(Oh Powers That Be, please accept this humble offering and consign it to a time slot of great worthiness, such as Wednesday evening.)
You’d think that living in a one room off-the-grid cabin at the end of a dead end road in North Nowhere Vermont would be weird enough, but no! I take it to the next level because I do it without a car or a driver’s license. I’ve never had either. I attribute this to half atypical psychology and half atypical neurology. I’ve never had any interest in cars and my only time behind a steering wheel was a disastrous session of Driver’s Ed when I was 17. My mother signed me up for it without telling me. It lasted two days.
Not that I eschew motorized transportation entirely. For 20 years I tooled around in a series of Recreative Industries Max 2 six-wheel amphibious ATVs:
They’re tons of fun but have two drawbacks:
- They’re not very fast and can’t keep up at group ATV riding events.
- They’re so unusual that no-one knows how to fix them. I had to do all my own maintenance and while I can do all my own maintenance I’d really like to have the option of not having to do all my own maintenance.
My last Max 2 broke down about 10 years ago. The bearings in the skid-steer transmission are shot and my resolve to extract the transmission from the chassis wore out. The mostly disassembled vehicle has been in my little garage ever since and I had no interest in obtaining a replacement.
So began a period of pedestrianism. My cabin is four miles out of town and it takes me an hour and 20 minutes to hike the distance. I almost always got a ride however and it was an interestingly social time seeing my generous neighbors. I could collect an item of town gossip in the morning and pass it on in the afternoon.
But time has passed and the hike, while still not difficult, sometimes seems increasingly trying, and some of my neighbors have moved away while others have retired and don’t drive into town every day any more. I decided it was time to go on the road again.
But I wasn’t going to get another six-wheeler. Nor was I going to get a Polaris side-by-side UTV like all my neighbors have. My objection is that the Polaris has a Continuously Variable Transmission:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Continuously_variable_transmission
Which my six-wheelers also had. My Polaris-owning neighbors say CVTs are robust but they don’t put on the miles I do and I had constant problems with them. I wanted a real transmission so I ordered a Honda Pioneer 700:
https://powersports.honda.com/sxs/recutility/pioneer-700
And decked it out with a full cab and a heater:
The proud owner taking delivery.
There’s a switch to go between automatic and manual shifting and flappy paddles on the steering wheel. The paddles work even in automatic mode which is convenient when the automatic system gets confused by steep hills. The engine is right behind the seats which a Polaris-owning neighbor says means better weight distribution for going down steep hills when they’re icy. Once he learned I was getting a UTV this neighbor did nothing but rant about the perils of icy steep hills, so much so that I actually considered getting another Max 2.
The six-wheelers have a hand throttle and tank-like skid-steering. My first impressions of the Honda were that the foot throttle was trigger sensitive and the steering wheel like mush. I’ve gotten used to them since then. The six-wheelers aren’t rigged to have one side of tires go forward and the other backward so you can’t swivel around the vehicle center but you can lock one side and power the other which still gives a very tight turning radius. The Honda’s turning radius is huge in comparison. It won’t traverse the path to my little garage so the vehicle is going to have to live outside under a cover for the Winter. I’m planning on building a new garage next Summer.
Also next Summer my mother will get to fulfill her dream of seeing her son behind a steering wheel. It took only 60 years.
“while I can do all my own maintenance I’d really like to have the option of not having to do all my own maintenance”
I feel this way all the time.
Very cool
Thanks! I only drove the six-wheel Max 2 on village roads a few times because it’s so tiny and there’s a lot of truck traffic. As a driver in the Honda I sit higher than most people in their cars. It’s an interesting perspective.
When I wrote this I didn’t realize that there was competition for the coveted Wednesday evening time slot. Obviously I lost out.
This article is bittersweet for me. I’m pleased to contribute again, however minimally, to this forum, but since I wrote it the friend who ranted about Polaris ATVs and slippery slopes, and who “helped” me fetch mine from the dealer, by hooking up his trailer to his truck and doing all the work, is in the hospital with pancreatic cancer with bleak prospects.
Sorry to hear about your friend
Damn. Pancreatic cancer is never a good diagnosis. By the time symptoms appear it is usually quite advanced.
Sorry for both you and your friend.
Thank you. Yeah. He was perfectly fine when I was invited over to his family’s for Christmas Dinner, a week after fetching the ATV. It only took a few days to go from that to a bad prognosis.
Pancreatic cancer is what took down Mama Tres. Best of luck to him.
Good article. Ive always been curious about those 6-wheel things.
To bring some inappropriate humor to a bleak thread, I was reading it as “prostate cancer” the whole time. I was very confused when I got to your response, Tres.
Sorry to hear about the friend’s prognosis, Richard. Hopefully he can get good treatment and beat the odds.
Lost a good friend and fishing buddy a few years ago. Only was a few months from diagnosis to good bye.
so sorry
I know you’ll do all you can do to help. My best friend is in the same boat: he’s got the best attitude, but I’m struggling not to show how devastated I am
all the best
Sorry to hear about your friend.
Sorry about your friend. All the best.
On a happy note, I am glad to see you publish again!
Sorry about your pal, friend. Pancreatic cancer is a helluva thing. Best thoughts for him.
Sorry to hear that. Fuck cancer.
Sorry to hear about your friend. It happens more and more as we age, but doesn’t seem to get any easier.
And decked it out with a full cab and a heater:
Fancy!
Also next Summer my mother will get to fulfill her dream of seeing her son behind a steering wheel. It took only 60 years.
🙂
$15K for the base model, $10K for the add-ons, $2K for add-on installation and worth every penny. The heater runs off the engine coolant and I’ve adjusted the vents to blow entirely on the windshield to keep it clear. The ATV would be undriveable without it.
North Nowhere Vermont
considering my neighbors, it sounds yummy
I can think of no other VTGlibs
I think KK was originally from Vermont or maybe went to school here. One of the items on my “Glibs article to write” list is “A bit of Heaven on Earth” explaining why I’m here.
Essex Junction raised!
Based on your accent, I would have guessed Grinder’s Switch.
Non?
Id always thought that for a 6-wheel one of these would be fun.
The Army had phased them out by the time Id enlisted, but Id heard stories about what pieces of shit they are/were. Seems to be some truth to that.
They were garbage, They were too complex for the job they were to do so spent most of their time in the motor pool or stranded along a road/trail. But several made it to Grenada with the 82d ABN so they are a “combat proven” system.
That’s gonna pull some strange! 🙂
Nice ride!
In my small town I’m famous for being “That guy who walks.” Everyone waved to me as they drove by, if they didn’t offer me a ride. I don’t like to drive into downtown, still uncomfortable with traffic, so I’ve done it only a few times to the nearest gas station/convenience store in the early morning for fuel. Therefore the only people who recognize me in the ATV are the good ol’boys who hang out there at that time drinking coffee and discussing Important Affairs. I don’t think even my neighbors on my road recognize me.
Lol
VT strange is really strange.
Anyone remember the COOT? One of the first ATVs. They used to advertise in Popular Mechanics.
Sorry to hear about your buddy. I had a friend/coworker who went from “I don’t feel good” to dead in 10 days. Pancreatic cancer is no bueno.
I’m resisting the temptation to get one of those things. I drive past a dealership every time I go into town, and I see the neighbor and his kids tooling around on theirs to take care of the cattle sometimes.
No, I need a truck first, then a woodchipper, then a tractor, then a mini-ex, and then maybe I’ll get an ATV.
then a woodchipper
*makes note to finish Eyepiece testing, post haste*
I’ve got a wood chipper, which I’ve used only to ship wood, for those who may be interested:
How much wood
would a wood chipper chip,
if a wood chipper
only chipped wood?
My unfortunate friend has an excavator business that next Summer I was hoping would do the ground work for the new ATV garage I need. Instead I may end up getting my own mini-ex.
Got the truck, I need to find a snow plow for it.
Next up is a tractor with a loader and a 3 point hitch
After that, a gas brush cutter.
Truck, tractor, UTV. Rent mini excavator or skid steer, save on transport by picking it up with your truck. Skip the wood chipper unless you can’t burn.
The important thing that they failed to stress is that all the brave men in blue got home safely. Even if they did put (another) baby in the hospital.
City of Elyria releases bodycam video of controversial police raid family claims was conducted at wrong house
Because the cops had already put out a statement when they realized the homeowner had Ring video of the raid.
Rookie mistake. Seasoned cops know the 1st thing you do when conducting a raid is disable all the surveillance cameras.
I was surprised to see (in the pic) that the cops had no dogs. And tho the article didn’t relate, no other dogs were shot.
They picked the cop with the worst view, but it still looks like they threw a flashbang at or inside the window (probably inside based on the post incident pictures) of the room where the baby was.
So the fuckers lied, and now it looks like they’re trying to cover it up as much as possible.
Deceive, Inveigle, Obfuscate
I posted the gofundme for the kid over the weekend. What happened is horrible.
Not a great time for the furnace to crap out AGAIN. Attached a new bottle of propane (the old one shouldn’t have been out yet, though). And the gauge was reading low. But the bottle is clearly full based on the weight. WTF.
Guess I’ll need to call the RV repair guy AGAIN. The hardship!
Did it get too cold to stay pressurized?
I don’t have a lot of propane experience just spitballin’.
Possible….it’s running now
I’ve noticed that with little Buddy heaters running off of 1lb disposable tanks, of course I refill mine, that if it’s really fucking cold the propane liquefies and there’s no gas coming out of the tank. How cold is it there?
24…expected low of 16. It has to be the temp, because I literally just hooked up a new tanked and the gauge was in the yellow.
Not sure whether to set my thermostat higher than normal tonight now that the thing is kind of working, just to keep it running? I think I may just crank the space heater and set the thermo to my usual 55 degrees because I don’t want to run out of gas, either.
I’ve used propane tanks with my patio burner when it is down in the 30s. I was using a high-power patio burner to make beer. The tank actually frosted over.
The pressure in the tank can drop dramatically when it is cold outside and you are drawing a lot of propane quickly.
I’ve also used the 20-lb tanks with a Little Buddy heater when camping in freezing temps without any issues. I really depends on how fast you are drawing propane out.
I don’t think that’s cold enough for propane problems with a full tank. A nearly empty tank might self-cool because of gas expansion cooling inside the tank.
Yeah, propane wouldn’t be very useful if 24 degrees was its lower limit. I’m just wondering if maybe some ice got in the line? The line has been attached to that tank without issues for about 5 days, so I don’t think its foreign debris.
I’m surprised that there is a problem with the propane itself. We get -40 and colder and the furnace and little parlor stove keep chugging along. Never heard of a neighbor complain about a propane problem.
I agree – I mean, 24 isn’t THAT low (it’s low for South Carolina, but not propane). No idea. Something to do with the temperature and the line? I wonder if the line got some ice in it and prevented the flow? Should I insulate the line?
Propane doesn’t liquify until -40 F. That said, I’ve heard of people wrapping their tanks in electric blankets.
Shovel a little snow around the tank if it get really cold but I’ve never done that.
In my log cabin I heat with wood but use 5lb propane tanks for the two small on-demand water heaters and the two-burner cook stove. Yesterday I was in the final rinse of my morning shower when I thought the water was cooling down. When I got out of the shower the pilot lights were low. Usually there are other signs and portents that the propane tank is getting low. I was lucky that I didn’t have to finish the shower in cold water. I hate that.
So, you and the RV repair guy. ???
I’m gonna upgrade to a tankless water heater in the very near future
s/5lb/20lb/ in my previous post. Regular BBQ tanks.
I bought my two little on-demand water heaters nearly 30 years ago. On one of them the pilot light has a yellow tinge indicating incomplete combustion. I’m not worried about it. The other is fine. They’re this brand:
https://www.drinking-water.org/heater/reviews/paloma/
Luckily I can run my water heater off electric as well as propane, so I don’t have to worry about long hot showers when I’m on shore power once I get the tankless.
Luxury!
I can’t make any sense out of that euphemism.
https://backpackinglight.com/canister-stove-fuel-warming-techniques/
this lists the vaporization temps of common camping fuels
there’s more on compressed gases……….
https://folk.ntnu.no/skoge/book-cep/diagrams/additional_diagrams/Propane%20col.pdf
This is a lot easier than it seems. I’m linking to a pressure-enthalpy diagram for propane. It is absolutely typical to any p-h diagram for a two-phase compound (blends are another animal and not a first-year thermo topic)…anyhoo:
there’s this zone we call the dome, it’s that hump on the bottom left leaning into bottom center: everything in (under?) the dome is two-phase, like your bottle of propane. Notice that the temperature lines are flat and line up with the pressure axis on the left….that means that the temperature and the pressure inside a two-phase bottle are married. When you start to run a bottle, it is at some temperature it was stored at, outside equals inside. So if it’s 0°C (32°F), the pressure inside will be (I’m trying to read the log the best I can) 0.28MPa.
That’s a fact, unchangeable. When the bottle has 20 pounds in it, the pressure will be 0.28; when the bottle has 2 pounds in it, the pressure will be 0.28. What is happening as you burn through the bottle is the saturated liquid is flashing off and going through the regulator and out. That leaves more gas headspace in the bottle and less liquid in the bottom, but the temp and pressure will not change if the propane is released slow enough.
The pressure in the bottle will stay the same……until: the last drop of liquid flashes; then you’re no longer two-phase, your one phase: saturated vapor. After that point, the pressure drops with the reduction in mass as you’d expect and in accordance with Boyle’s law.
That said, there is a practical consideration: burning the propane does lower the temp of the tank. Each gram of propane that is flashed off takes with it the heat of vaporization, so the heat in the bottle is going down, and the mass is going down, so the temperature is going down. At some point the tank’s propane might get below the vaporization temperature (near atmospheric pressure, the pressure outside the bottle), and at that point you’ve just got cold propane sitting there liquid…you actually could hold it in a skillet at those conditions.
Obviously, if there is moisture contaminating the fuel, it will freeze when the tank gets to 32°F………..actually, it will freeze higher than that because the carburetor throttles the gas and….well, that’s another longer story…enough for now.
in accordance with
Boyle’s lawthe ideal gas lawpV=(n)rt
Incredibly based. I wish I had it in me to live that way, I really do.
I might be able to do it, if I was no longer married.
“But I wasn’t going to get another six-wheeler. Nor was I going to get a Polaris side-by-side UTV like all my neighbors have. My objection is that the Polaris has a Continuously Variable Transmission:”
I won’t jinx myself, but CVT can be reliable.
The Max 2 six-wheeler has two transmissions. The engine powers a CVT set which powers the T-20 skid-steer transmission:
https://maxatvs.com/t20transmission/
My observation is that after a few tens of thousands of miles the T-20’s bearings start to go which make the CVT driven clutch wobble which kills it, and then drive drive clutch, pretty quickly. It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure this out.
So, how does one survive financially in the wilderness and no car? retired?
I’m a consulting computer engineer. I have an office in town with cable Internet access that predates Comcast’s buyout of the formerly local and great cable TV company. I’ve never responded to ANY of Comcast’s missives so I’m grandfathered into a Business-class plan that I pay less than local household plans. Five static IPs!
Interesting, way to go.
‘Five static IPs!’
That’s a hot commodity.
We bought a Subaru CrosTrek because we could get a manual transmission. Subaru has since phased that out and only offers CVT.
I like a manual too. Automatics blow.
Anecdotally, it seems that there are fewer snowmobiles and single ATVs around the past couple-three years . The bigger family size seem to have taken over. My guess is that the missus and kids were tired of sitting at home when the ol’ man was out with his buds and ending up at a bar.
I have none of those toys, just not interested. I have a little tractor (see my avatar) plus lawn tractors for garden work and yard clean up. Now I’m using a wheelbarrow to haul wood to the house.
When I moved to Vermont 30 years ago snowmobiles were common and ATVs were rare. The snowmobile club was huge and had extensive trails all over the state. They still do but snowmobiles are much less common now while side-by-sides like my new ATV are everywhere. To be honest, I blame the Internet. 30 years ago there wasn’t anything better to do in the midst of the Winter than go snowmobiling. Now one can curl up in the warm comfort of one’s home and spend an afternoon in a mental scape far away from the frigid outdoors.
I think you’re right. The same folks that had snowmobiles had ATVs for the drier times. As that crowd got a little older and big screen home TVs had football in the cold weather it wasn’t quite so much fun outside. Hunting/fishing license sales have declined. One of my few old friends and I talk about the days of spearing fish illegally at night, it was what us kids did in the spring. Hunting deer out of season, drive the logging roads looking for grouse. Our folks were always happy when we brought something home. Those days are gone
That thing is cool, Richard. I do, however, find it fascinating that no one blinks an eye that you drive it around. I see that happen around a lot of the farms here, but not to take one downtown. I like it.
But, sorry about your friend. My dog park partners mother had that. One month she’s fine, the next she is gone.
Here they are driven to town, post office/bar/grocery store. Don’t know what the law is about licensing nor do I care. They are not supposed to be driven on the road but they come passed my house very fast, sometimes 3-4-5 at a time. They kick up some dust but the trees block the dust and much of the noise.
There is an ATV club in my small town that, believe it or not, supported a slate of Town Select Board members who weren’t violently opposed to ATVs running on some of the village roads. This is the kind of libertarian work that we all dream of. So now some, but not all, roads here are legal provided:
– The ATV is registered with the State.
– One has liability insurance.
– One is a member of the State and one’s local ATV club.
– One wear a helmet.
But note no driver’s license is required. There’s even a class that youngsters can take to qualify them to legally drive ATVs on legal roads. Youngsters, of any age, can still drive farm vehicles on roads.
How do you get insurance w/o a license ?
Not that Im opposed or in favor of such things- seems to me most insurers wont touch you for liability to operate a vehicle on a public road.
heater
Off-road heater design is not simple. I’ve done bulldozers and every implement you can imagine.
Funny thing: truck drivers don’t use defrost in the snow. Truckers put the heat in the floor, a blanket over their lap, and leave the windshield cold and run the wipers in snow: slush and ice build up a little slower that way. If the heat is marginal or it’s cold enough, defrost will melt it as it hits the windshield, then it will run down onto the cowling, cooling on the way, and refreeze….then jam up your wipers. What do yankees do?
Winter test in MN started today, the day after MLK. Everyone who has a vehicle to validate is somewhere between Bemidji and International Falls in a rented garage testing their wires and data recorders. About 4am tomorrow they’ll go out and use a paint gun to spray a standard thickness of ice on the windshield to do a defrost pattern test. After that it’s driving in the snow for hundreds of miles: comfort, capacity, controllability. Then fried walleye and beer. It is a great way to spend a week.
I just experienced this exact thing this afternoon. The snow was hitting the windshield and melting in the two defrost areas making a “cataract” area of water right in front of me where the rest of the cold dry windshield was clear. The ATV is covered but tomorrow morning I expect the windshield to be covered with frost.
First motherfuckers.
And when your bitch burp you smell my balls in the air.
You are my creation. I went back in time and inseminated your whore of a mother, stayed with her through the pregnancy, then told her I was going out to buy milk and never came back after you were born.
Very nice Richard! We got a Kawasaki three years ago. Thought it would be impractical but it’s been outstanding for clearing out the back forty, garden stuff in the front, and getting things done.
A guy I was friends with from childhood through my 20s, I was best man at his wedding, I let him live with me after his divorce, though I haven’t talked to him in a decade, came out recently to his family. This is a small town, I’m sure the fact that I’m a ‘confirmed bachelor‘ and that we were roommates will dwindle even a flicker of my losing streak ending.
You just need that one girl who can “change/save you”.
Stop listening to show tunes could help too.
Quite the interesting article.
Fucking brrr…I mean good morning.
😱❄🌄☕
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iWz9H3MPgqI
🎶🎶
I was pleased yesterday when I used my remote start. The jeep defrosted itself and made ice removal very easy. It is smart enough to vary start up conditions based on outside temperature.
Good morning, Sean!
Yup – a whopping 7 degrees here and a clear sky, which almost certainly means rock-hard frost on the car windows. No remote start, so I guess I’ll have to drag myself out there early to melt and scrape it off. 🥶
Morning. My car was cold before the precipitation started and it was all powdery snow, so I was cleared off and moving pretty quickly. I had been expecting to find it entombed
Good morning, U! Glad you didn’t have to flag down a snowplow to find your car. 🙂 Hope the roads weren’t too treacherous.
The plowing is done by the localities, so some roads were better than others. Only a few places where it was bad enough to threaten traction issues.
Powdery snow in the morning. Sleet fell while I was at work. >.>
8F.
And unlike yesterday, I have to leave the house today.
Global warming here, a balmy 17° F in NJ.
Remote-start in Tucson is for summer driving, to get the AC cranking before you get in.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NP5TSq0SL_o
LOL
😅😅😅
YouTube throttling performance and stressing CPUs for people using adblockers:
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/youtube-accused-throttling-cpu-performance-users-adblock-installed
That’s the only thing that makes it watchable. A five minute vid with two minutes worth of ads? Please…
Not much of an issue on a modern desktop, I’d think this is more problematic on smartphones.
It’s not even problematic on 12 year old repurposed laptops.
Mornin’, reprobates!
Mornin! 5 degrees and getting ready to head out to the field to work on some equipment. Passing on knowledge to the younger generation or some nonsense like that.
Good morning, ‘patzie, OBE, and Stinky!
Not an FAA issue as the aircraft were still on the ramp and not in the movement area. Ramp controls are controlled by the airport authority.
I do find it amusing how The Independent made sure to let you all know it was Boeing. Boeing people. Boeing.
Typical reporting is airline #1 collides with airline #2
What does the manufacturer have to do with this? Also, if this keeps up the Patzer spawn may rethink their plans to visit the land of the rising sun in June.
Clicks and eyeballs on screens. That is it. In my world, Boeing would have actionable means of going after The Independent for that reporting. It is irrelevant and borderline malicious even if I think Boeing is royally fucking up recently.
Boeing planes aren’t safe even on the ground!
The boy sat on the Boeing’s deck
His heart was all aquiver
He gave a cough, the door flew off
And landed in the river
(thank you random ZeroHedge commenter)
Good morning!
Snowmobiling is still a thing here. Honestly it can be kind of annoying hiking through the woods and all of a sudden there’s a billboard for a restaurant/gas station.
NPR’s coverage of Iowa was that DeSantis needs to drop out because he’s splitting the race and handing it to Trump, whereas Nikki did amazingly well and has the Big Mo.
The wokesters desperately want their POC chick President. Harris has been a colossal disappointment, even for a POC chick, and nobody really wants her. The Dems got nothing else on the POC chick bench – who are they going to send in, Stacey Abrams? The only viable POC chick in view is Nuke ‘Em Nikki, who is a member in good standing of the UniParty, which helps. So exactly who you think is desperately trying to drag her to the finish line, if not over.
NPR wants a warmongering RINO patsy to get clobbered by Biden, instead of the guy with a 1-1 track record for getting elected president, and who made some SCOTUS picks that weren’t uniquely awful?
I’m shocked. 🙄
To me it was more that the 2nd place finisher should drop out, whereas the 3rd placer should stay.
She’s on the more deceptive clickbaity side of things, but AFAICT the story is legit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kS2pVZuLJ0s
Book published with Hizzoner as the listed author, Hizzonor claims he didn’t write it.
The author of the book claims they (negligently) fired a gun in school.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/donald-trump-s-mug-shot-would-be-blocked-under-new-bill/ar-AA1n3TRI