to be Joe Public, there's a damned site more incomers in the countryside now and they are just going to choke every highway with their stranded, often perfectly capable vehicles, due to their inability to drive when the tarmac isn't black.
The ultra reliance on mains electricity and gas is truly going to feck up a lot of people's ideas of being cosy in the countryside let alone their ignorance when it comes to turning the tap on and it is all frozen
I remember the JD SG2 cabbed tractors we had with the glass rectangular fuel filters up on the cab firewall waxing up due to the cold air been pushed at them from the engine fan, covering them over with plenty of rag kept them warm and the fuel flowing.
The biggest arse is going to be Joe Public, there's a damned site more incomers in the countryside now and they are just going to choke every highway with their stranded, often perfectly capable vehicles, due to their inability to drive when the tarmac isn't black.
The ultra reliance on mains electricity and gas is truly going to feck up a lot of people's ideas of being cosy in the countryside let alone their ignorance when it comes to turning the tap on and it is all frozen
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
It cant come quick enoughIt could be interesting to see on how modern kit will cope when we get a decent winter like we were getting in the 80's. When driving to work you'd see burnt out piles of paper or straw on the road where folks had to heat up the diesel lines running under the floor or along chassis rails, bit of a Russian roulette thing in that what happened first, did you get it running before it caught fire
I remember the JD SG2 cabbed tractors we had with the glass rectangular fuel filters up on the cab firewall waxing up due to the cold air been pushed at them from the engine fan, covering them over with plenty of rag kept them warm and the fuel flowing.
The biggest arse is going to be Joe Public, there's a damned site more incomers in the countryside now and they are just going to choke every highway with their stranded, often perfectly capable vehicles, due to their inability to drive when the tarmac isn't black.
The ultra reliance on mains electricity and gas is truly going to feck up a lot of people's ideas of being cosy in the countryside let alone their ignorance when it comes to turning the tap on and it is all frozen
Suffolk Serf
Member
- Location
- Bury/Thetford
In the winter of '81 our small village was cut off from the outside world by snowdrifts. The biggest farmer from our village and the biggest from the larger, neighbouring village set to with their state of the art rough terrain forklifts (a Sanderson and a Salev) to dig out the snowdrifts and meet in the middle. It took a couple of days.
Suffolk Serf
Member
- Location
- Bury/Thetford
Started my sandwich year from Harper in January 1986, on a big dairy farm in North Shropshire. Grass was all frosted off. We turned the cows out on the first of May to very little grass. But by the end of the month it had grown and we were flat out silaging.
I lived in luxury in a farmhouse with a four oven Aga.
glasshouse
Member
- Location
- lothians
Did they have cabs?
Suffolk Serf
Member
- Location
- Bury/Thetford
The Sanderson was a fairly up to date machine and had a fully enclosed cab. I later worked on the farm with the Salev, it only had a frame and a roof.
One of the main reasons for putting in the log burner in our conversion is just in case we lose power, we are in a fairly built up area but even a couple of hours without power at minus 15 would make it pretty cold and my Mrs isn't a happy bunny when cold.
I still have flash backs about trying to milk and feed the cows during very cold weather
I still have flash backs about trying to milk and feed the cows during very cold weather
DeeGee
Member
- Location
- North East Wales
“Europe is effectively cut off from Thetford…!”
“Cobra meets to discuss urgent action!”
Suffolk Serf
Member
- Location
- Bury/Thetford
Except, as a youth, we lived in heavy land country between Bury and Newmarket.
choochter
Member
- Location
- aberdeenshire
Are you deliberately choosing thread titles that don't have songs in them?
Pfffft.
I'm away back to Kevs Diary.
Pfffft.
I'm away back to Kevs Diary.
DeeGee
Member
- Location
- North East Wales
And just how well will all these magical low energy heat source pumps work when the ground is frozen down to a depth of several inches??come the day, there will be a lot of cold people! no solar no wind and my feet will be in front of the log burner and the geni ticking over in the back ground
Slightly facetious maybe, but also a genuine question?