Picture post

[Glen]

Just wondering if that big snow blade on Jon W's truck is considered a air dam or if he is hireing out to SCTA to grade the salt.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

It's great fun to plow snow with the Oshkosh.  Many's the time I've been out in a blizzard - and come up to a drift that's four or five feet deep, the full width of the road, and maybe twenty or fifty feet from this side to that.  I'll come to a stop -- put down the blade, put the truck in second, let out the clutch -- and plow it from a dead start, just because I CAN!  As you can imagine, my grandson thinks that trcuk is the greatest ride there is. . .

I've thought about leaving the truck to the SCTA/BNI in my will -- but I kinda wonder if there'd be enough cash in the estate to pay the freight to get all 15 tons of truck, blade, and ballast (note that 4x4x3 lump of concrete on the back of the truck) out to Bonneville.  Anyway, it'd be a better grader if it were equipped with an underbody blade instead of the highway plow that's on it now.

Did I mention that it's got every-wheel drive?  Full-time 4 WD -- but if you step on the brake while moving forward, cams in the center & axle differentials lock up.  You can hardly turn -- but damn, do you have traction!

[landracing]

I like the "Seldom Seen Slim" stickers on the side, looks as if they are Glow in the dark or reflective???

Jon

[dwarner]

I've never been out in a blizzard!

DW

[John Noonan]

Poof::  :Gone

[Seldom Seen Slim]

The stickers on my Oshkosh -- like most of the stickers on my bike and pickup truck and our race trailer -- are reflective tape.  The cost is 25-40% higher than non-reflective, but (as you can see) they stand out WAY better in flash photos -- or headlights.  In a blizzard, trailering to a race in the rain/fog, whatever -- anything that makes me easier to see by other traffic is a big plus.  The reflective tape is available in many colors -- most of the "black" tape on my trailer, for instance, looks white when illuminated.

I doesn't hurt my stickerage situation that Greg, the guy at the sign shop, is a motorcycle roaracer.  He gets a kick out of going the extra mile for our race team's appearance.

I'll see if I've got some other photos of the stickers shining in relected light -- others of you might want to try some of them on your vehicles.

[Seldom Seen Slim]

I don't have any photos on a server, so I'll put one on the landracing picture post.  It was taken with a flash, shows our pickup (which most of you have seen in daylight lighting) in the driveway in front of our house one day last winter.  I drove up the drive, backed out a few feet and went back up the driveway in different tracks (to make tire tracks so we could carry groceries into the house).

Dan, if you'd like to come visit most anytime from November - April you could have the adventure of plowing with the oshkosh -- and also of seeing a blizzard in person.

[Glen]

Jon
I have seen salt that wet and deep at Bonneville around the nine mile,just not as cold. The ruts look the same.
Glen

[dwarner]

Jon,

Thanks for invitation to visit. I'll pass on this one and watch the weather channel in a beach chair with a cold one and bikni distractions. Maybe some day I can be in the niebhorhood when you have two days of Summer.

DW

[Seldom Seen Slim]

Dan, we get stunningly beautiful summers up here.  Better still, if summer happens to fall on a weekend day we take that day off and go on a picnic.

[JimW]

I plowed snow for a couple of winters - just for fun.  Had a big center articulated plow - you felt like you needed to duck when you went under the stoplights.  The most amazing thing - here you are in this huge wide vehicle, with a big 'blade' out in front, tens of tons in motion, and silly fools in plain old sedan cars will pull right out in front of you.  Like you could stop on a dime.  It never ceased to amaze me.  People would pull out 10 feet in front of you in horrible traction conditions.  As if they could accelerate away or you could stop.  Never hit anyone, but saw some pretty big eyes in rear view mirrors.