42 Story Idea? Email Paul.Nolan@Farms.com Better Farming | February 2024 HOW TO SURVIVE THE WINTER Timely tips to protect your buildings & vehicles. By Ron Settler Tractors, Trucks & Growing Grain The snow is on the ground, the crops are in and now we can relax and enjoy the winter. However in this wonderful country, we are blessed with two little things that can make our winter a struggle: Cold and snow. Here are a few things that will make your winter easier and less stressful. Furnace woes When the chimney on our old oil furnace started to collapse about 20 years ago, we put in a high efficiency gas furnace. It worked great except that in cold weather the air intake, which was close to the exhaust, would ice up and cause the furnace to shut down. I checked with the plumber who installed it and all was done according to the instructions, but it would still ice up at times. Finally I moved the air intake further away from the exhaust with some PVC pipes and now it works much better. We still have to watch it but the cold mornings are greatly reduced. We have the same problem at our shop in town but that is with radiant heaters. With certain weather conditions the intake screens frost up and the heaters shut down. We use a long stick to brush off the frost and they usually fire up again as soon as they can get some air. Water tank valves For over 40 years we hauled water for our house. We were not lucky enough to be in a location with good water. I preferred to use brass valves on the water tanks because they’re much easier to thaw out than plastic valves. The best thing I found for thawing was hot water. I tried a propane torch and ruined a valve once, but hot water is easier on things. Remember to close the valve when you’re done. There’s nothing more exciting than driving to the well and Cold and snow can be a struggle, but planning ahead can mitigate seasonal stress. SusanHSmith/iStock/Getty Images Plus photo
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