# Another 7"-8" snowstorm on Oct. 24th, 2008



## Alaska Boss

Well, this latest storm was forecasted to dump up to 16" on us last night, but I thought if we even get half that, I'll be busy, and that's about what we got. So, I was out at 4:30 am this morning pushing like a mad-man. My biggest commercial contract is with the school district, and the whole place has to be cleared & done by 7:30 am. So I snapped a few photos of this job, even tho it was still snowing hard,...


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## Alaska Boss

I took some pictures with flash, others without,... flash showed the snow falling more, without flash was better, but harder to hold without making them blurry...


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## BETHELSKIER

Looks like a nice powdery snow. We still have leaves on the trees down here but its getting colder. Have fun with the snow!payup


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## Alaska Boss

Always a few cars in the way, but at least I didn't have to worry about backing over any kids this early,..


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## Alaska Boss

BETHELSKIER;613999 said:


> Looks like a nice powdery snow. We still have leaves on the trees down here but its getting colder. Have fun with the snow!payup


Yep, about +12° this morning,... but supposed to get down to -15° tonight,... so I'd say we are in full-blown winter mode at this point & on,...


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## Alaska Boss

more of the same,....


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## Alaska Boss

Just starting to get light when I was done,... I'll have more later tonight of some jobs done today during daylight hours,....:waving:


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## 06HD BOSS

Wow AKboss! im jealous, so how many plowable events have you so far?


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## tls22

Sweet pics AKboss!:redbounce You do very neat work! Why dont you give the boss blade a work out next time?:redbounce


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## highlander316

that looks so fun lol. I hope we get a nice storm like that here this year, we had a decent 4-5 incher last year.


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## StoneDevil

those are sweet.. now send that cold air this way and let it SNOW


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## MileHigh

Like tls22 said...you do very neat work.

I'm jealous of the snow, can't wait to get the first push in.


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## mike psd

oh man does that blizzard really work nice


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## albhb3

damn western UP and northern Wis gettin anywhere between 5-12 inches


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## Dan85

Very nice, makes me jealous! 

Also, if your camera has an adjustable ISO feature, you can turn it up to help reduce blurriness, however there will be a bit more noise within the picture itself.

- Dan


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## IPLOWSNO

thats how i like my drive when im done, you cant put a price on quality.imo i guess you can thatll be 39.95lol


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## sjosephlawncare

don't know if someone already asked this or not, but how come you don't have any weight in the back??? Nice work and sweet truck too!!


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## Alaska Boss

06HD BOSS;614028 said:


> Wow AKboss! im jealous, so how many plowable events have you so far?


I guess we've had about 3 so far,... first one on Sept. 30th was about 9", then we had several light dustings, with one about 3" or so, and even tho that isn't isn't enough for people here to worry about, I had several jobs by folks that hadn't had it done to that point, then yesterday was about 7"-8", with some areas a little more, some less, altho most of what had fallen up until yesterday had melted. I plowed from 4:30am until almost mid-night, with one lunch/gas break about 4pm. Got up this morning to -18 below zero, so I don't think this is gonna melt,... :bluebounc


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## Kollerman

Wow you are sure lucky. I cannot wait for the snow to come here in SE Wisconsin!

Very nice equipment too. My cousin owns a snowplowing business and he has boss and blizzard plows. He loves all the v-plows he has, but the blizzard with the extendable wings is quickly becoming his favorite.


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## Alaska Boss

sjosephlawncare;614664 said:


> don't know if someone already asked this or not, but how come you don't have any weight in the back??? Nice work and sweet truck too!!


I usually do, and will later, but these first dry & light snows push very easy, with no big piles or snow banks to deal with yet. Truck doesn't work hard at all to do this, but later on, I will strap something on the back. Will post more pics later today,.. last night when I got home, I went right to sleep.... I think I can get caught up with all the plowing by the end of today, if I don't get too many more calls,... :salute:


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## DBL

nice pics...do you only run one truck at a time or do you have some guys work for you


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## J&R Landscaping

Nice pictures!


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## Milwaukee

Wow lot snow

I wish we get snow now.

Do you have any bigger truck? Chevy 4500 or 5500? Or you plan get big one?

Look great how blizzard scrap park lot it look better than our School's custodian in tractor that don't scrap like that.


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## Alaska Boss

DBL;614770 said:


> nice pics...do you only run one truck at a time or do you have some guys work for you


Nope, it's just me. I've thought about hiring out another driver, and expanding into neighboring towns that seem to always call me to come plow because they can't find anyone else,... but I can barely keep up fixing what I break, much less have to tape the pieces together that someone else tears up. I'm probably over-extended the way it is,... because when we get major dumps (well over a foot), it takes me close to a week to get everyone done, but around here, people understand that that's just how life is out in this area,...



Milwaukee;615262 said:


> Wow lot snow
> 
> I wish we get snow now.
> 
> Do you have any bigger truck? Chevy 4500 or 5500? Or you plan get big one?
> 
> Look great how blizzard scrap park lot it look better than our School's custodian in tractor that don't scrap like that.


Nope,I'm not going to get anything bigger than 1-ton trucks,... I have too many narrow drives, confined yards, etc. that anything bigger wouldn't work in. And the few big lots I have, I can do ok with a pickup,...getting a bigger truck just for those wouldn't be worth it. And yes, the Blizzard does scrape well,... gets right down to gravel if there's no actual ice yet,...


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## Alaska Boss

Well, I got 2 full days of plowing in from this last storm, with at least ½ day tomorrow to go. Woke up this morning to clear blue skies & -18° below zero, (-26° C), so it looked & felt like all-out winter today!


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## Alaska Boss

Had to keep the heater going in the truck all day, even tho it started to cloud up again this afternoon,...


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## Alaska Boss

DOT trucks were still cleaning up the shoulders too,....


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## Alaska Boss

Spent a good portion of the day in a subdivision,... 3½ miles of road, plus private drives off of that,....


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## Alaska Boss

Just going from one place to the next,...


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## Alaska Boss

Roads are fast and low-risk, at least when compared to private yards where the potential of hitting stuff is much greater,...


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## Alaska Boss

But, if you didn't want to do private drives & yards,.. there wouldn't be much business to be had around here,...


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## Alaska Boss

All the lakes are frozen over,... I even saw some kids out on this one sliding around on the ice,... the high temp today was about +8,... so I'm sure there will be some skating parties here soon,... that's all for now,... we'll see what the next storm brings,... payup:salute::bluebounc

(This is a pull-out along the highway,.. I didn't plow this,.. )


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## vegaman04

Looks like you got a burnt out light, can't afford you hitting anything in those private drives you do.


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## 91AK250

lookin good! i'm jelious! what we got came close to melting off..now theres just alittle left and its chilly (high in the 20s) but no snow 

they are saying atleast a week out before any chance.

truck looks great, might wanna fix that pass side headlght tho  lol


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## cet

Those are some great pictures. 
I am impressed with the Speedwing, you seem to be able to fill the blade full before you have run off.


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## LawnProLandscapes

awesome pics ak boss.. i would love to go up there someday and have snow in october! that blizzard plow is looking better an better


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## erkoehler

Nice job, can't wait to see some snow down here!


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## Alaska Boss

A couple more from today,.. as of now, I'm caught up & done from this last snow fall. I think I had just over 50 jobs,... some big, some small,... but a good start, since it's still October, and we've already had at least 20" of snow fall to this point,... :bluebouncpayup:redbounce

NOTE: Just looked at tomorrow's forecast,... up to 6" of snow here in the next 24 hours,... no rest for the weary,...


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## Mike S

NICE! I wish you would send some of that snow my way!! Which plow do you like better the blizzard or the boss?


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## gkm

great pics looks like you are busier than any one us so far


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## 91AK250

still really jelious!

but i will say the cld temps have helped freeze the ground, so when it does come none of that slushy crap..lol


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## 6.5LTDFisher

wow you always have amazing pictures! Like everyone else I am very jealous  I still want to try out my Fisher MM1 Plow i got this summer! You sure do a great job plowing, Good luck to you the rest of the snow season


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## mike psd

blizzard blade does really well on those long drive i'm impressed


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## cet

Alaska Boss;616140 said:


> A couple more from today,.. as of now, I'm caught up & done from this last snow fall. I think I had just over 50 jobs,... some big, some small,... but a good start, since it's still October, and we've already had at least 20" of snow fall to this point,... :bluebouncpayup:redbounce
> 
> NOTE: Just looked at tomorrow's forecast,... up to 6" of snow here in the next 24 hours,... no rest for the weary,...


Have you considered making post cards, those are some fantastic pictures.


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## RepoMan207

Now I am excited!


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## DareDog

Yea me too ...

Great pics get them coming!!


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## MSS Mow

don't forget to fix that headlight!! 

I too am jealous!! I love the snow. However, 18 below zero in October is a bit much.


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## RepoMan207

I gatta agree with you there. I hate the cold! If it wasn't for the snow I would move south!


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## iceyman

great pics BOSS but you have a headlight out on your plowpumpkin:

the blizzard leaves that school nice and smooothwesport


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## Alaska Boss

vegaman04;615347 said:


> Looks like you got a burnt out light, can't afford you hitting anything in those private drives you do.





91AK250;615348 said:


> truck looks great, might wanna fix that pass side headlght tho  lol





MSS Mow;618879 said:


> don't forget to fix that headlight!!
> 
> I too am jealous!! I love the snow. However, 18 below zero in October is a bit much.





iceyman;618890 said:


> great pics BOSS but you have a headlight out on your plowpumpkin:


Actually, it's not burned out,... there's some kind of bad connection on that side, where that headlight comes on & off at random,... haven't had time to trace it down yet,.. and now it's -22° today, so it might have to wait a little longer,...


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## vegaman04

He's one of them silent type of guys........


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## Alaska Boss

Well, it was -22° this morning here, and I still get a call or 2 or 3 every day yet from our last snowfall from last week, but today I decided to hook up the Boss & "shake the bugs out",.... just to make sure everything is working ok with this plow,.... and threw the Foreman in the back of the truck for a little ballast,...


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## Alaska Boss

The few jobs I still get calls for are mostly people that have been gone for a week or so & just came back to this snow,...


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## Alaska Boss

Most private drives here are narrow enough that the wings on the Boss aren't really needed,.... the 9'2" V get's the whole thing most times with one pass in, and one pass out,....


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## Alaska Boss

But everything worked just fine,.... I'm ready now for a real dump,... :salute:


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## 91AK250

man, we got the cold but still no snow 


i may just have to drive up there just to plow 

awsome pics btw!


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## ford6.9

Love your pictures, Its a joy to be able to see them, beautiful land, great work, and seem to be a good guy. Best of luck this winter and keep up with all the pictures, there much appreciated.


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## RepoMan207

Thats amazing! The veiw of Mt Washington is like a twig next to all of that. Stunning.


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## BETHELSKIER

Once again, nice pictures and beautiful scenery. Glad to hear the BOSS is back at work. And by the way, nice ballast!


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## nbenallo33

alright im getting tired of seeing all these snow pictures!!!

you are making me jellous!


just kidding! nice pics thanks for sharing


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## JayRod98

No snow here in ND yet, still sunny and warm...Alaskans get all the fun


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## Alaska Boss

Temps are back above zero, but barely,... (+4° F), but another 3" or so last night again, so this would put us just over 2 feet now of total snowfall for this winter at this point (Nov 2),... :bluebouncpayup


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## Farm Boss

I am not sure I can keep looking at this post, this snow makes me VERY JEALOUS!!!!!!!


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## LawnProLandscapes

thats a beautiful sight you have there sir :salute:


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## Indy

Thanks for the pic's Aboss, it is 60* and sunny here in the heartland, so thanks....

Cool pic's


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## Lux Lawn

Man our leaves our still on the trees here, gona be almost 70 this week.
To early for snow for me, got lots of $$$ left to make with leaves.


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## murphyslaw

BOSS, send some snow down to anchorage PLEASE!!!!!!!!


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## 91AK250

murphyslaw;622991 said:


> BOSS, send some snow down to anchorage PLEASE!!!!!!!!


can i second that! lol


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## groundbreakers

murphyslaw;622991 said:


> BOSS, send some snow down to anchorage PLEASE!!!!!!!!


i 3RD that .... if that's possible to say .. LOL .......


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## Alaska Boss

murphyslaw;622991 said:


> BOSS, send some snow down to anchorage PLEASE!!!!!!!!





91AK250;623023 said:


> can i second that! lol





groundbreakers;623030 said:


> i 3RD that .... if that's possible to say .. LOL .......


You know, I was just in Anchorage yesterday, and it was weird seeing bare ground all over the place,.. lol. And there's not much snow even in the Eureka/Gunsight Mtn. area either. Oh well, when it comes, you'll get dumped on and then there'll be whining about,... "won't it ever stop",.. LOL (I know, 'cause I do it too).


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## Alaska Boss

But I did plow most of today again, and it's to the point now that even with a few inches, there's always a few folks that have just left things, but finally now want to be cleaned out. But that's ok early like this, because having a little snow-pack for a base is easier on the plow, and keeps me from stacking all their gravel off to the side of their yards. But on roads like these, I can go a little faster & make them nice & smooth with a snow base.


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## Alaska Boss

It was just getting dark when I took these today (about 4pm now with clocks turned back), so I tried a few with flash & a few without flash,...


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## Alaska Boss

Another flash vs no flash,...


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## Alaska Boss

Starting to get some decent piles going in some yards,.... at this rate I'm gonna get boxed in, because April is a long ways off, and a lot of snow can fall between now & then,...


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## Alaska Boss

Some places, even just a few miles apart, have 50% more snow than others,... even on my own driveway, the banks are plow-high already,....


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## Alaska Boss

I know these are getting repetitive, and I'm sure everyone is getting sick of looking at this truck 17,000 times, (heck, I'm even getting sick of looking at it), but if no one else is doing anything yet anywhere, then I guess this is all there is,.. maybe more later :waving:


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## Lead Dog

Looking good, Boss! Is that Glenallen? Nothing but clear and cold here in the Valley... which is nice, at least the ground is finally frozen! 

If you keep getting pounded like that out there, and start thinking you need some help, look me up- I could maybe get a few guys out your way...

Looks like your having fun though, and ours will hit soon enough!


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## Lead Dog

okay, now I see "Copper Center" on the door... couldn't make that out before!

Keep the pics coming. Anyone getting tired of seeing that nice white fluffy stuff is in the wrong business


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## tls22

Great Pics, can we get a shot of the boss in action?:redbounce


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## F250 Boss v

Alaska Boss, -not getting tired of your pic's at all !!! Your pictures are great and appreciated, -keep 'em coming. They remind me of what is in store for us in the near future here in Central New York! -Again, thanks!


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## scitown

I am sick of these pictures! 










Hurry up and get a video camera. LOL


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## 91AK250

well about 1.5" here in anchorage...thanks akboss!!! i think its all thanks to you


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## Tailwater Inc.

Hey everybody! I'm new to the forum...glad to see some of you have been busy! Still waiting for money to fall here in Bozeman, MT. ABoss I'm curious how you like your blizzard plow, I just picked that same model up for a song!!


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## Alaska Boss

Lead Dog;623291 said:


> Looking good, Boss! Is that Glenallen? Nothing but clear and cold here in the Valley... which is nice, at least the ground is finally frozen!
> 
> If you keep getting pounded like that out there, and start thinking you need some help, look me up- I could maybe get a few guys out your way...
> 
> Looks like your having fun though, and ours will hit soon enough!


Welcome to Plowsite! So far, it's been no problem keeping up, but if I get buried, I'm sure you will as well. Be sure to post some pics of your operation once it starts in the Valley,...:waving:



tls22;623422 said:


> Great Pics, can we get a shot of the boss in action?:redbounce


The Speedwing is officially 1-year old on November 9, and I've had a few issues to deal with on this plow this winter already, so I'm gonna keep using this one at least until then, or if we get dumped on big-time, then the Boss will have to take over,... :salute:



Tailwater Inc.;624165 said:


> Hey everybody! I'm new to the forum...glad to see some of you have been busy! Still waiting for money to fall here in Bozeman, MT. ABoss I'm curious how you like your blizzard plow, I just picked that same model up for a song!!


I really like it,.. it's been everything I hoped it would, but I've had a few issues with it (last year & this year too), but everything breaks sooner or later. I'm going to post in the Blizzard section soon on the issues I've had & some mods I'm going to make,... good luck with yours,.. you'll like it! And welcome to PS too!


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## Farm Boss

Alaska Boss the pictures are great! I love the pictures of the views and the roads you plow! Looks calm and quite! Would be a change for me from plowing lots in town all the time. Love the pictures and the stories. VERY NICE!!!!:waving:


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## Alaska Boss

91AK250;624052 said:


> well about 1.5" here in anchorage...thanks akboss!!! i think its all thanks to you


That's about the same as we got last night too,... but if you've noticed, I've been wingin' all the banks to the south,... that's all I can do,.. :waving:


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## Alaska Boss

Farm Boss;624252 said:


> Alaska Boss the pictures are great! I love the pictures of the views and the roads you plow! Looks calm and quite! Would be a change for me from plowing lots in town all the time. Love the pictures and the stories. VERY NICE!!!!:waving:


Yep, it's very quiet & nice,... just how I like it,... when I watch guys in town (Anchorage) plowing, I'm so glad I don't live there & have to deal with all the people & laws & risks, etc, etc, etc. I see moose along the roads, I have rabbits, squirrels, etc running right in front of my plow all the time, etc. Many of my customers have no electricity or running water, and they like it that way. I get smoked salmon, moose & caribou jerky, home-raised veggies, jams & jellies, etc given to me all the time by folks who just want to say an extra thanks for plowing them out,... so I know I live & plow in an area that may seem like 100 years back in history to some,... but I think it's still pretty special,.. thanks! :waving::salute:


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## 91AK250

yes i know its all been going east of us and hitting you...damnit haha! looks good tho...im so jelious!


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## tls22

Aboss please keep this thread going with pics as long as you can please! The pics are great!


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## Tailwater Inc.

Well it looks like we're supposed to get some of the white stuff finally! wooo hooo!! Glad to hear you like the blizzard AKBoss....hopefully mine works as well as yours.


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## LawnProLandscapes

awesome pics ak boss !! :salute: keep posting them up it keeps me going till we get our own snow


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## lumps

Alaska Boss;624263 said:


> Yep, it's very quiet & nice,... just how I like it,... when I watch guys in town (Anchorage) plowing, I'm so glad I don't live there & have to deal with all the people & laws & risks, etc, etc, etc. I see moose along the roads, I have rabbits, squirrels, etc running right in front of my plow all the time, etc. Many of my customers have no electricity or running water, and they like it that way. I get smoked salmon, moose & caribou jerky, home-raised veggies, jams & jellies, etc given to me all the time by folks who just want to say an extra thanks for plowing them out,... so I know I live & plow in an area that may seem like 100 years back in history to some,... but I think it's still pretty special,.. thanks! :waving::salute:


Great pics and stories as always. And gotta say, I'm jealous. I'd love to move out of the city and back to the country, but the gf isn't so keen on that, haha.


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## Alaska Boss

Well, it's been below zero every day lately, and even tho I haven't had any snow now in 3-4 days, it still seems like a get a couple calls to plow each day. So today, I ran the Boss again, and after not running it for awhile, I forget how fast the Boss hydraulics are,... and fast hydros are nice!


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## Alaska Boss

I also have to deal with brush & trees etc. along almost every lot & driveway I do, and not plowing with a dually is also nice,... not constantly having to re-set mirrors that get folded in all the time,... not much snow in the forecast for the next couple days either,... but who knows,... :salute:


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## 91AK250

fingers are crossed i'll get some snow!


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## tls22

Great pics, thanks for using the boss for me!:waving: That plow is sweet!


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## Ford445

Boy, I really like that bumper you have. It goes well with that truck. Im assuming it works well for you too.


:salute:


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## murphyslaw

ok well here it goes. Last time I asked you for some snow we got 1/2" so This time I am going to ask for 2' of snow so that we might get 4". HAHAHA its warm here 24*, they are saying we might get to the mid 30's this week.


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## Tailwater Inc.

Well doesn't this figure....rain rain rain all week and not even so much as a flake has fallen...what is the deal?? lol. Maybe Obama can make it snow for us like he can save the world.....maybe. Great pics too everyone...i'll get some up sometime, until then I'm praying for the white stuff


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## Alaska Boss

Ford445;629813 said:


> Boy, I really like that bumper you have. It goes well with that truck. Im assuming it works well for you too.
> 
> :salute:


Yeah, and it works better than I even hoped. I've backed into trees fairly hard, and I don't think it's possible to dent or bend it,... the frame would bend first I think,... which may not be a good thing,... I'm gonna try real hard to not test it,.. haha. I see I need to fix one of the bottom running lights,... but it sure is nice to have the whole world light up behind you when you shift into reverse,...



murphyslaw;629836 said:


> ok well here it goes. Last time I asked you for some snow we got 1/2" so This time I am going to ask for 2' of snow so that we might get 4". HAHAHA its warm here 24*, they are saying we might get to the mid 30's this week.


Well, if I get 2 feet, you'll almost certainly get something as well. But as we both know, depending how the storms track will determine that. I know that in the past weather fronts have come out of Prince William Sound & over Portage Pass and buried Anchorage, but then we don't get a thing. By next April, it will have all evened out,.. :salute:



tls22;629509 said:


> Great pics, thanks for using the boss for me!:waving: That plow is sweet!


Well, in reality, it's no different than any other Boss-V, (except maybe it's had a rougher life than some), but since you like it, here's another one,... :waving:


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## Alaska Boss

Cleaned up a few small areas on my own road today, along with a few close neighbors,...(these are for Tim (tls22),... everyone else can just ignore them),.. :waving:


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## Alaska Boss

Snow banks are Boss-high already,.... but all the snow is dry, light & powdery,... so it's been easy plowing to this point,.... just right!

:waving:


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## tls22

Alaska Boss;630242 said:


> Cleaned up a few small areas on my own road today, along with a few close neighbors,...(these are for Tim (tls22),... everyone else can just ignore them),.. :waving:


Thanks alaska, the pics look great. You know how to get to my sweet spot!:waving:


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## 91AK250

looks great!

damn, its 40* here today  im so pissed!


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## tls22

91AK250;631462 said:


> looks great!
> 
> damn, its 40* here today  im so pissed!


I thought you had snow in ur forcast 2morrow?


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## 91AK250

not from what i see, they are saying string winds and 40* temps..allready saw that today..ugh


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## cmo18

Hey Alaska, awesome pictures keep them comming! one question for you, if you've already had this much snow what happens in January when the snow banks are to high to throw the snow or your piles start backing up? Do you have a loader? Thks Chris


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## Farm Boss

This is no fair, all I have is frozen ground and no snow! I know what you are saying about plowing out of town! Sure makes for a nice day! I leave a nice place in the country and head to town to do lots, then come back out to do drives. Snow looks like it is really sandy, if that makes sence! At least you have snow banks!


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## 91AK250

been snowing since like 2pm today...3" allready pics laterrrr


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## Alaska Boss

chris_morrison;631961 said:


> Hey Alaska, awesome pictures keep them comming! one question for you, if you've already had this much snow what happens in January when the snow banks are to high to throw the snow or your piles start backing up? Do you have a loader? Thks Chris


Well, it's not January that a problem develops, it's in March & April. For the most part, it hasn't happened,... seems like we get heavy snow months, then almost nothing in some months. January is when it typically gets super cold (like -50°or -60°), so not much snow falls then. But in the past, I generally made places along my roads & longer drives that I would have to carry to & stack if windrowing no longer worked. But that increased time to plow a road maybe 5-10 times over. Now I have a skid steer that I could push banks back with, but since I've had it, there's been no need for that. I haven't had a situation yet in the last 5 years since I've had the Boss, where I couldn't windrow snow over the banks, but at times I've had to go faster than what I would have preferred. Just 20-30 miles south of me, a plow truck would be worthless by January,.... only loaders & blowers work when you get more than 20 feet or so.



Farm Boss;631988 said:


> This is no fair, all I have is frozen ground and no snow! I know what you are saying about plowing out of town! Sure makes for a nice day! I leave a nice place in the country and head to town to do lots, then come back out to do drives. Snow looks like it is really sandy, if that makes sence! At least you have snow banks!


Some of the lower/older snow is getting to be close to a month old now, so it's starting to turn sugary, but it doesn't cause any problems at all with plowing it. It may freeze harder than fresh, but it also doesn't fly up & over the plow & onto the windshield as much as fresh fluffy powder does.


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## tls22

91AK250;632647 said:


> been snowing since like 2pm today...3" allready pics laterrrr


Wow i got a forcast that was on the money for you, and i live 8000 miles away!:waving:


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## 91AK250

haha yeah...



hey AKBoss, i'm currently installing a 9.2' V plow at work like yours i think....lol its fun!


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## Alaska Boss

91AK250;633021 said:


> haha yeah...
> 
> hey AKBoss, i'm currently installing a 9.2' V plow at work like yours i think....lol its fun!


Just don't "screw it up",...


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## 91AK250

lol its for the alaska rail road and i finsihed it today i'll post a pic later...it is one hell of a big plow compared to my 7'.6" lol


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## Alaska Boss

No plow jobs for the last couple days, so this gives me a chance to get some traps out,... and today I did a little predator calling,.... called in 2 coyotes at the same time, but only got one,.. the other one should be in Dodge City by now,...  But this guy's rabbit-killing days are over,... payup:salute:


----------



## Alaska Boss

Plus a few winter scenery shots along the way,... :salute:


----------



## 91AK250

look famillier?










first one...took 8 hours total but works well 

i thought you might enjoy that pic, didnt meant to take away from your post


----------



## Alaska Boss

91AK250;634190 said:


> look famillier?


Yep, just like mine except without the scratches & a few dings. But they look kinda naked without a snow deflector, and of course wings! Must be a left-over model from last year, judging from the lights,... it's a tough plow. So, does that truck have rail guides to run on the railroad tracks? I thought they just mounted a plow on the front of the trains & let the train plow the tracks,....prsport


----------



## Alaska Boss

No plowing now in about a week,... just nice weather & cold,.... so this gives me a chance to play around in the woods,.... the big rivers are freezing up,... and there's frozen waterfalls all over the place,... so all I got are a few more scenery shots for now,... :salute:


----------



## tls22

Looks great boss......i shall be there one day!


----------



## Grass Master

Thanks for all the pics Alaska Boss, it helps me get through our brown November. Parts of the state have a couple of feet but not here. Keep em ccoming.


----------



## 91AK250

Alaska Boss;637546 said:


> Yep, just like mine except without the scratches & a few dings. But they look kinda naked without a snow deflector, and of course wings! Must be a left-over model from last year, judging from the lights,... it's a tough plow. So, does that truck have rail guides to run on the railroad tracks? I thought they just mounted a plow on the front of the trains & let the train plow the tracks,....prsport


it used to have a high rail system which made it a ***** to install the plow mouting kit... they had extra plating on the front of the frame. i think that will be for lots and stuff but idk lol


----------



## Nailit1954

Nice truck, nice pics. That leading wing on your plow seems to work just as they clam! Also very neat. Nice job.


----------



## Mustang1970

nice pics.. nice yote.. someday I'll get up there to AK, my bother has been wanting me to come up to Anchorage

here is a Hunting forum, mostly people in the North East but everyone is welcome. http://kaska.net/wtz stop by and check it out, join and share some hunt/trap stories


----------



## Alaska Boss

Mustang1970;645147 said:


> nice pics.. nice yote.. someday I'll get up there to AK, my bother has been wanting me to come up to Anchorage
> 
> here is a Hunting forum, mostly people in the North East but everyone is welcome. http://kaska.net/wtz stop by and check it out, join and share some hunt/trap stories


Thanks,...I'll check it out,... :salute:

Still no major snowfalls around here lately,... just an occ. 2" - 4", which, after several have built up, cause a few clean-up jobs here & there.


----------



## Alaska Boss

So, for the most part just doing normal winter things,.. and enjoying the nice winter temps (-10° to +10° F),... but another decent snowfall will come again soon, I'm sure,...


----------



## RepoMan207

oh yeah............thats some tropical weather alright! It's been 20's to mid 30's during the days up here, Atleast you get the white stuff to go with it. 

I won't have to shoot the turkey this year, he'll be laying on the ground frozen. We'll have to stick him in the oven to thaw him out just so we can pluck his feathers! lol

Keep them pics coming, we love seeing um.


----------



## Alaska Boss

RepoMan207;645564 said:


> oh yeah............thats some tropical weather alright! It's been 20's to mid 30's during the days up here, Atleast you get the white stuff to go with it.
> 
> I won't have to shoot the turkey this year, he'll be laying on the ground frozen. We'll have to stick him in the oven to thaw him out just so we can pluck his feathers! lol
> 
> Keep them pics coming, we love seeing um.


Lol,... well, after dealing with -50° or colder, -10° DOES seem tropical!  It's the same feeling difference in degrees as comparing +30° to +70°. Everything rebels to moving at those extreme cold temps, and I know it's coming, and some years, we've hit -50° before the end of November, so this really is pretty nice. Ya know, I don't really know how any birds survive up here when it's that cold, since feet, beaks, etc don't usually have any feathers to keep those parts warm, and that's when they need more food than ever to stay warm, so it's not like they can just roost somewhere for days on end waiting for it to warm up,... 

I hate plowing when it's that cold,.... a plow can take an hour or more of operation before it seems to be responding somewhat normal, instead of creaking & groaning to every movement,... it was about -50° when I plowed this school a few years ago,...


----------



## swa136

Thanks for the pics Boss, nice shots! :salute:


----------



## murphyslaw

its snowing here in Anchorage figure about a 1/2" so far. forecast is snow today and monday. might get to plow more then my own plot.


----------



## Alaska Boss

Well, I don't know how long I should keep this thread going, or just start new ones, if I'm going to keep posting plowing pictures,.... but I guess I'll just add to these for now. No major snowfalls around here lately,... but 2" here,... 3" there, adds up and gives me a few plow jobs off & on,... here's a few photos of a couple places I did tonight,... :salute:


----------



## Alaska Boss

Some driveways are so narrow, that a 9' plow is almost too wide for these jobs,... but it keeps me from hitting my mirrors on trees, etc,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

Good lights are pretty important up here...


----------



## Alaska Boss

Having both Hi & Lo beams on at the same time makes a huge difference,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

This place hadn't been done yet this winter,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

More times than not I just use my snowmachine for ballast,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

That's it for now,... maybe more later,..... :salute:


----------



## plowindiesel

hey ak boss is that a .44 mag you killed that coyote with?...looks very similar to my marlen .44 mag


----------



## Alaska Boss

plowindiesel;649478 said:


> hey ak boss is that a .44 mag you killed that coyote with?...looks very similar to my marlen .44 mag


Nope, it's a Henry .22 magnum, which holds 11 rounds, and fits just right inside a scabbard that I fitted into my snowmachine,.... it'll drop any predator at 150 yards no problem, and does no damage at all to the fur,.... works out real good :salute:


----------



## Stik208

I would keep it going with a different title - ex another 7-8" on whatever date - instead of making new threads people can just hit last page and see the new pics.


----------



## beatle78

Stik208;649566 said:


> I would keep it going with a different title - ex another 7-8" on whatever date - instead of making new threads people can just hit last page and see the new pics.


I second that... keep this thread going I:M STOKED!


----------



## Alaska Boss

Stik208;649566 said:


> I would keep it going with a different title - ex another 7-8" on whatever date - instead of making new threads people can just hit last page and see the new pics.





beatle78;649873 said:


> I second that... keep this thread going I:M STOKED!


Ok,... I can't change the title, but I will keep adding more plowing shots as I get them. Most threads have a few pictures at the beginning, then it's just "filler" for the rest of the posts & pages, plus they almost always get off-topic and/or high-jacked, but this thread will have new pictures on every page, which I hope don't get too boring, and should help keep it on topic,... thanks! :salute:


----------



## erkoehler

Alaska Boss;649467 said:


> More times than not I just use my snowmachine for ballast,....


Atleast you have a ride out if you get stuck or break down


----------



## deere615

wow I don't know how I have missed this thread for the past month but great pics of everything! Keep em coming!!


----------



## JCark

Great pic's Boss! If you dont mind my asking, what type of tires do you have on your trucks, and how do you like them?


----------



## Duncan90si

erkoehler;649911 said:


> Atleast you have a ride out if you get stuck or break down


Thats exactly what I was thinking.

Awesome thread, keep it going!


----------



## xtreem3d

alaska boss,
what a great place you live in !!!!! i have something i'm curious about.... in the pics i saw with your truck parked with snow building up on, i don't see any cord going to the truck and was wondering if it starts o.k in -10 and below temps ?
steve


----------



## 91AK250

i know my trucks will start even at -20 with not being plugged in, no they def dont like it but they will start without much issue.


----------



## Alaska Boss

erkoehler;649911 said:


> Atleast you have a ride out if you get stuck or break down


And that very thing happened once,... I dropped the front of my truck off a 2' ledge about 1am and was about 12 miles from home, so I unloaded he machine and went home & got another truck & pulled myself out. So, a snowmachine is not the worst thing to carry when you're in the boonies of Alaska at night by yourself,... :salute:



JCark;651665 said:


> Great pic's Boss! If you dont mind my asking, what type of tires do you have on your trucks, and how do you like them?


I run BF Goodrich Commercial T/A in 245/75R/16, load range E, studded. It's a good performing tire for around $100.



xtreem3d;652779 said:


> alaska boss,
> what a great place you live in !!!!! i have something i'm curious about.... in the pics i saw with your truck parked with snow building up on, i don't see any cord going to the truck and was wondering if it starts o.k in -10 and below temps ?
> steve


Everything I own has Amsoil in it, from axle to axle. Both the trucks I currently use have block heaters, but I can't remember ever plugging them in. Both have dual batteries, and the '92 Chevy will start almost instantly at -30° every time. I know I started it a couple years ago at -42° one morning, which I'd prefer not to do, but at least I know it will if I have to. Usually, if I figure that I need to start it when it's that cold, I park it in the shop over-night, but if it's -50° or -60°, I just don't go anywhere. 98% of all plowing is done at temps warmer than -10°, and that's just not really an issue as far as starting goes,... if it didn't start right up at -10°, then something's not right. But starting an engine using regular petroleum oils at very cold temps like that (-30° or colder) not only probably wouldn't work, it'd be much harder on your engine as well.


----------



## ALC-GregH

Thanks ABoss for posting the pics. I think the pics are great to see and look wonderful. Don't make another thread just keep posting here. This is after all, your thread. I'm positive the mods here can change the title for you if that's what you want but please keep posting them.


----------



## Humvee27

Aboss, 
I too thank you for posting pics of that beautifull state you live in....I've told the wife for years if she leaves me I'm moving north....ussmileyflag.....some awesome sights there....I grew up in the country so the no electricity and no phones would suite me fine....along with everything else up there....truely awesome photos though, keep 'em coming. 

Thanks.


----------



## Alaska Boss

Well, today marks 2 months of plowing under my belt for the winter of 2008-09, (and pretty steady plowing too), with 5 more months to go. The day before Thanksgiving we got about 2",... then 3"-4" more on Thanksgiving Day, so I was fairly busy today & yesterday. Camera batteries crapped out on me yesterday, so all I got are a few shots of cleaning up a few places today. Warmed up to +26 today,.. so it really did feel like a heat wave,..


----------



## Alaska Boss

Not too much day-time plowing around here at this time of year,... with about 19-20 hours of darkness each day,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

But I kinda prefer plowing at night anyway,..maybe because that's how most of it is done,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

I think it's easier to see the edges of roads, etc, when there's shadows, because during daylight on gray over-cast days, everything just blends together,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

I could have used the wings on some of these roads, but then when I do someone's yard, I have to take them off,... an 11 foot plow is just too big in most private yards,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

More of the same,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

Snow banks slowly keep getting higher in places,... a 2-foot dump on top of all this now would make for some serious plowing,.... more again later,... :salute:


----------



## erkoehler

Looks good, hope it keeps snowing for you!


----------



## ALC-GregH

What happens when you get hammered with snow, do you have to remove alot of it just to keep clearing the roads or does the roads get narrower as it keeps dumping? Pics are great, even if they're the same.


----------



## murphyslaw

we have almost a foot now in the last 18hrs. been a busy busy guy. burning lots of fuel. Its heavy wet stuff.


----------



## Supper Grassy

Great Pictures!!! looks like you had fun


----------



## ABES

I'm Jealous I still havent gotten to plow once yet only salt runs.


----------



## murphyslaw

Finally got all my stuff done, was going to take pictures but when I pulled the camera out of my bag it was dead. just got home, been out plowing for 28hrs. burned 54gal of gasoline. going to bed.


----------



## 91AK250

it was a nice storm wasnt it 

i didnt work myself nearly that hard lol


----------



## murphyslaw

im up now. egh, now im bored. should drop the plow in the garage and tinker with it but I think I will just lay around.


----------



## Farm Boss

Well Iam still truely jealous! Only enough snow here to cover the grass still!!!! Amsoil, now we have something in common, after all Amsoil comes from right by me!


----------



## Ford445

Nighttime plowing? I hear what your saying, I would plow at night any time for over daytime. Especially out in the country, and its nice and dark. I love that, nothing better.


----------



## ALC-GregH

Ford445;659219 said:


> Nighttime plowing? I hear what your saying, I would plow at night any time for over daytime. Especially out in the country, and its nice and dark. I love that, nothing better.


Is it really nice and dark with all the snow!  Nothing better really.


----------



## Alaska Boss

ALC-GregH;655565 said:


> What happens when you get hammered with snow, do you have to remove alot of it just to keep clearing the roads or does the roads get narrower as it keeps dumping? Pics are great, even if they're the same.


Well, for the most part, I can keep everything open most years just by windrowing, although by March/April, I have to go faster than I do now. On my driveway, I have several spots that I can carry snow to & stack it if my banks get too high. And if all else fails, I'd have to use the skid steer to push the banks back to keep places from getting too narrow, so fuel delivery trucks, etc, can get into people's places & get turned around as well.



Farm Boss;658434 said:


> Well Iam still truely jealous! Only enough snow here to cover the grass still!!!! Amsoil, now we have something in common, after all Amsoil comes from right by me!


I'm done experimenting with oils,... I've tried everything over the years, and Amsoil made such an impression on me that I became a lifetime dealer back in the 1980's. I've had over 30 snowmachinesin my life, and used to run them til I blew the engines, then I'd have a machine for parts. After switching to Amsoil, I'd run a machine til I just couldn't keep it wired together anymore, then I'd have a spare engine. After having 2 or 3 engines sitting on my bench in a row, (and I've had at least 3 machines that I put over 20,000 miles on), I quit looking for a better oil. Same with vehicles, after having half a dozen Chevys now, I have not once touched a major component for repairs, and most of my rigs have over 300,000 miles on them and still run strong when I sell them. There might be other oils as good, but I don't see how anything could be better.



Ford445;659219 said:


> Nighttime plowing? I hear what your saying, I would plow at night any time for over daytime. Especially out in the country, and its nice and dark. I love that, nothing better.





ALC-GregH;659636 said:


> Is it really nice and dark with all the snow!  Nothing better really.


It seems to me like I get more tired plowing during the day as well,... maybe it's more eye strain, I don't know. Plus, when you plow your neighbor's dog into the snow pile, you can't see the eyes glowing back at you during the day,... 

The forecast for the last day or two said we were supposed to get a foot of snow, but only got about 3-4",... but it's enough to keep having a few plow jobs most days,.... payup


----------



## Alaska Boss

Still waiting for that first big dump of the year,.... but it hasn't happened yet,...


----------



## ALC-GregH

I bet it's the brightness during the daytime plowing that makes you sleepy. I use to plow government locations through a contractor. I drove his truck and he paid for fuel and my expenses. The worse part was when plowing all night and the sun comes up. I could barely see with sun glasses on. LOL

Keep the pics coming.


----------



## murphyslaw

its 35* in anchorage today, roads are nothing but mush. by tomorrow i should be able to scrap my neighborhood down to bare pavement.


----------



## PORTER 05

what do you do with the coyote meat??, like whats the point in killing them, i cant imagine you eat them????, doesnt seem worth it killing it????


----------



## murphyslaw

makes good stew. and the pelts are nice to nave.


----------



## Alaska Boss

PORTER 05;663434 said:


> what do you do with the coyote meat??, like whats the point in killing them, i cant imagine you eat them????, doesnt seem worth it killing it????


I didn't shoot it to eat it,.... although I have eaten them (and they taste fine,..kinda tough tho), I shot it to use the fur. All my parkas have either coyote or wolf fur lining the hoods, and my best & warmest hat is made of a coyote I caught a number of years ago. (picture below) It's not possible to buy something as warm as natural fur, and it takes no fossil fuels or pollution to make. The Alaska Dept. of Fish & Game purchase many of the carcasses of various animals from trappers for study, examination, & biological samples,... this is their primary way of being able to learn the life-habits of many animals, such as breeding cycles, what they eat, what types of diseases they may have, etc. Fox & coyotes are the main carriers of rabies in Alaska. Other carcasses that I have are used by dog mushers, who cook them up & feed their dogs, so nothing is wasted. Proper management of game & fur animals will allow a harvest to continue forever, as long as their habitat is not destroyed. And, for me personally, I'm 99% sure it was a coyote that came into my yard 1½ years ago & killed my sweet little plow beagle,... Valerie,.... so every coyote hide I stretch is one more mark for me to even the score,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

Could have plowed a couple places today, but it's supposed to snow again tonight, so I called them & told them we should wait until tomorrow,... and so I went out in the woods, put about 65 miles on my machine & enjoyed a nice winter day in the snow,...


----------



## JeepPlow18

Excellent pics as always. Keep them coming.


----------



## beatle78

Eagle pic wins the Gold for today!!! 

Excellent point about the fur. People forget how much of the environment gets destroyed making all of our fake non natural clothes! And they're not as warm!

We occassional get coyote's around here in RI. The first tell tale is when people start complaining about missing pets.


----------



## Alaska Boss

Well,we only got about an inch of snow overnight, so I went ahead and plowed a couple driveways this morning,... and will do a few more tomorrow,... payup


----------



## Alaska Boss

Well, I picked up a new customer tonight,... this driveway is almost a mile long and quite narrow, which is how they almost all are around here,... :crying: They had hired some kid with a Ford F-350 & a Meyer 8' straight blade to try & open it up, but he only made it in about 100' before he got himself sideways, stuck, & had a pile so big in front of him he couldn't move it,... so he called them & said he couldn't do it. Someone told them to call me, so I went over to see what kind of mess he made, and after busting thru his pile, I cruised right in without any problem,.... here's a perfect place for a V-blade,... wesport


----------



## Alaska Boss

The snow around here was only just below knee-deep at most, so it was a piece of cake to drive right in,.. but going into an unknown road at night can be dangerous to the well-being of the plow & truck,... but everything was fine,.. didn't hit any rocks or stumps,..


----------



## Alaska Boss

Once I got back in to where the people's cabin was, I cleared the yard out, then came back & did the road,...

(I didn't realize that a big clump of snow had fallen on my light bar,....)


----------



## Alaska Boss

I went very slow when I did the road,... you just never know if there's a big rock or stump sticking out along the edge somewhere,...


----------



## murphyslaw

The more I see these V's working the more I want to dump my Stick.


----------



## Alaska Boss

So, it turned out pretty well,.... I know these folks will be very happy when they see that they can drive even a little car into their new cabin now,.... :salute:


----------



## ALC-GregH

completely awesome as usual.


----------



## xtreem3d

maybe i missed this somewhere in the thread but is salting not popular up there because of temps ect?


----------



## DareDog

Sweet pics,

is that a Skidoo in the back of ur truck?


----------



## MSS Mow

Alaska Boss;665071 said:


> after busting thru his pile, I cruised right in without any problem,.... here's a perfect place for a V-blade,...


This is when a v plow is worth its weight in gold!! I've got a couple longer dirt roads where the v plow saved my butt several times last year during some big snows.


----------



## 91AK250

lookin like fun!

working on the V plows every day they do look like alot of fun and you can do so much more with them. but for what i do the str8 blade works good.

i'm jeloous of the cold/snow...we just got about a foot but now its been melting the last few days..god i hate that plus the roads turn into black ice at night.


----------



## Alaska Boss

xtreem3d;665522 said:


> maybe i missed this somewhere in the thread but is salting not popular up there because of temps ect?


Salt is not used up here, not even by DOT, at least not in the rural areas. Generally, it's too cold for salt to do much good, plus the salty run-off is poison to the salmon streams that intersect the road system. DOT only uses enough salt in their sand to keep the piles from freezing hard. I get a call once in a while for sanding, but not near enough to justify a V-box or anything like that. Plus, the ones I've looked at don't recommend running sand thru them anyway,.. just salt.



DareDog;665539 said:


> Sweet pics,
> 
> is that a Skidoo in the back of ur truck?


Yep,... a Skandic,.. it's my trapping machine,... I think I've had about a dozen or so of them now,.... just good, tough, bullet-proof machines made to work.



91AK250;665791 said:


> lookin like fun!
> 
> working on the V plows every day they do look like alot of fun and you can do so much more with them. but for what i do the str8 blade works good.
> 
> i'm jeloous of the cold/snow...we just got about a foot but now its been melting the last few days..god i hate that plus the roads turn into black ice at night.


Well, it's getting warm here too now,... temps got into the low 20's today,...just hope it doesn't get any warmer than that.


----------



## ALC-GregH

I can only remember a few times in my neck of the woods when the snow was deep enough and the temps were cold enough that salt wouldn't work and the roads had a 2-4in pack on them. Those were the days and sadly I doubt we'll ever see them again as far south as I am. Franklin Co. Pa.


----------



## ALC-GregH

The last good storm we had maybe 10 years ago I was plowing government parking lots for the Metro train and bus stations. They are big enough that I had my own lot I had to keep clear. It would take 5-6hrs to clear the entire lot. I think we got 34" from that storm so we had to start early and clear them constantly. I think I plow for 48hrs straight.


----------



## the new boss 92

great pictures, we have yet to see that much around here except im 99 when we had our last blizard! butt we had some snows that were 8 inches to a foot last year. fun times!!!!


----------



## murphyslaw

now its 25* and blowing N31mph


----------



## Alaska Boss

Well, plowed again all last night, all day, most of tonight and will need most of tomorrow to get caught up if no more calls come in. Just seems like we get an inch or two almost every day, and it builds up until people finally want it cleared out. Putting a wing on the Boss for the bigger parking lots, etc, really does help speed things up,....

(Not sure what the orange "blob" is in a couple shots here,....)


----------



## Alaska Boss

Maybe something was on my lense,.... I don't know,.... it was still snowing for sure,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

Plowing at 4am insures that no one will be in my way,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

Finally quit snowing just before it started to get light,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

Even snapped a few "rare" day-time pictures,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

Sometimes when I do private yards, I end up plowing piles of sawdust too, where folks have cut up a bunch of firewood,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

Then before I know it, it's turning dark again,....


----------



## plowindiesel

once again great pics ak boss keep em coming


----------



## Alaska Boss

ooooops, forgot the pictures,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

I like doing roads the best,..fast & no risk of hitting stuff,... except maybe stop signs,... plus you're not having to shift your truck from forward to reverse and back 8,000 times,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

Finishing up a subdivision road,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

Sometimes when it's snowing at night, I'll switch from the plow lights to the truck lights,.. that way the glare isn't directly in my line-of-sight,... plus the trucklights are HID, which are so much brighter anyway,...

Well, I'm gonna go get something I haven't had much of lately,... sleep!! :salute:


----------



## ALC-GregH

nice........


----------



## BETHELSKIER

Nice work there Alaska Boss! How have the plows been holding up this season?


----------



## Snowplow71

Alaska Boss;668376 said:


> Sometimes when it's snowing at night, I'll switch from the plow lights to the truck lights,.. that way the glare isn't directly in my line-of-sight,... plus the trucklights are HID, which are so much brighter anyway,...


Can you put the HID in the boss lights? The boss's have the switch inside like the old meyer's?? I wonder if you can wire up a 3 way switch with the truck lights, off and plow and truck lights. That would be cool! I know we have the old cable operated 10 foot western wired that way with the International. I have to get some pictures of that also before it leaves for the driver's house. Just polished all the wheels on it!!!  Can't get enough bling bling haha


----------



## 91AK250

yeah you could easly put HIDs in the plow lights, i plan to do so but mine are the older so i need the composit headlight conversion before. i also have hids in the truck lights and use them sometimes, last season thats all i used lol


looks great! you should be getting more with the storms coming eh?

were getting about 8-9" out of it..hope you get just as much!


----------



## TEX

did the pics change way back on pg 1 from the original post of this thread? i remember one with a log church or was that a diff thread?


----------



## bigdoug

This is the coolest thread I have seen in a long time.

My wife and kids want to move there so bad. I think I would give up my Reflexology career to move up there Boss. I just wish I could make a living doing what you do in Big A. I love to hunt, fish, and now plow..lol


Keep the pics coming, your making my wife drool!

And really, thanks for taking the time to put up the pics. 

Doug


----------



## Alaska Boss

BETHELSKIER;668653 said:


> Nice work there Alaska Boss! How have the plows been holding up this season?


Plow has been doing good,... only thing I keep breaking on the Boss are the spring mounts that angle the wings,... & I can't figure out why they keep tearing out. Sometime later when I have more time, I'm going to rebuild the mounts with something twice as thick as what Boss used, so it won't happen again.



Snowplow71;668892 said:


> Can you put the HID in the boss lights? The boss's have the switch inside like the old meyer's?? I wonder if you can wire up a 3 way switch with the truck lights, off and plow and truck lights. That would be cool! I know we have the old cable operated 10 foot western wired that way with the International. I have to get some pictures of that also before it leaves for the driver's house. Just polished all the wheels on it!!!  Can't get enough bling bling haha


Yep, you can put HID in the Boss plow lights,... the Boss HID option is well over $1k, but you get all new projector housings, etc. These new smaller-ballast HID kits would fit inside the Boss housing,.. I may do that this winter yet,...



TEX;670922 said:


> did the pics change way back on pg 1 from the original post of this thread? i remember one with a log church or was that a diff thread?


Nope, must have been a different thread you're thinking of,... there's no log churches around here,... I do plow 1 (sometimes 2), but neither are built from logs. My house & shop are tho,... along with many other families.



bigdoug;670958 said:


> This is the coolest thread I have seen in a long time.
> 
> My wife and kids want to move there so bad. I think I would give up my Reflexology career to move up there Boss. I just wish I could make a living doing what you do in Big A. I love to hunt, fish, and now plow..lol
> 
> Keep the pics coming, your making my wife drool!
> 
> And really, thanks for taking the time to put up the pics.
> 
> Doug


Thanks,... but don't get me started posting hunting & fishing pics,.... it'll never end,... 
:salute:


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## Alaska Boss

My mom has been keeping official weather records for the USGS for this part of Alaska now for close to half a century, and she called me today & said that yesterday we broke the 50" mark for snowfall so far for this winter,.. which is a little above average for right here, but it's less as you move farther away from the mountains, and more as you move closer into them. Every day it seems I get another hand-full of plow jobs, which keeps me busy, but not so bad that I can't keep up, which is just right,... payup


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## Alaska Boss

Piles are getting bigger & bigger in people's yards,... even snowfalls of a few inches starts adding up after more than 2 months, with at least 4 more months to go,....


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## Alaska Boss

Forecast is for colder weather coming (well below zero), so after I get this last batch of jobs done, I may get a break for a few days,.. we'll see


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## Alaska Boss

There's a place or two around here where you wouldn't want to be going too fast and then have your brakes go out,...


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## Alaska Boss

Even the snowbanks along my own driveway are taller now than the Boss,... it'll earn it's keep on any major dump we get from this point on,... :salute::salute:


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## DeVries

Thanks for the freat pics keep them comming.

I've seen a blizzard on more than one pic that you have posted. What happened to it? does it not throw snow as far as the boss does?


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## Alaska Boss

DeVries;671535 said:


> Thanks for the freat pics keep them comming.
> 
> I've seen a blizzard on more than one pic that you have posted. What happened to it? does it not throw snow as far as the boss does?


Nothing happened to it,... it's my back-up plow truck. I just used it most of last winter & the beginning of this winter while the plow was under warranty so if there was something wrong with it, it wouldn't be on my nickel. But I like plowing with my regular truck better than a dually anyway,... it's shorter, turns tighter, I can see better behind & to the sides, plus I like plowing with a manual transmission better than with an automatic. But as our snow gets deeper, the Boss will be better for windrowing anyway, as it does throw the snow higher than the Blizzard,... but I really like that Speedwing too.

But no new fresh snow coming for a few days now, as it's cleared up & temps are dropping,... suppose to get at least -30° tonight,....


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## Alaska Boss

But I still have a few jobs most every day,... cleaned out another subdivision again today,...


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## Alaska Boss

oooops,.. forgot the pics again,...


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## Alaska Boss

I even plowed out an airstrip today,.. a local airplane-repair company wanted their airstrip opened up in the field behind their shop,.... that was nice,... just smooth grass,.... not even a stone to hit,.... and even tho it's getting cold, it was a beautiful day,... :salute:


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## murphyslaw

are you using shoes on the airstrip or is there enough ice base to scrap?


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## Alaska Boss

murphyslaw;674452 said:


> are you using shoes on the airstrip or is there enough ice base to scrap?


Nope, no shoes,... I never have plow shoes on, and I wanted to get all the snowpack scraped off this strip so it was down to bare grass,... the owner has a Jeep with a small Meyers plow on it, and he was out there trying to do it with that, but just made a big mess, so he called me. He was very happy with how it is now. :salute:


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## ALC-GregH

and he should be. Nice work.


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## murphyslaw

ok, wasnt sure if you were using shoes. figured it the grass was soft and there wasnt much ice, then the plow would dig in.


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## ALC-GregH

soft, that ground HAS to be frozen.


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## BIGBEN2004

What truck do you like running better the dually or the straight truck? Are they diesel or gas? What plow has held up better the Boss or the Blizzard? Love the pics keep em coming that is the closest thing to snow I get around here anymore. We don't seem to get too much snow anymore in Maryland. Plenty of moisture just never cold enough to be snow except for every once and a blue moon.


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## Alaska Boss

murphyslaw;675168 said:


> ok, wasnt sure if you were using shoes. figured it the grass was soft and there wasnt much ice, then the plow would dig in.


There's no ice, but the ground is froze hard as a rock. His little Meyers plow on his Jeep couldn't scrape the snowpack off, so it left ruts & ridges, which made it kinda bumpy on take-offs or landings. Now his customers can fly in & land safely with tires or skis.


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## Alaska Boss

BIGBEN2004;675544 said:


> What truck do you like running better the dually or the straight truck? Are they diesel or gas? What plow has held up better the Boss or the Blizzard? Love the pics keep em coming that is the closest thing to snow I get around here anymore. We don't seem to get too much snow anymore in Maryland. Plenty of moisture just never cold enough to be snow except for every once and a blue moon.


I like the SRW truck much better for plowing. Shorter, narrower, turns tighter, better visibility, better traction, etc. (And a better heater,... I saw -34° today at one place I plowed,... too cold to get out & take pics ). Both trucks have a 5.7 gas, but the SRW has a manual tranny, which I also prefer. Both plows have had some troubles, but they all will sooner or later. I'd have to say at this point that the Boss is probably tougher, as far as taking abuse (hitting rocks, stumps, etc), but it's also been harder on the truck too. But for the ease of use, the scraping, and the speed and quality of cleaning up a parking lot, it would be tough to beat the Blizzard. I like the Boss Smarthitch hookup better than the Blizzard Powerhitch tho,.... it's at least faster and less monkeying around. Except for the fact that these two plows aren't interchangeable on the trucks, I think they make a great pair that can deal with most any snow condition I have here. If I had nothing, and was going to go out & buy 2 plows to handle anything that Mother Nature can throw at me, I think I'd buy these 2 plows over again. At the very least, I'm not sorry that I picked these two,... now, if I can somehow make a V-blade out of that Speedwing,....


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## vegaman04

Alaska Boss;675711 said:


> Now, if I can somehow make a V-blade out of that Speedwing,....


Give it some time and it will come.....


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## xtreem3d

all your pics look very rural...on an average night , how many miles do you drive to get the work done?
steve


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## Alaska Boss

xtreem3d;678723 said:


> all your pics look very rural...on an average night , how many miles do you drive to get the work done?
> steve


It's hard to say, since no day is the same. My biggest commercial lot is the local school, which takes an ave. of 2-3 hours to do, and I know I put over 20 miles on the truck just doing that job without leaving the school grounds. I'd guess on an average day, I put around 50 miles or so on the truck. But it is very "rural" here,.... there's only one highway, so you can't get lost, & I live almost a mile off the highway (which is the only pavement around here). Everyone lives off this main highway, or on subdivision roads off the highway. You've got just as good of a chance of seeing some wildlife around the next bend in the road as another car,... such as these 3 moose that ran out if front of me a couple days ago,.... :salute:


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## deere615

Have you ever hit any wild life with your trucks?


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## 91AK250

thanks for stopping by my work monday Dave(?), very nice to meet you! i never thought i'd get the chance unless i went up that way lol the truck looked better in person wish i coulda went outside and checked out the bumper inperson..lol


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## Alaska Boss

deere615;679410 said:


> Have you ever hit any wild life with your trucks?


Lot's of rabbits, squirrels, etc, but the only time I hit something big was once I barely clipped a moose in a Chevy Chevette,.... not exactly the rig you wanna hit a 1500 lb. animal with,... haha. It came shooting across the highway on a blind corner at night, so I steered behind it, and just as I was about to clear it, it did a 180° and I whacked it's snout on the top of the windshield,... I had layed down across the seat into the passenger side just as it was happening, because I figured I was a gonner,... thinking it would shave the top of the car off. I think it broke it's neck from hitting it's snout that hard, because it ran off the road & down off a steep bank into a river & died. I've had several friends & people I've known killed when they hit a moose,... it's not like hitting a deer,... it'd be more like hitting a Clydesdale. State troopers had the moose I hit salvaged by a family that needed the meat.



91AK250;679497 said:


> thanks for stopping by my work monday Dave(?), very nice to meet you! i never thought i'd get the chance unless i went up that way lol the truck looked better in person wish i coulda went outside and checked out the bumper inperson..lol


Nice meeting you too Russ,... when I pulled into Truckwell, I looked for the copper Ford pickup, but then saw you had driven the "wrecked" Explorer (which really doesn't look that bad, but it took me a long time to get over my first "fender bender" too). I've broken a few bolts & springs on the Boss lately,... so had to pick up a few spares,... always seems to happen more when the temps drop to -30° or so,.... I saw that last truck you put the V XT & sander on that was headed for Valdez,... so I'll watch for it down there & post some pics of it in action if I can. So,... just before I left, I snapped this picture of your rig next to mine,.... my truck was nice & clean til I got into all that brown swill on the roads leading into Anchorage,.... :salute:


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## 91AK250

haha sweet pic! yeah i was rather surprised when eric came back and said somone said they knew me i was like what? lol then he said where you were from and i was like i know who that is! haha

yeah my explorer is my daily driver, the pickup doesnt get drove much but then again its only got 64k miles on it. i pretty much leave the plow on all winter so it makes it alittle harder to park around town.

yeah, i had just finished that chevy with the XT..it was a fun project..i'd love to see some action shots if you ever happen to see it.









anyhow, again thanks fo stopping by and saying hi, hope you make it to town again and we'll catch up


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## sjosephlawncare

Love the pics Alaska Boss,...keep em coming! Also do they just fly little cessna's in that "air strip"? Or do they have those bush planes, I think there called cubs?


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## Alaska Boss

sjosephlawncare;679997 said:


> Love the pics Alaska Boss,...keep em coming! Also do they just fly little cessna's in that "air strip"? Or do they have those bush planes, I think there called cubs?


Yep, they fly everything into there,... every type of small plane you can think of,.... Cessna's, Super Cubs, Maules, PA's,... I even saw a Beaver parked there. There's more small planes in Alaska per/capita than anywhere else in the country,... maybe the world,... and people are constantly cracking them up,... trying to land on a sand bar on a river to get a big moose, etc etc etc. I think he said there were over 40 planes there right now in various stages of repairs/destruction.


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## xtreem3d

anything new ?


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## Alaska Boss

xtreem3d;684790 said:


> anything new ?


Nope, no new snow here in over 2 weeks,.... just cold, but not super cold (between -20° and -35°),... it could be -50° or colder by now, so I'm not complaining. Sounds like all the snow is dumping on the lower 48 states lately. I still get the odd call to plow out a place once in a while, but this has given me the chance to get caught up on maintenance, etc. :salute:


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## Humvee27

Love those pics...keep em coming.....I can't speak for the rest of the states but here in WI we just had a cold snap (for our area) of minus temps and wind chills of down to 35 below so I know whatcha mean about chilly....we've been out every other day...come to think of it today is that other day, d#mn...gotta go....ah well, nice pics. Thanks for posting.


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## Alaska Boss

We had another 4"-5" on Christmas Eve,... so just did a few places, and took a few shots this time while driving along the road, instead of actual plowing,... just point & shoot,... prsport


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## Alaska Boss

Snowbanks now have grown to a foot or more higher than the Boss in some places,.... and we haven't even had a major dump yet,... I'm going to start having trouble windrowing these narrow lanes if we get too much more,... and they're calling for 6" more for tomorrow,...


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## murphyslaw

how does that boss stack. I can put some loaders to shame with my current set up. been looking at getting a new plow since I have to weld on this one several times a season. but dont want to loose my stacking ability.


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## xtreem3d

..how much snow have you had to date? what is your yearly average?
steve


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## Alaska Boss

murphyslaw;690844 said:


> how does that boss stack. I can put some loaders to shame with my current set up. been looking at getting a new plow since I have to weld on this one several times a season. but dont want to loose my stacking ability.


It stacks good,... a V-plow will usually stack higher than a straight blade since it has more forward "reach" when in scoop mode,... and with the wings on this plow, I can make piles several feet higher than the truck with no problem. I can't stack higher than a loader tho,... but probably about as high as my skid steer,... but it's not worth hammering into a pile hard, trying for a world-record elevation,... these piles are typical for what I do,... (without wings)


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## Alaska Boss

xtreem3d;690867 said:


> ..how much snow have you had to date? what is your yearly average?
> steve


Not sure what our total is for this winter at this point, but I'd say between 55" - 60". (Of course, the depth on the ground isn't that much). Yearly average is probably anywhere from about what we have right now (on light years), to close to 100" on heavy years, but it gets deeper fast as one goes south from me towards the coast. (Valdez, about 75 miles south can get well over 500"). My mother has been keeping & recording all the weather statistics for this area for the USGS for close to 50 years now,... so she could give an exact number,.. if one wanted to go thru all that & average it out,.. which I don't.... :salute:


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## Alaska Boss

Well, over Christmas we got 6"-8" in this general area, so a lot of plowing again. I re-did the airstrip that I did earlier, and this time opened up an area where he keeps some older planes for parts, etc. But it was so drifted & packed, he told me that I could just pile snow between the planes, as long as the piles weren't higher than the wings,..so he could drag a plane out if he needed to....


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## Alaska Boss

Otherwise,... just more of the same,...:saluteayup


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## Alaska Boss

Another day of plowing roads & yards,... the 'ole faithful '92 Chevy & Boss V just plow day after day without any major issues or complaints,... :salute:


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## Alaska Boss

Supposed to get down to -40° to -50° in the next few days,.. so I better get done with what I have pretty quick,... when it's colder than -40° or so, I will tell people to just wait til it warms up again... unless I have no choice,... :salute:


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## murphyslaw

its -4 here in Anchorage right now, coldest day of the season so far. Supposed to get down to -10 or more. They are calling for down to -50 in some places.


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## sjosephlawncare

Alaska Boss;691657 said:


> Well, over Christmas we got 6"-8" in this general area, so a lot of plowing again. I re-did the airstrip that I did earlier, and this time opened up an area where he keeps some older planes for parts, etc. But it was so drifted & packed, he told me that I could just pile snow between the planes, as long as the piles weren't higher than the wings,..so he could drag a plane out if he needed to....


Now those are cool pictures! Did that airstrip turn into a contract for you. I thought you said the owner has a Jeep...or maybe I mis read.


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## Alaska Boss

sjosephlawncare;692909 said:


> Now those are cool pictures! Did that airstrip turn into a contract for you. I thought you said the owner has a Jeep...or maybe I mis read.


Well, not a contract, but for sure a new customer. One of his mechanics/welders has the Jeep, but he couldn't really do anything with it anymore. The owner has a JD tractor with some type of homemade box-blade he fabbed up,... but spent more time getting unstuck than clearing snow. Contracts between private residentials just don't really work around here,... after trying everything over the years, I've found that the best thing for me is that I just tell folks to call me when you want to be plowed,... that way I don't have to worry about triggers, wonder if so & so is getting out ok,... etc. This way, everyone only pays for what they get,... and pays for what they want, & so I have 100% happy campers, plus for the most part, I know everyone personally. It also spreads my jobs out more, so I'm not having to do everyone at the same time,... and it's made my business somewhat low-baller proof, since most folks will choose quality, dependability, responsibility, and my familiarity with their yards and what they want over trying to save $5 or $10 bucks.


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## Alaska Boss

Well, when I started plowing earlier today, it was about -10°,... now tonight when I got home the thermometer says -34°,... and still dropping,.. so if anyone else calls, they're gonna have to wait until it warms back up a little,... at this rate it'll be at least -40° in the morning.


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## Alaska Boss

Just got a call from a friend who works for the FAA,... said their forecast is for temps to drop to -45° tonight, with winds along certain mountain ranges producing wind chills in those areas down to -85° below zero,... forget that!!


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## Alaska Boss

So, this may be it for a few days again, since it won't be snowing when it's that cold,..... :salute:


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## 91AK250

yeah, about that cold! haha it was -17 this morning on my way to work...

i felt bad or the guys who had to go outside haha i somehow found stuff inside to do


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## DareDog

How Cold did it get?


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## Alaska Boss

DareDog;695297 said:


> How Cold did it get?


Right now at 2:30 in the afternoon, it's -44°,.. and that's about as warm as it's going to get today. I heard an area a little north of me had -55°,... but at least the wind quit,... so there's no wind chill factor. Got a couple calls to plow,.... even today,.. one was to plow out an ice-skating rink,... I told the person,... "who's going to go outside & skate or play hockey at these temps?" She said, "Well, we just wanted it done so when it warms up, the kids can play",... I said,.. "Well, I'm going to wait til it's warm enough for me to go out & play with the plow truck too",... she said ok,...


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## Alaska Boss

Well, our cold stretch of weather may have finally broken,... a little. Coldest we had here in the last 2 weeks or so was -52°,... and today it got cloudy,... snowed about 1",... and got all the way up to -18°,... a full-blown heat wave!!  It's funny how -18° below zero sure seems a lot warmer when coming up from -50°, as opposed to going down from +10°. Anyway, I put the plow back on & did a couple places again,... but the plow was stiff & took a little while to loosen up before it was working at normal speeds again,... :yow!:


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## Alaska Boss

And, just for the heck of it, I counted how many photos I've posted in this thread to this point,... and if my count is right, these two should make 210,... give or take a couple,...:salute:

(not sure what else I can show anymore,... but the best scenery and nicest days are always in the 2nd half of the winter,...prsport)


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## ford6.9

Looks like the snow is really starting to mound up for you.


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## 91AK250

looking good, we're still hitting -30 at night here in anchorage at night, think we may have hit -10 for a high which ofcourse is cold for here lol


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## DeVries

Keep the pics comming Alaska. I'm enjoying them.

P.S time for a new wing spring. LOL


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## Alaska Boss

DeVries;701705 said:


> Keep the pics comming Alaska. I'm enjoying them.
> 
> P.S time for a new wing spring. LOL


When it hits -40° or colder, I seem to break those wing springs faster than I can keep up buying them. But sometimes the spade bolts break off,... sometimes the mount itself tears open,... this is the weakest "trouble" spot on the Boss V's in my opinion,... one of these days when I have nothing to do (ya right) I'm going to cut those spring mounts off & build something myself that won't ever break again,.... or just quit plowing at sub-zero temps (ya right again,...).


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## Alaska Boss

Now with the holidays behind us, and school starting back up, the local school needed to get cleaned out before the kids and buses pack it all down,... but it was too cold to take very many pics,.... thermometer by the front door said -46°,...


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## Alaska Boss

Around here, all the schools close when the temps hit -50° or colder,... and even tho it's close now, it had to be plowed just in case. When I was a kid, the temp that I hated more than any other was -49°,...... :realmad:


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## DeVries

Hey Boss how come I don't see the Blizzard anymore?


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## TJ548

Boss, it's interesting to see the damage to the spring bolts. You say this happens a lot when it get about -40 degrees. That is surprising to me as I would have figured steel doesn't care whether it's 0 or -40. Is this the primary reason you don't go out when it's cold? Because of the extra breakage? Or is it just dangerous if you break down or get stuck? Having never been in such temperatures I have no idea what it's really like. I can go out in zero degree farenheit temps without much trouble if I'm prepared.


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## Alaska Boss

DeVries;704172 said:


> Hey Boss how come I don't see the Blizzard anymore?


That truck/plow is my backup,... so it's just parked in stand-by mode. Also, the heater isn't quite as good in that truck, and plowing with a dually isn't as convenient as a regular truck. I just used it as much as I was earlier, while the plow was under warranty, so I could be sure there were no inherent problems with it, once it went on my nickel.


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## Alaska Boss

TJ548;704458 said:


> Boss, it's interesting to see the damage to the spring bolts. You say this happens a lot when it get about -40 degrees. That is surprising to me as I would have figured steel doesn't care whether it's 0 or -40. Is this the primary reason you don't go out when it's cold? Because of the extra breakage? Or is it just dangerous if you break down or get stuck? Having never been in such temperatures I have no idea what it's really like. I can go out in zero degree farenheit temps without much trouble if I'm prepared.


All the reasons you quote are true and become more serious as the temps drop. Steel gets more brittle in very cold temps just like plastic, aluminum, or anything else does. One thing most guys wouldn't think about when plowing at extreme temps, especially at night, is that sometimes you just can't see,... your truck's exhaust makes such a big thick cloud that just hangs there & won't dissipate, and you just can't see anything! There seems to be a line of demarcation around -55° to -60°, where things start acting weird,... you can take a cup of hot water at those temps,... throw it up into the air, and not one drop will hit the ground,... it all turns to steam, and it hisses when the steam freezes instantly too! If you try to drive at -60° or colder, your auto tranny may not engage or shift with regular ATF, or your clutch may not come back up,... your brakes may lock down,... and for sure you'll swear you have 4 flat tires,... the "flat spot" where they sat just doesn't want to flex out & become round like the rest of the tire,... so all 4 tires roll with a "clunk". Sometimes, on 2WD cars & trucks, the wheel bearing grease gets so stiff that the tires won't roll at all,.. they just slide. Seat covers, plastic dash switches,.. all sorts of things that you'd never give a second thought about can & will break when it gets cold enough just by using them. People die, even up here, when they try to travel at extreme temps, because they simply aren't prepared to deal with things that break and/or fail to work. Even last night, I tore off a spring mount again,... I had just fixed this a week ago,... :realmad:


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## TJ548

Wow, thanks for the clarification. Everything you said makes perfect sense but is not intuitive to most of us low-landers. The only really cold experience I had was on a gas stop in Rock Springs, Wyoming last year. I remember stepping out of my warm truck into -20 air with only a t-shirt on thinking I'd just hurry up with the gas. I had no more than started pumping gas into the tank when I noticed my bare arms started getting "crispy", as in starting to freeze. The air was dead-still, no movement at all and that felt pretty strange. I jumped back into the truck and let the gas pump auto-shut off. Makes you wonder how all those animals can survive such temperatures.


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## deere615

Alaska Boss;704146 said:


> Around here, all the schools close when the temps hit -50° or colder,... and even tho it's close now, it had to be plowed just in case. When I was a kid, the temp that I hated more than any other was -49°,...... :realmad:


Wow. Around here schools will delay and even close for anything below +5 degrees


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## 91AK250

yeah these cold temps are making life intersting, i know i havent had to deal with the crazy cold but -30 has caused issues here in town.

i had my radiator in my explorer crack at both seems and puke fluid everywhere, my repair guys said hes been flooded with stuff in the last few weeks, breakage from cold weather.

whoever thought a plastic/alumium radiator would be a good idea in very cold weather should be slapped haha

hope you get the springs fixed! if i remeber correct i think they braced those spots up on the 08-ups i'll have to look when im at work next time maybe not...but i've been sick the last 2 days and havent been at work.


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## Milwaukee

Wow that lot snow and very cold.

What oil you use in engine? 0w20? Can't believe it run in extreme cold outside. what mpg you average in that extreme cold? 


Thank for that lot pics I enjoy see that and wish I live in Alpena top of Michigan.


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## 91AK250

i cant speak for alaska boss, and i've never actuly felt anything below -30...

but i currently have 10-30 snythetic in my truck, i normaly switch to 5-30 but i have not had time to chage it.

yesterday i had to start our '00 tundra that had been sitting for 3 weeks in the cold. it took me 3 hours to get it started the battery had frozen and once that was replaced it still would not start. had to get a space heater out as even with the block heater plugged in it did not want to start. god it makes me happy that my daily driver stays in the 70* garage!


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## Eronningen

Alaska Boss;649464 said:


> Having both Hi & Lo beams on at the same time makes a huge difference,....


I'm sorry, I just found your thread. Really cool pics and reading. Thanks. How do you get the high and low beams at the same time? One of my plows is a 8'2" Boss V. Can I do it on that?


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## ALC-GregH

Milwaukee, the gif in your sig is hilarious. 

thanks for all the great pics Boss. It's always nice to hear your stories and see the pics.


----------



## Alaska Boss

Milwaukee;705297 said:


> Wow that lot snow and very cold.
> 
> What oil you use in engine? 0w20? Can't believe it run in extreme cold outside. what mpg you average in that extreme cold?
> 
> Thank for that lot pics I enjoy see that and wish I live in Alpena top of Michigan.


Synthetic lubricants has been the best advancement for vehicles in the arctic, since the heater. I use Amsoil stuff in everything I own,.. (became a dealer in the early-mid '80's),... from engine oil (5W-30), to axles, transmissions, power steering, greases, 2-cycles, everything. Not only does it work far better in extreme cold, it also gives far better protection to everything,..IMO. After more than 30 years of plowing snow, (and my plowing season runs 6-7 months), and having not once lost a major truck component in all that time (engine, transmission, T-case, differential,..knock on wood),... I guess I don't need any more convincing for myself. Gas mileage in extreme cold is crap, but again, it's better than if I had conventional petroleum products in everything. Usually, the truck never gets shut off from the time I leave home, until it's back in the shop again, even if I stop & visit with a friend after plowing them out.



Eronningen;705396 said:


> I'm sorry, I just found your thread. Really cool pics and reading. Thanks. How do you get the high and low beams at the same time? One of my plows is a 8'2" Boss V. Can I do it on that?


Well, I have Chevys with the quad headlights, so I added a simple relay to the truck's headlights, so that on Hi-beams, I have the Lo's on too. And so, it automatically does the same to the Boss lights. But if your truck doesn't have quad headlights, you can't do what I did. But I hear that Boss has a new headlight harness with an extra relay for "dual headlight burn",... so maybe your best bet would be to talk to your Boss dealer & see if that would work for your truck. Good luck


----------



## Eronningen

Good idea. I will stop in and see if they have a clue

Thanks


----------



## xtreem3d

was wondering a couple other things about the cold you mention...does your windsheild fliud even work when temps get that low and road spray is on your windshield? and i know you have/ had a dog...can they go out in those low temps? and do they need anything on thier pads to keep from getting frost bite off the cold ground? one more thing....i think you started plowing in Oct..when will your last snow fall come?
thanks again,
steve

EDIT...forgot something else...if you anyone else up there that plows snow commercially, any idea what rate they get in the area?


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## albhb3

Once it gets that cold you dont even feel it anymore


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## Alaska Boss

xtreem3d;710355 said:


> was wondering a couple other things about the cold you mention...does your windsheild fliud even work when temps get that low and road spray is on your windshield? and i know you have/ had a dog...can they go out in those low temps? and do they need anything on thier pads to keep from getting frost bite off the cold ground? one more thing....i think you started plowing in Oct..when will your last snow fall come?
> thanks again,
> steve
> 
> EDIT...forgot something else...if you anyone else up there that plows snow commercially, any idea what rate they get in the area?


Well, the windshield washer fluid does work, at least it doesn't freeze, but you never need it when it's that cold,... there is no road spray of any kind. Alaska doesn't spread salt on the roads up here, and even if you did, it wouldn't do anything or melt anything at those extreme temps.

My dog that I had was a beagle (she got killed & eaten by something about 1½ years ago), but she couldn't take more than a minute or two @ -40° or colder before she'd start shivering and want back in. I'd let her out, and she'd take one or two steps off the front porch, do her thing,... then come barreling back in. But sled dogs, etc., that can stay outside are just fine in these cold temps. Dog mushers will sometimes put booties on the dogs feet, but it's more to protect them from getting cuts, etc from ice, than to protect from the cold. But if you run them, you have to be sure not to push them too hard, because they can frost-bite their lungs. If they start coughing much, you have to stop them,... and if they start coughing up blood, it's too late. I even did that once to myself when I was a teenager, frost-bit my lungs, coughing up blood, etc,... boy, you talk about painful to breathe,... I made sure I never did that again.

We always get snow in April, plus towards the end of April & even sometimes into early May, when break-up is in full-swing there's always people that packed so much snow down in their yards that they become impassable as they thaw, so I have those jobs right at the end of the season. A normal plowing season for me here lasts for more than 6 months. Rates here vary quite a bit from place to place, so it's hard to quote an accurate rate. Where I'm at, typical driveways go from $45-$50 and up, but of course, a typical driveway here is not like one in a city block,... 50-100 yards/meters long is typical for here, but it's still in & out to do it, so they can go pretty fast, plus I know everyone I do personally, and I know how their yards are set up & what they want, so I kinda have it made here, for the most part.


----------



## murphyslaw

Depending on what kind of set up you have depends on your pay.

When I started plowing commercially it was 35/hr, the last winter I plowed commercial it was 65/hr. 

knowing what you are doing and having good equipment will get you good pay.


I needed a steady income so I now just plow here and there, when they call for help and some friends houses for free. And of course my whole block.


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## xtreem3d

i imagine there's not much of demand for lawn care there? if you guys get snow for 6 months and going by how much you average would you even come close to making enough to get by for a full year doing nothing but snow? do you know what any "bigger" commercial guys can get per hour? ( not doing drives but plaza's ,offices ect)
steve


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## 91AK250

Alaska Boss;710619 said:


> Well, the windshield washer fluid does work, at least it doesn't freeze, but you never need it when it's that cold,... there is no road spray of any kind. Alaska doesn't spread salt on the roads up here, and even if you did, it wouldn't do anything or melt anything at those extreme temps.


and thats why i love it here haha, my truck has been clean for over a month now 

i sure hate march/april though..cant keep anything clean during breakup damnit!

its warming up down here finally hows the weather up there? they are calling for snow/warmer temps on monday, which im not looking forword to since my plow truck is dead in the water ugh!


----------



## murphyslaw

xtreem3d;710934 said:


> i imagine there's not much of demand for lawn care there? if you guys get snow for 6 months and going by how much you average would you even come close to making enough to get by for a full year doing nothing but snow? do you know what any "bigger" commercial guys can get per hour? ( not doing drives but plaza's ,offices ect)
> steve


That quote was commercial. I hate driveways. 90% of my plowing has been larger commercial accounts. I worked for the largest snow removal company in the state. Even got to go plow on the runways at the airport one year during a hellish storm.


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## DareDog

Will the sled run when its that cold?

Thanks for sending the cold  purplebou 

supose to be -5 on friday and -15 on staurday here in New York... temp with out the windchill


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## Alaska Boss

xtreem3d;710934 said:


> i imagine there's not much of demand for lawn care there? if you guys get snow for 6 months and going by how much you average would you even come close to making enough to get by for a full year doing nothing but snow? do you know what any "bigger" commercial guys can get per hour? ( not doing drives but plaza's ,offices ect)
> steve


Well, in my area, there are NO lawn care companies at all,... most people don't have lawns,..... I'm just happy if they have a driveway that has gravel on it. There are a couple small companies that do land clearing, driveway building, gravel hauling, etc., but that's about it. I'm one of the few people here that has a lawn,... many people view having/maintaining a lawn as one more useless & needless chore to have to endure,...

No, I don't make enough to go 12 months on what I make plowing,... on good years I could maybe survive, but I could never get ahead after a bad year or two. Can't tell ya what the "bigger commercial guys" get, since I have the only commercial contract in this whole area,.. the school. There is nothing else around here except people's own private property. There are a handful of small businesses that a few people operate out of their own homes, but it's really no different than just a driveway/yard combo for the most part. What people are getting for Wal Marts & Home Depots in Anchorage,.. I have no idea,... they'd have to tell you,... :waving:


----------



## Alaska Boss

DareDog;713381 said:


> Will the sled run when its that cold?
> 
> Thanks for sending the cold  purplebou
> 
> supose to be -5 on friday and -15 on staurday here in New York... temp with out the windchill


Yep, it'll run just fine,.. it's a little harder to start,... and sometimes a little hard to get the track to turn without smoking your belt,... but to ride a machine at 50 mph at -50° would put the windchill at least -100° or so I bet,... and it's kinda tough to wear enough clothes to stay warm like that,... exposed skin would freeze instantly.


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## deere615

What else do you do besides plowing? Sorry if you mentioned it before and I missed it


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## Alaska Boss

deere615;714687 said:


> What else do you do besides plowing? Sorry if you mentioned it before and I missed it


I also trap in the winter, and run a charter boat in the summer.

Man o man,.... has our weather ever taken a turn for the worse !! For almost 3 weeks, our temps ranged from about -40° to about -55°,.... then it finally broke & got up to around zero for most of a day (felt like T-shirt weather !!),... but then a monster storm in the Gulf of Alaska swept into and across the entire state, and brought rain & chinook winds and shot temps up close to +50° in many parts of Alaska! I talked to a good friend of mine who lives up north of me, and he told me that he had -63° at the coldest early this week,... then in less than 48 hours he had +49°,... a swing of 112 degrees !!!!!!! And it's been pouring down rain here for 2½ days now,... and everything is just wiped out!! When the road bed has been frozen to -50° & colder,... then it rains on it, it's obvious what will happen,... the highways become undriveable,... with inches of ice built up almost instantly!! Mid-January in Alaska is normally the coldest part of the winter,... and it's like spring break-up here now,.. huge ponds & puddles forming everywhere !! Warm weather like this kills animals worse than super cold does,.... all this water drains to the ground and freezes everything,... grass, seeds, burrows where mice live, etc etc and traps & encases everything in ice, and so if there is a mass die-off of mice, then everything else up the food chain suffers too. Alaska is so big,.... that measuring it from it's most extreme north to south,... and it's widest from east to west,... would barely fit inside the entire lower 48 states,... so, this storm system, if centered in LA or there-abouts, would have swept across the bulk of the entire lower 48 states !! It's so ugly around here now, that I don't even want to take any pictures,.... but these are a few that I took during the day that this storm was getting ready to hit us,... when it still looked like winter around here,.... :realmad::realmad::realmad:


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## Alaska Boss

The major dump that I have been waiting for,... has finally hit us, but it came in the form of rain,... :realmad::realmad: I had all my customers drives & yards set up just right,... now everything is wiped out,... :realmad::realmad:


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## Alaska Boss

I'm not used to having a major thaw like this hit in the middle of January,... and it stinks !!! (Ok, done whinning,...:realmad


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## 91AK250

god i couldnt agree with you more, we have lost almost all our snow pack! its insane!

the roads were just like a hot mopped icerink for the first few days, really nasty.

lets pray for colder temps and snow


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## Alaska Boss

Well, a few folks were getting stuck in the yards from all the slush and ruts they were making, so I had to plow some slop again today,... so took a couple pics,... but watching all our snow go away in mid-January is kinda depressing,.... snow was getting close to waist deep in places,... now a few spots are close to bare - to maybe a foot left,.... :realmad:


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## Alaska Boss

I suppose that moose don't mind,... less snow makes it easier to get around, find food, & defend themselves against wolves,...


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## DareDog

Ha sounds just like NY, here we a great start to the winter...christmas comes and all snow melts one day it was 55F out 3 weeks later its -3F with foot or more of snow.


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## grnstripes

I know what you mean about this weather you were getting 50 + wile down here in Vermont we hit -40 witch was pushing record lows for us 
crazy how it works some times


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## Alaska Boss

Well,... not sure if I should keep adding to this thread, or just let it die,... because by this time of year, most everyone is no doubt tired of looking at plowing pictures,.... but since I took a few more, I guess I should post them,... (what else am I gonna do with 'em?) It seems like we just keep getting 2,.. 3,... 4 inches of new snow most every day,... and it's added up to bring snow levels close to back to what they were before our monstrous thaw. I've been switching off back & forth between the Boss & the Blizzard,... depending on where I'm going,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

Some of these were taken a week or two ago,....


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## Alaska Boss

More with the Boss,....


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## Alaska Boss

Lately I ran the Speedwing again,...


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## Alaska Boss

There's an ice base everywhere now,... so no more digging up rocks or gravel for the rest of the winter,...


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## Alaska Boss

And a few from last night,....


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## Alaska Boss

The Blizzard has about reached the max it can windrow the banks in some places now,... and the new HID plow lights sure are nice,.... :salute:


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## cet

As always those are some great pictures.

I have seen a few 860SW with bent mold boards, how is yours holding up?

I don't remember seeing the dents in the 1992. I thought that truck was always in great shape.


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## Mark Oomkes

Alaska Boss;742645 said:


> Well,... not sure if I should keep adding to this thread, or just let it die,... because by this time of year, most everyone is no doubt tired of looking at plowing pictures,.... but since I took a few more, I guess I should post them,... (what else am I gonna do with 'em?) It seems like we just keep getting 2,.. 3,... 4 inches of new snow most every day,... and it's added up to bring snow levels close to back to what they were before our monstrous thaw. I've been switching off back & forth between the Boss & the Blizzard,... depending on where I'm going,...


Maybe a little sick of plowing pics, definitely not sick of Alaska pics.


----------



## Alaska Boss

cet;742806 said:


> As always those are some great pictures.
> 
> I have seen a few 860SW with bent mold boards, how is yours holding up?
> 
> I don't remember seeing the dents in the 1992. I thought that truck was always in great shape.


The moldboard on the 860 SW is doing fine,... I don't really hammer it into anything too hard, but it seems like I've heard the same thing,...

The '92 truck has had some bad luck tho in the past year or so, due to kids. It got hit by a kid on a snowmachine at the end of last year on the driver's side,... then the bed on the passenger's side got hit by a kid on a 4-wheeler,... I guess one benefit of running older trucks is that when stuff like that happens, it's not as big of a deal as if the truck was brand new,... I'm not about to spend the bucks to fix it (and the parents of the kids couldn't afford it), so I'm just going to not worry about it,... it doesn't affect how the truck works, and this truck doesn't owe me a dime. I've never owned a pickup that I have worked harder, asked it to do more, and in all the years I've had it, had almost no problems with it, (except for breaking the frame in half,... ), than this 1992 1-ton. For plowing snow, if I could find more trucks like this thing, it's all I would own and work with, until I quit doing it.

And speaking of this truck, I used it to plow today, just to give the HID lights a better test,... and again,.. what a nice improvement it is light up everything in front of you now,... I plowed for about 5-6 hours or so in the dark this afternoon & evening, and I think I only had to dim the hi beams once in all that time,...


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## Alaska Boss

A few more shots of doing some driveways tonight,....


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## Alaska Boss

And a few more,... even when I compare pictures of these HID lights to the Silverstars from a couple weeks ago, I'm still amazed at the difference,.... that was $100 well-spent,...


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## Alaska Boss

Last ones for tonight,..... :salute:


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## COLOFIREMAN

Love this thread keep the pic's going!!!! 
The wife and I visited Alaska last year, and I'm still trying get her to move up there!!! every time I sart to talk about it.....







I have to sleep on the couch.


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## cet

I know what you mean about getting a good truck. I had a 1994 GMC like yours but a diesel. I plowed 6 years with it and that is back when I used to have a 15-20 hour run. That truck never seemed to break down and even though it had the 6.5 in it I was very lucky to have almost no break downs. A friend has the same truck but a 1996. Bought it new and has plowed every storm since. His is mint with over 200,000 miles. 2 trannies though. I bought a 1998 from JD Dave this past fall and might look for another one over the summer. The bus I drive is a little big for plowing but I can do all the accounts I have if need be.

Years ago my Son drove a friends ATV into the sliding door on my wife's Caravan. At least he only hit the door, it could have been worse.


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## FordFisherman

AB- Keep the pics coming, I think I speak for most of us that yours is one of the most enjoyable threads on the site. We are currently having our January thaw; today it was close to 60. Good for melting piles but bad for the bank account. Nice to see you don't have that problem. Those new lights work well. How much did they set you back if you don't mind me asking?


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## ALC-GregH

FordFisherman;750316 said:


> AB- Keep the pics coming, I think I speak for most of us that yours is one of the most enjoyable threads on the site. We are currently having our January thaw; today it was close to 60. Good for melting piles but bad for the bank account. Nice to see you don't have that problem. Those new lights work well. How much did they set you back if you don't mind me asking?


A few posts back he said they were the best $100 he spent.


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## Alaska Boss

FordFisherman;750316 said:


> AB- Keep the pics coming, I think I speak for most of us that yours is one of the most enjoyable threads on the site. We are currently having our January thaw; today it was close to 60. Good for melting piles but bad for the bank account. Nice to see you don't have that problem. Those new lights work well. How much did they set you back if you don't mind me asking?


Yep, the lights are a huge improvement, on both plows and both trucks. I was able to do the HID conversions on both plows for less than $100 each/plow. I did a write-up on each plow conversion in the respective plow forums. The HID conversion I did on the Blizzard would also work on all the older-style Fisher & Western plows as well.... any plow that utilizes the 4"x6" headlights. :waving:


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## Alaska Boss

Had a couple plow jobs to do today, so I waited until it got dark & thought I'd give the new "black-back" Blizzard a good test-out,... the only thing I'm mad about,... is that I didn't do this when I first got this plow,... what great eye relief !! :salute:


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## Alaska Boss

And yesterday I did some riding & exploring some new country,... and lo & behold,... what do I run across,... smokin' fresh grizzly tracks!! It was about -10° F, on Feb. 12th,... and here's a grizzly bear that came out of it's den up high on the mountain,... followed this creek for a mile or so,... then climbed straight back up the mountain again,... no doubt to go back to sleep. Something is wrong when a bear comes out of hibernation at this time of winter,... either his den was getting glacier-ed in with ice build-up,... or maybe he just didn't put on enough fat last fall to last the winter, and their body's instincts wake them to make them go try to find something before they starve,... but he will surely burn more calories now wandering around than what he will find. He was only a few hours ahead of me,... but I never did see him,... I could count on one hand how many times I've seen a bear come out early from hibernation like this in more than 40 years,... it wasn't a very big one,... and it's the young ones that usually do this,... they don't have the skills yet to find & hunt food in the fall to put enough fat on to make it thru the winter sometimes,... :salute:


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## Quality SR

Mark Oomkes;742825 said:


> Maybe a little sick of plowing pics, definitely not sick of Alaska pics.


I agree with Mark. Keep this thread going.



Alaska Boss;751942 said:


> Had a couple plow jobs to do today, so I waited until it got dark & thought I'd give the new "black-back" Blizzard a good test-out,... the only thing I'm mad about,... is that I didn't do this when I first got this plow,... what great eye relief !! :salute:


I was going to ask you if the new HID light bounces off the white blade. I bet it is a 100x better now. 
I almost forgot about this thread. It just took me over an hour to go through this whole thread. Alot of great pictures and info in here. Keep going with it. Any updates this year with the two trucks? And the Boss and Blizzard? How are they holding up? It has been pretty quiet around here. it actually hit 66* last week. Now snow for atleast 10 days. You still getting snow?


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## 91AK250

oh we'll still get snow for atleast 2 months, alaska boss i beliebve gets it alittle longer then i do as im a few hundred miles south of him.


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## Alaska Boss

Quality SR;751967 said:


> I agree with Mark. Keep this thread going.
> 
> I was going to ask you if the new HID light bounces off the white blade. I bet it is a 100x better now.
> I almost forgot about this thread. It just took me over an hour to go through this whole thread. Alot of great pictures and info in here. Keep going with it. Any updates this year with the two trucks? And the Boss and Blizzard? How are they holding up? It has been pretty quiet around here. it actually hit 66* last week. Now snow for atleast 10 days. You still getting snow?


Yep, it is 100x better,... I might even paint the back of the red Boss flat black after seeing this,... one good thing about plowing when it's well below zero, is that no snow sticks to the blade, front or back,.... and snow stuck to the back of the plows is magnified by the HID lights, but this is much better. Both trucks just keep doing what they do best, with no issues at all. Boss plow is doing good,.. the Blizzard had some issues early on this winter,.... pretty much took care of everything, except the moldboard has a crease on the left side, which means it's slightly bent,...have no idea how/when that happened, but it still plows just fine, so I'll just be extra careful now when I'm angled over to that side. Not too much snow here either lately,... just a couple inches every now & then,.. with temps generally around -25° to -30° at night, warming to around 0° in the afternoons. I'll always have snow well into April, and on occ I have plowed into early May. About 8"-9" is the biggest snowfall of the winter to this point,... if it holds, then this will be 2 years in a row without a major dump,... which hasn't happened in quite a few years prior to this. :salute:


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## bigdoug

Good thing you keep a rifle on ya AB...lol

Hungry bears like all meat..


Doug


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## Alaska Boss

bigdoug;753159 said:


> Good thing you keep a rifle on ya AB...lol
> 
> Hungry bears like all meat..
> 
> Doug


LOL... ya I know,.... Bears can be extremely dangerous when they come out like this,..because, again, something isn't right. I was keeping a sharp eye out for him,... because he was sinking in the snow less than a foot,... so the snow wouldn't slow him down at all if we met & he decided I looked like the bear version of an "Eskimo Pie" ice cream bar, and a bear can out-run a horse for short distances,... so I made sure I could see far enough ahead so I had time to get my machine turned around and get out if he suddenly were to charge. I only had a .22 magnum on me,... which wouldn't be more than a mosquito bite to a griz. He apparently had his den somewhere up toward this frozen waterfalls,... his track headed up that way,.... but I lost it in the brush,... and I wasn't about to head after him on foot without some serious protection,....


----------



## JD 990

Nice pics What type of snowmobile skidoo skandic.


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## bigdoug

a .22.....lol

You might be able to hit him with it like a stick.

I would be afraid even if I had a .50 cal 

It's hard to hit something trying to eat you.


great pics!

Doug


----------



## Get Plowed AK

AK Boss. Where are you located? I got a biz down in Soldotna, We have had some big dumps this year for sure. I like all your pics. Yeah the Grizz are a little more aware then the black bear. You could kick a blackie n the head and they wont wake up but the grizz can wonder from time to time.

HID's are So worth the money. Ebay! $65.00 6k all the way.

Also, Im looking to add another truck to the fleet next year. Im torn between another big boss v or Blizzard. What is your take on this? I have never used the Blizzard. thinkin 810


----------



## Alaska Boss

Get Plowed AK;756254 said:


> AK Boss. Where are you located? I got a biz down in Soldotna, We have had some big dumps this year for sure. I like all your pics. Yeah the Grizz are a little more aware then the black bear. You could kick a blackie n the head and they wont wake up but the grizz can wonder from time to time.
> 
> HID's are So worth the money. Ebay! $65.00 6k all the way.
> 
> Also, Im looking to add another truck to the fleet next year. Im torn between another big boss v or Blizzard. What is your take on this? I have never used the Blizzard. thinkin 810


I'm in the Copper River Basin,... and although I started out this winter plowing right at the end of September, our totals now are nothing above average,... with no big dumps (nothing over 8-9 inches), so in that regard, things are less than ave.

As far as which plow to recommend, it just depends what your situation is there in Soldotna,... the times I've been there in the winter, it seemed like you had less than we do,... but I know that can vary alot. I like both of them, and they both do good jobs,... if I plowed mostly open parking lot-type jobs,... I'd maybe lean toward the Blizzard. But I plow mostly driveways & narrow roads, so windrowing is my main concern, and busting into narrow, confined places, so the V is better for that. I've done several threads comparing those things, so if you wanted to take the time to check that out, maybe that might help. There's something to be said for having plows that inter-change between trucks as well,.... so you'll just have to decide what's best for you. :waving:


----------



## Alaska Boss

JD 990;753529 said:


> Nice pics What type of snowmobile skidoo skandic.


Yep,... I've had about 15 Skandics now I think, since they came out in the mid-80's,... and they have proven themselves to me to be one of the most dependable and user-friendly machines I have ever owned. Since I run traplines with them, I want something that will get me home every day, plus be able to carry everything I need. I've had at least 3 of them now that I put over 20,000 miles on them before I retired them, without touching the engines or clutches,... so I don't know how it's possible to beat that. I make major modifications to each one, so the hot air is re-routed to come up inside my windshield, a built-in rifle scabbard that holds a scoped rifle inside the cowling, etc. But, my machines have a rough life going places that no one else goes, for the most part,... so they have to be tough! :salute:


----------



## Alaska Boss

And I've got a wide-track too,.. for the super-deep snow conditions where a regular machine would just not be able to go with a major fight,... and that machine has about 12,000 miles on it right now, and it's been so trouble-free,... that I'm not sure if I've ever even changed the sparks plugs yet,... if I have, it's been so long ago that I can't remember,.... :bluebounc


----------



## Alaska Boss

And being out in the woods all the time, I get to see some cool things,... wildlife situations that most people would never see,.... a pair of otters is no big deal,... but having 3 of them engaged in a stare-down with a lynx is pretty cool.... :salute:


----------



## DeVries

Great pics and a great comentary as well Alaska. Keep it up.

The more I look the more I like. Maybe I'll have to show the wife this thread and convince her to move up there. LOL


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## carl b

Thanks for the cool pic's . If I ever get a break. I wont to come up their for some fishing .and trail riding.


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## deere615

great pics, whats the story ehind the one that broke through ice? Did it survive, How did you get it out?


----------



## AndyTblc

Another question, you have the 2 trucks next to each other, but why is there nobody in the 2nd truck?


----------



## Get Plowed AK

Yeah its nice now having all boss set ups. I read through your thread comparing The boss & Blizzard a few months ago. That was quite the write up you did. We started in october down here. We have had some good dumps, the most was between 8"-14" christmas day depending where you were around here. Lots of melting days also this year. 

Your pics and threads are all great. You really put some time and effort into your posts. I live here and I still like to see your pics.


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## Get Plowed AK

Just curious... What are you doing to put all the miles on? Just cruising or are you a Trapper?


----------



## 04superduty

AndyTblc;756889 said:


> Another question, you have the 2 trucks next to each other, but why is there nobody in the 2nd truck?


i believe that both trucks are his and he has no employees. so he plowed down one side of the drive with one truck, went back and got the other truck and plowed down the other.


----------



## Alaska Boss

deere615;756844 said:


> great pics, whats the story ehind the one that broke through ice? Did it survive, How did you get it out?


That just happened a couple weeks ago. I just tipped it back up & pulled it out. Stuff like that happens all the time,... that's why my machines get kinda beat-up looking,... 



AndyTblc;756889 said:


> Another question, you have the 2 trucks next to each other, but why is there nobody in the 2nd truck?





04superduty;757655 said:


> i believe that both trucks are his and he has no employees. so he plowed down one side of the drive with one truck, went back and got the other truck and plowed down the other.


There's nobody in either one,... 04 pegged it. This is on my driveway, and like 04 said, I just drove them both and took the pictures for the post. If someone had come in,.. they'd just have to wait til I was done,... 



Get Plowed AK;756945 said:


> Just curious... What are you doing to put all the miles on? Just cruising or are you a Trapper?


Yep, I'm a trapper,... but I don't do the same amount of riding, etc., that I used to, but still put about 3,000 to 5,000 miles on machines per year, on ave. That's a lot of riding,... but then again, there's a lot of places around here to go,... :salute:


----------



## ALC-GregH

AB, I can't get over how beautiful the scenery is there. Your in many ways a lucky man to live in such a beautiful place. The Otter and Lynx pic is truly something most everyone in the country or world will never get to see in real life in a un-disturbed habitat. The Grizz, WOW, you can even see the claw marks in each step. Just unreal. I can say thanks enough. Thank you for keeping this thread alive and well. Your stories and pics are one of the reasons I come on to this site. Those last few are simply beautiful. Thanks, thanks and thanks again.


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## ALC-GregH

..........


----------



## DareDog

Alaska Boss;756268 said:


> that machine has about 12,000 miles on it right now, and it's been so trouble-free,...


Got a Doo here, 05 600 and put 5,000 miles on it with the original spark plugs :bluebounc idk how you kill them..got 98 700 with 14,000 miles never been a part,

3,000 miles a season wow i usually put on 1500-1800 if its a good season.


----------



## Alaska Boss

ALC-GregH;759266 said:


> AB, I can't get over how beautiful the scenery is there. Your in many ways a lucky man to live in such a beautiful place. The Otter and Lynx pic is truly something most everyone in the country or world will never get to see in real life in a un-disturbed habitat. The Grizz, WOW, you can even see the claw marks in each step. Just unreal. I can say thanks enough. Thank you for keeping this thread alive and well. Your stories and pics are one of the reasons I come on to this site. Those last few are simply beautiful. Thanks, thanks and thanks again.


Thanks for the comments,.... that grizzly came back out again last week a couple miles from where it did the first time,... definitely something not right there,... it's either starving, or it chose a bad den location and was getting froze out or iced out or something. If it's starving, then it will probably die, because there won't be anything for it to eat now for at least 2 more months.



DareDog;761311 said:


> Got a Doo here, 05 600 and put 5,000 miles on it with the original spark plugs :bluebounc idk how you kill them..got 98 700 with 14,000 miles never been a part,
> 
> 3,000 miles a season wow i usually put on 1500-1800 if its a good season.


yeah, I'm riding almost every day, unless I have to plow all day long. I had one winter (early '90's) that I put over 6,000 miles on a machine, but that was extreme. Of course I can ride around here from October until early June, so that makes my season twice as long as in some places,... :salute:


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## SNO-PRO

ALC-GregH;759266 said:


> AB, I can't get over how beautiful the scenery is there. Your in many ways a lucky man to live in such a beautiful place. The Otter and Lynx pic is truly something most everyone in the country or world will never get to see in real life in a un-disturbed habitat. The Grizz, WOW, you can even see the claw marks in each step. Just unreal. I can say thanks enough. Thank you for keeping this thread alive and well. Your stories and pics are one of the reasons I come on to this site. Those last few are simply beautiful. Thanks, thanks and thanks again.


x2, anytime I see a Alaska Boss thread i know its worth the read. When will you offer plowsite members travel packages and guided tours....lol


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## Alaska Boss

SNO-PRO;761733 said:


> x2, anytime I see a Alaska Boss thread i know its worth the read. When will you offer plowsite members travel packages and guided tours....lol


Come on up anytime, and bring your machines. We have our best riding coming up now, with at least 2 more months left to go!! :bluebounc:salute:


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## Alaska Boss

Well, if things stay typical from this point on, we probably won't get any big dumps for the rest of the winter,... and even for the last couple weeks, it's just been an inch or two here, a couple inches there, etc. March usually brings beautiful days and easing temps, even tho it's still below zero here all the time yet,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

Just been cleaning up a few roads & driveways the last couple days,....


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## Alaska Boss

Also been having some wind lately,... which keeps the snow blown off the trees, and adds a few extra jobs due to drifting,....


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## Alaska Boss

Also had to re-open the airstrip again for the local airplane-repair company,...


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## Alaska Boss

Suppose to hit close to -30° tonight, but there's a little more snow in the forecast for later in the week,.... we'll see,... :salute::waving:


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## Mark Oomkes

AB, what are the temps like during your storms?

Just wondering about the whole 'too cold to snow' theory. 

Thanks again for the pics, even if they do turn me into a drooling slob.


----------



## xtreem3d

AB...i don't know if i missed this in the thread but what kind of camera are you using? every pic is so good,
thanks,
steve


----------



## Alaska Boss

Mark Oomkes;764581 said:


> AB, what are the temps like during your storms?
> 
> Just wondering about the whole 'too cold to snow' theory.
> 
> Thanks again for the pics, even if they do turn me into a drooling slob.


Well, it can vary a lot, but it's usually from -10° to +20° F here when it snows. It can snow at -30° or even a little colder, but that generally only happens after it's been -50° or more. The snow is very dense & heavy, with very small, fine flakes when it snows that cold,... almost no air in it. Obviously, it never snows at the most extreme temps, since it has to be clear and calm in order to get that cold. But quite often, it may snow at -20°, then clear right up as soon as it stops, and the temps drop to -50° or more in less than 24 hours, so I find myself plowing at those temps at times,... which is not a good thing for me or equipment. 



xtreem3d;764621 said:


> AB...i don't know if i missed this in the thread but what kind of camera are you using? every pic is so good,
> thanks,
> steve


Most of my pictures I take with a Minolta Dimage Z-1,... it wasn't a very expensive camera, (not made anymore), and it's only a 3.2 mega-pixel, but when it first came out around 6-8 years ago, it had 10x optical zoom,... which was as high as I could find,... and that's what sold me. And it goes with me no matter where I go,... but this camera is also tough,... it rides on my snowmachine with me every day,... works just fine outside after being in -30° temps all day,... it's gone flying out of my machine many times, fallen in rivers, got rained on, etc, etc, and still works just fine. And 3.2 mp prints out 8"x10" prints that are just as crisp & sharp as can be, so, until it quits, I'll just keep using this one, even if there are better ones out there now.


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## Whitewheelin

im new to plowing this year and it took me about 15 minutes to browse thru this huge set of posts and u mentioned where a kid got his truck stuck and u were called. well in that post u mentioned about how the V plow works great for the deep snow on narrow roads. I never thought of using it in the V form ever to clean snow. i usually scoop or angle it to one side, i know this makes me look pretty amateur but does it really work that much better to V plow in certain situations? By the way im right jealous of the pictures. I live in Canada and we where we are located we didnt get much snow this year and i really wanted to plow more with my plow. we are suppose to get some rain tomorrow BOOOOOOOOOO but then abit of snow so if i make it out plowing ill take some pictures to show you guys the sorry state of snow we have.


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## DareDog

Keep the pcis coming!! go no snow here front lawn been green 2 weeks...


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## Alaska Boss

Whitewheelin;766423 said:


> im new to plowing this year and it took me about 15 minutes to browse thru this huge set of posts and u mentioned where a kid got his truck stuck and u were called. well in that post u mentioned about how the V plow works great for the deep snow on narrow roads. I never thought of using it in the V form ever to clean snow. i usually scoop or angle it to one side, i know this makes me look pretty amateur but does it really work that much better to V plow in certain situations? .


Absolutely it does! In deep snow on narrow drives & roads, it's the only way. And it's so much easier on the truck as well. You can't possibly open up a driveway with deep snow with your plow in scoop mode,.... you'll have a pile of snow in front of you that you can't move or go thru in no time. And trying to angle it all to one side, even if possible, is just asking for trouble, because the moment you exceed what you can push by winging it over, the truck will go sideways and there you sit crooked in a narrow driveway, with no room to wiggle around & get going again. Even when I don't have to, I still break a driveway open in V-mode, just to split the snow evenly to both banks, so i don't get one side too tall when I didn't need to. The plow will trip in V-mode if you hit something, but unless you know for sure that there's nothing to hit, I always lift the plow a couple inches off the ground on the first pass in,... just to be safe.


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## Alaska Boss

Well, we got another 5"-8" of new snow in the last couple days, so I decided to give the Boss a rest and let the Blizzard earn it's keep again, altho in some areas around here, the snow has about exceeded what the Speedwing can do as far as windrowing goes,...


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## Alaska Boss

But, wherever possible, I made piles, so I don't get boxed in, as we still have at least a month & a half of snowfall yet to come,...


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## Alaska Boss

Otherwise, it's just been 14-16 hours a day moving that white stuff around,...


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## Alaska Boss

More of the same,.... the wind started blowing again,...


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## Alaska Boss

The Speedwing does really nice on open lots where you have a little more room to work in,...


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## Alaska Boss

a few more,....


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## Alaska Boss

The 'ole Chevy's just work day after day after day with no issues,... (knock on wood)


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## Alaska Boss

Got a call this afternoon to clean out the airstrip again,... and he wanted it expanded to about 2000 ft, so twin-engine planes can land here ok,... I like plowing on smooth grassy fields,... payup

More later,... :waving:


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## WingPlow

when i retire i always thought i'd move to a place where its nice and warm year round with the ocean close by...but after seeing the pics you Alaska guys post, its hard not to wanna move north...the landscape is just beautiful


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## 04superduty

WingPlow;767385 said:


> when i retire i always thought i'd move to a place where its nice and warm year round with the ocean close by...but after seeing the pics you Alaska guys post, its hard not to wanna move north...the landscape is just beautiful


sssshhhhh, dont tell people that, keep letting them all go to florida or arizona.

AB, do you have anything to deal with the real big snow falls, like a loader or blower?


----------



## Alaska Boss

Whitewheelin;766423 said:


> i know this makes me look pretty amateur but does it really work that much better to V plow in certain situations?


Another good advantage that a V-plow gives, is that on the rare occasion that you drop the front end of your truck into a hole, or off a sharp bank, you have 2 blades that can help push you out at the same time, if you have a pile to push against, and many times that is all it takes to get yourself out, instead of needing help. A straight blade, while it pushes from one side, it scoops snow toward the truck on the other side, kinda giving a twisting motion. Only after having & trying both types of plow can one see for yourself how much harder a V pushes the truck back to help get you out of a situation like this,....


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## Alaska Boss

Even in more open areas, where the snow has been sitting undisturbed for at least 5 months, even if it's not all that deep, I've found that the fastest way to plow out an area is to make a few punches straight in, in V-mode, to break & loosen it up, then use scoop to push it all the way back. Trying to plow "old snow", which turns much more dense & like sugar, is much harder to push than fresh stuff, and you can't stack it as high either,...


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## Alaska Boss

And when opening up a driveway that hasn't been plowed, going in on the first pass in V-mode takes all the fight & work out of it. It splits the snow 50/50 to each side, and gives a nice "finished" look when you're done, rather than having a "ragged" look if you had to take small bites & swing it left & right as you work your way in with a straight. Maybe it seems like it's not that big of a deal, but if after a full day of plowing, you find that you can do 4 or 5 more jobs than you could have if you were using a straight, the V-blade (and using V-mode) ends up making you at least several hundred $$$ more per day. (Assuming that you have snow/conditions/type of jobs like I do),... :salute: :waving:


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## Alaska Boss

04superduty;767503 said:


> sssshhhhh, dont tell people that, keep letting them all go to florida or arizona.
> 
> AB, do you have anything to deal with the real big snow falls, like a loader or blower?


All I have is an 1840 Case skidsteer, which I have used a few times to move piles back, etc,... but the actual area that I plow in almost never gets dumps of more than 15" - 18" at a time. In over 30 years of plowing around here, I could count on one hand how many times we've had a snowfall that hit 20". Of course, just a little to the south of me, in Valdez, they've had dumps of more than 8 feet in 24 hours, so things change fast as you get closer to the coast & have "ocean effect". There are a few construction companies around that have big loaders/dozers that I could hire, but to this point, I've never needed to. :salute:


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## deere615

My uncle just brought a used case 1840 skid steer


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## Alaska Boss

We've only had 2"-3" of new snow in the past week, so most of my plow jobs have been opening up places, where folks have been gone, spending the winter in warmer parts,but are now ready to come back, and so they want to be able to drive into their property when they get back. Before I got my V-blade, I used to have to decline some of these jobs,... it was just too hard & time-consuming, if not impossible to do some of those with a straight blade,... but this particular place isn't too bad,.... Now, I don't have to think twice,... it's no problem,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

Even tho the snow on the ground is only about 2 feet deep at this home, after it's been sitting there for 5 months or more, it just gets very dense, settled, and crusted, with the lower parts turning almost like sugar. Plowing 2 feet of fresh snow is like pushing cotton candy compared to this,... but just put it in V-mode, and you can still punch a trail right in,... altho you do have to romp on it a little more,... wesport


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## Alaska Boss

It takes a little wiggling around to make some room to manuver, but slow & careful pushing finally has this place opened & done.


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## Alaska Boss

Other places with more snow have banks that are getting to be half-way up the windows on my truck,....


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## Alaska Boss

And I still make the Blizzard earn it's keep as well,......


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## Alaska Boss

And finally,... I got a request to plow something I've never done before,... firewood !! A neighbor had a several truck loads of firewood dumped out in his yard,.. and it was spread all over the place, so I scooped it up & stacked it into one pile as close to where he wanted it as I could. It's hard to stack tho, because one or two pieces always get under the plow, then I'm driving over it. But, it actually worked ok,... :salute: :waving:


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## FordFisherman

AB- Thanks for the season of great pics. We're all done with snow down here; been a pretty good season all in all. You work those Chevy's hard. What kind of maintenance program do you follow with the trucks being that they operate in severe conditions almost daily? Do you have a heated shop where they sleep? And, lastly, when your out there in the dark snapping pics do you ever worry about whats lurking in the treeline; half awake bear, coyote, sasquach?


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## deere615

pushing firewood is something you dont see everyday


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## Alaska Boss

FordFisherman;770880 said:


> AB- Thanks for the season of great pics. We're all done with snow down here; been a pretty good season all in all. You work those Chevy's hard. What kind of maintenance program do you follow with the trucks being that they operate in severe conditions almost daily? Do you have a heated shop where they sleep? And, lastly, when your out there in the dark snapping pics do you ever worry about whats lurking in the treeline; half awake bear, coyote, sasquach?


I have a heated garage/shop, but I can only get one rig in at a time. About twice per season, I like to bring each one in, and let it sit for several days,... so it not only thaws out but dries out. Then I go over everything from front to back, grease everything, check everything, put a wrench on all plow & mount bolts, etc. But, the trucks generally sit outside all winter,... and with dual batteries & synthetic lubes in everything, they can handle that just fine.

As far as taking pictures at night and being worried about creatures lurking out in the dark,.. the answer is,... nope, not at all. Bears are sleeping in the winter,... coyotes, lynx, etc. are long gone before I ever see them at night, altho I do on occasion, see green eyeballs run across the road sometimes.  I see moose, rabbits, squirrels, etc all the time too. If I ever see a Sasquatch, I hope I do have my camera in my hands,... maybe with a couple good snapshots of one of those, I could retire from plowing snow,...


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## DeVries

Hey Boss, summer wildlife pics are ok with us to. Since we aren't getting any more snow anyways, I don't mind if you post them.


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## Alaska Boss

DeVries;770995 said:


> Hey Boss, summer wildlife pics are ok with us to. Since we aren't getting any more snow anyways, I don't mind if you post them.


Well, I'll try to keep the summertime photos to a minimum, but just this week I got a couple more shots of moose & caribou as I was driving around,... but you have to have your camera on & ready to go, to get shots of stuff on the highways,...


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## Alaska Boss

No antlers on bull caribou at this time of year,... and this guy wasn't concerned at all about me & my car,....


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## Alaska Boss

And nothing too exciting happening in the snow plowing department,.... haven't had any fresh snow in some time, even tho the temps still get well below zero every night, (altho it thawed today during the afternoon),... so all my jobs are just opening up places that haven't been used all winter,.... :waving:


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## albhb3

Snows gone here even the really big piles


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## Alaska Boss

Well, the plow jobs have fallen off to a trickle now,... and the last couple days have been so warm (low 40°'s), that I think this is the beginning of the end. Today the snow got very rotten, and several people called & said their driveways are breaking up, so I doubt that I'll get any fresh snow to plow at this point anymore,... probably just cleaning out the slushy mess as roads break up, and opening up a few more places as the snowbirds come back to Alaska after having been gone all winter, like what I did tonight.


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## Alaska Boss

This is the hardest plowing of the whole winter,... right before breakup when the snow turns like wet cement,....


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## Alaska Boss

The snow depth on the ground really goes down fast once the temps get warm,... it's less than 2 feet here now at this place,... it was over 3 feet a week ago,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

I had a hard time pushing into this place with the Blizzard,... it was rather tight, and I kept making a pile so big in front of me it was all I could do to keep pushing it,... (my batteries went dead in my camera,... I put some new ones in,... but then my white balance seemed to be messed up)


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## Alaska Boss

An older couple own this place,.. and he's a very skilled knife-maker,... makes some very beautiful knives by hand, with moose and/or caribou antler handles,.. and also carves trees with a chainsaw,... so while I was plowing this place out, I had 3 grizzlies standing there watching me the whole time,...  not every day that happens,... :salute::waving:


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## albhb3

ONLY 2 feet left my god if only


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## miltonplower

wish i had that much snow


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## Alaska Boss

albhb3;777083 said:


> ONLY 2 feet left my god if only





miltonplower;777144 said:


> wish i had that much snow


Well, things could be worse (or better, I guess). The ice is finally all thawed off the highway, so we now have dry pavement again for the first time since last September,.. which is really nice !! I've spent the last couple days in Valdez taking oil spill certification classes, so I thought I'd post a couple shots of the current snow conidtions between my place & Valdez,... as of the middle of April,... :salute:


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## Alaska Boss

Yesterday was very nice,... today a mild snowstorm hit Valdez with another 4"-5" overnight,... which had mostly melted by this afternoon....


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## Alaska Boss

Many of the side streets have been opened now that were left closed all winter,... such as the softball fields,....


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## Alaska Boss

But right in town, people still have a lot of snow to deal with,.. and will for some time yet,....


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## Alaska Boss

Many places around town still have so much snow left that they can't get it all off the roof yet,....


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## Alaska Boss

All types of snow removal equipment are still being used &/or standing by,...


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## Alaska Boss

All the street ends still have walls of snow that won't be melting away for some time yet,...


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## Alaska Boss

And there's still piles of snow all around town as tall or taller than 2-story houses,..... most years there's still snow piles left in town in July,... which always kinda blows the minds of tourists from Florida,...  Next update in May,... :salute::waving:


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## LawnProLandscapes

awesome pics ak wish that was still the scene here in ny


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## Mark Oomkes

I obviously live in the wrong part of the country.


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## deere615

great pics I miss the snow already!


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## AndyTblc

deere615;777582 said:


> great pics I miss the snow already!


Me too, I only got 20 some plowable events


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## albhb3

look at all that pow


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## deere615

AndyTblc;777597 said:


> Me too, I only got 20 some plowable events


more than me...


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## bakerc8

what you do during the off season?


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## DeVries

bakerc8;778519 said:


> what you do during the off season?


Wait for all that snow to melt


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## Alaska Boss

bakerc8;778519 said:


> what you do during the off season?


I run a charter fishing boat around in the Gulf of Alaska during the summer,... going after monster-size halibut. The boat is called "No Excuses", and even tho I take out mostly men, there are some hard-core female fisher-people around here,.. and many times, the biggest fish are caught by women,... :salute:


----------



## Alaska Boss

Many days someone will catch a fish bigger than they are,.... we've had trips where we came back with over 1½ tons of fish,.... good thing that halibut are one of the best eating fish found anywhere,... wesport


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## Alaska Boss

But of course, when you drop a line in the ocean, one never knows what's going to clamp onto your hook,... anything from various other fish to maybe an octopus,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

But, back to the subject at hand,.... winter here is on it's deathbed,.... still freezing hard at night, but also thawing hard during the day,.... the high country is still locked in the deep freeze, but the valleys are turning more brown every day,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

My own driveway is turning into a mushy mess now by the late afternoon each day,.... it's all going to melt fast now from here on out,... :angry:


----------



## Alaska Boss

ooooops,.. forgot the pics,....


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## Alaska Boss

There have been almost no avalanches around here this winter,... just not enough snow,... but a few little tiny ones hit the roads here & there in places,...


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## Alaska Boss

So, the old trucks have just about got another season in the books,.... now they start doing other chores,... like hauling firewood, etc,.... :waving:


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## DeVries

Very proffesional looking outfit you have there Boss. Everytime you post pics makes me want to move up there, especially when I see pics of those fish.
Please keep posting even though they aren't snow pics.


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## Alaska Boss

Well, I think I plowed my last job today,... April 29,.... another place not used all winter, but the folks wanted it opened up so things can thaw out faster,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

I know I've plowed a few jobs in May over the years,... but it's pretty rare,... snow is going real fast now,.. we have bare ground in many places now,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

There's still a nice ice base under the snow that's left,... so it was very nice & smooth plowing without digging up any gravel,.... I'll keep the plows on yet for another week or so,... but this will no doubt close out the '08-'09 plowing season for me,... it was pretty good,... now, how many days until October?? :bluebounc:salute::waving:


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## DeVries

Just because it's done snowing doesn't mean that the pics have to stop


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## Mark Oomkes

Dang, 7 months of plowing?

I live in the wrong part of the country.


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## DareDog

DeVries;778791. Everytime you post pics makes me want to move up there said:


> me to. :waving:


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## miltonplower

boss are your truck's diesel's or gasser's?and what do u mostly do up there contract's or one time call's? seeing all these pic's i may want to start a company up there make a couple extra buck's payup  looking great btw


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## miltonplower

actually nvm i think i'll go to Valdez alaska instead 27 feet of snow on average payup


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## Alaska Boss

miltonplower;780039 said:


> boss are your truck's diesel's or gasser's?and what do u mostly do up there contract's or one time call's? seeing all these pic's i may want to start a company up there make a couple extra buck's payup  looking great btw


Both trucks are 5.7 gas, simple & dependable. Most of my plowing here is done on a per-call basis,... the only signed contracts I have are with the few commercial jobs I have (school district, etc). I'm in a rather remote area, so private roads/driveways are just about the only thing that exists here. And I know virtually everyone I plow on a personal basis, so it works good & I seldom have issues. I've tried everything over the years, and what works best for me is I just tell folks, call me when you want to get plowed out,... so I don't have to guess when you want things cleaned up, etc. It works out good, because my plow jobs get spread out better that way, & I'm not overwhelmed by trying to do everyone at once. But even on the big dumps, people know that it may be 3-5 days before I can get to them sometimes,... and they just accept that,... it's part of what comes with living around here,... It would be hard for someone new to start up around here,.. for one thing, there's not a lot of potential to be shared here, before several operations would be cut-throating each other, then no one wins. And I since I already know how most all people around here prefer to have their yards plowed, and they know I'm not going to take out their steps or septic vent pipes, etc, most folks aren't interested in saving $5 or $10, and then have to worry about some new guy hitting stuff, piling snow up against their house, etc. And Valdez is a whole different ballgame,... you'd need at least several hundred thousand just to get the equipment/insurance/bonding etc, to deal with the snow down there. And that market down there is already heavily saturated,... there's always someone new trying to get established down there, and they have to literally do snow removal for a break-even rate, or no one is willing to hire someone new & risk damage to property buried under 8 feet of fresh snow,... pickups and skid steers will soon be rendered useless for doing anything other than trying to keep your own driveway open.

But now, my plows are off & stored away, and most of our snow is gone, except piles & berms. The swans & ducks started showing up before the snow was gone,... now it's just mud & mosquitoes & tourists plugging up the roads for the next 5 months (til it snows again,... ) :realmad:


----------



## Alaska Boss

Now that winter is over, the summer-time creatures are emerging,... such as this young black bear,... which I'm sure is hungry after having not eaten anything for at least 6 months, but still won't find much yet, until the plant life springs up,.. which will happen very soon, now that the snow cover is gone,... and the moose also get their first taste of something other than woody brush twigs,... and even the little bulls are starting to grow bumps on their heads,.... :waving:


----------



## LawnProLandscapes

wow those are some amazing pictures, that wildlife scenery is amazing up there, we dont get to see anything like that around here.


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## Alaska Boss

LawnProLandscapes;780344 said:


> wow those are some amazing pictures, that wildlife scenery is amazing up there, we dont get to see anything like that around here.


Yeah, this time of year it seems like there is stuff all over the place,.. but once the leaves come out on the brush, and all the tourists show up, then you never see anything. I had to make a run down to Valdez a couple days ago, and saw 5 bears, 2 moose, about 6 mountain goats, and about a dozen porcupines, plus uncountable rabbits, etc., on a 75 mile drive. All 5 bears were up on the hillside just above town,... I'm sure if I would have glassed other mountains, I could have found a bunch more. A couple years ago, sitting right in the middle of town, I spotted 17 bears on the surronding hillsides with my binoculars,.. no wonder bears come wandering into town all the time. This one was a sow with 2 cubs, one black one & one brown one,... munching on fresh grass and plants that are just coming up now (this was a much as my camera would zoom in on them) :waving:


----------



## Alaska Boss

Trying to take moose pictures while driving by never works too well.... most of the time the goats stay way up towards the top of the mountains, and are just tiny white specks, but these 2 billies were quite low,.. maybe coming down to cross over to a new mountain,... but still quite a ways away from the highway,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

This bull has some serious head damage,... I'm surprised he survived the winter,... probably from fighting with another bull last fall.... over some hottie cow moose,...

:yow!:


----------



## Alaska Boss

And the eagles are everywhere,.... there's a few fresh fish being caught already ( I start fishing in a couple weeks), and the eagles just turn into scavengers right in the harbor,... causing the sea gulls all kinds of grief,...


----------



## Alaska Boss

And the porcupines are waddling along the roads as well,... many get hit by big trucks,... their long winter guard hairs are falling out now,... exposing the quills on their back sides first,... just don't get too close....


----------



## Alaska Boss

But, we have to have some snow pictures too, in order to not stay off-topic too long,.... and here we have some thing not seen around here too often,... although the snow has melted sooner this year than most, in the high country, it's very obvious now how much ash we got right in this area,... it's all exposed now, and one can see how it "drifted" as it fell, before being covered up very soon with clean snow. Not too often the snow on every mountain is dirty like this,.,.. it's always pure white til it's gone,....


----------



## Alaska Boss

oooops,.. forgot the pictures,... :waving:


----------



## DeVries

Wow that moose really got beat up, looks painful.

I'm looking forward to seeing your fishing boat pics as well, keep em coming.


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## bru z71

nice truck


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## LawnProLandscapes

i wish the adirondacks around here had half thscenes that you have there. yea that bull did take quite a beating... those pics of the bears are nice..


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## Alaska Boss

I just realized that I had a couple snow pictures left over of my last snowmachine trip I took in April, so I figured I might as well post them here, before this thread dies. A couple friends & myself like to go back into country we've never been in before, and late winter is the best time to do that.


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## Alaska Boss

The state bird for Alaska is the willow ptarmigan, a grouse-type game bird that turns white in the winter, and is brown during the summer. They can be almost impossible to see/find at times, and yet you can almost step on them sometimes before they fly off,... especially when they've probably never seen a human or machine before,... :waving:


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## Alaska Boss

*Last of the snow*

Well, it's June 3, 2009, and the last of the snow in my yard is about to disappear. We've had some fresh snow lately in the mountains, but it melts in a day or two. Even close to Anchorage there was new snow in the hills. This past winter I was plowing on Sept. 30th, and I always have snow left in my yard into June, so actually, July & August are the only 2 months, in most years, that don't see snow on the ground in some form. What am I gonna do for 3½ months now with no snow??  :waving:


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## AndyTblc

Holy smokes, for being in alaska, that road is in good shape, here in michigan, our roads don't look half that decent after winter.


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## Mark Oomkes

AndyTblc;782320 said:


> Holy smokes, for being in alaska, that road is in good shape, here in michigan, our roads don't look half that decent after winter.


That's because they don't have an idiot for a governor, idiots in the legislature, DOT, etc.


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## DeVries

AndyTblc;782320 said:


> Holy smokes, for being in alaska, that road is in good shape, here in michigan, our roads don't look half that decent after winter.


Ditto on the good roads, I was up there last fall and couldn't believe how good the roads were even though they get all that frost and snow. Here in Ontario some roads are just brutal. I guess our "stimulus money" hasn't come down the pipe yet


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## Alaska Boss

There's been fresh snow on the tops of the mountains around here almost every week or two all spring & summer so far, even tho it melts off in a day or two.... this fell yesterday on the official 1st day of summer,....  :bluebounc


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## DeVries

Hey it's great to see some fresh snow pics. We've had 80 plus weather lately the new snow looks kinda refreshing. 

Any fishing charters happening yet?


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## Alaska Boss

DeVries;784396 said:


> Hey it's great to see some fresh snow pics. We've had 80 plus weather lately the new snow looks kinda refreshing.
> 
> Any fishing charters happening yet?


Yep, fishing has been going pretty good,.. biggest halibut so far has been 198 lbs, but bigger ones will come. There's still snow right down on the beach in places here yet. One of the more unusual things I found on a trip this summer so far, was a dead floating whale, that was bloated, and was becoming a navigational hazard, so the Coast Guard took one of their cutters over to it & shot it full of holes with a machine gun til it finally sunk. :yikes:


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## ATV Plow King

That whale is CRAZY


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## Alaska Boss

Well, here's the last pile of snow left in Valdez,... this was taken on the 4th of July, right in town, and shown with how the same pile looked in December and April,.... :waving:


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## Dissociative




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## Maine-Rider

Thanks for sharing your plowing pictures Alaska Boss!


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## 91AK250

hey alaska boss! i thought i would drop in and say hi. i hope the summer has treated you well?


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## Alaska Boss

91AK250;790265 said:


> hey alaska boss! i thought i would drop in and say hi. i hope the summer has treated you well?


Hi Russ,... well, the summer isn't quite over yet, but so far, it's been a lot warmer than it ever got last year. The bad part is that ½ of Alaska has been on fire this summer, and the interior has been choked with smoke for so long,.. so not only am I looking forward to snow again, but clear/clean air would be nice as well. Still have another month of halibut fishing left,... my biggest so far for my customers has been a 247 lber,.. but I still need to find one about 50 lbs more,.... payup :waving:


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## Alaska Boss

Even tho Valdez has been snow-free for several weeks now, there is still snow left just a few feet above the water just down the bay from town. These are well-used snow-slide gullies that have avalanches coming down them all the time each winter. This photo was taken yesterday, August 1, on my way out in the morning to the fishing grounds,... :salute:


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## 91AK250

oh man! i wish i'd gotton out and fished. hopfully i will before it gets too late in the season.


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## willyswagon

What's the daily temperatures? When is the best time to go get the Big Halibut? How much per day for a charter?


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## Alaska Boss

willyswagon;791503 said:


> What's the daily temperatures? When is the best time to go get the Big Halibut? How much per day for a charter?


Well, the temps out on the water average in the 50's for the most part, (10°-15° C), unless we've had some calm sunny days, then it gets a little warmer. The prime-time fishing goes from about mid-June thru mid-August, but the big ones are always out there somewhere. Prices average from about $250-$300 per person, depending on the boat, and it's no big deal to come back with 100 lbs of fish each, which makes ocean-fresh halibut & other stuff cheaper than hamburger, but it's $12 - $15/lb in the store, even here.


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## Alaska Boss

A good friend of mine & his son just got back from a sheep hunt,.... but got dumped on with snow,... he said one night the tent almost collapsed,.... (this is the 2nd week of August)


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## Alaska Boss

This was between 5000 & 6000 ft elevation,... it can be rather dangerous climbing around on the rocks and hard to find a white sheep with new snow everywhere,... but the snow is coming !! :redbounce:bluebouncpurplebou


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## gkm

WOW! You always have the greatest pics. makes me want to change my zip code


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## DeVries

Hey great pics once again. With the heat and humidity we are having here now (31degree's celcius or 86 degree's farenheit) makes me want to roll around in that new snow. 
I'm glad to see it's coming.


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## 91AK250

yep its def on the the way! i'm so sick of leaves i cant begin to descibe it haha

getting in the low 30s at night.


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## asps4u

Alaska Boss;794655 said:


> Well, the temps out on the water average in the 50's for the most part, (10°-15° C), unless we've had some calm sunny days, then it gets a little warmer. The prime-time fishing goes from about mid-June thru mid-August, but the big ones are always out there somewhere. Prices average from about $250-$300 per person, depending on the boat, and it's no big deal to come back with 100 lbs of fish each, which makes ocean-fresh halibut & other stuff cheaper than hamburger, but it's $12 - $15/lb in the store, even here.


Whoa! That's awesome! I envy you for sure. I wish I could move there.


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## Alaska Boss

Well, exactly 1 year ago today, when I started this thread, we had already had about 20" of snow,... and it was -18°,... and I was plowing full-time. And this year, we have had maybe 2", and today it was +42°,... what a difference a year makes! But since I'm defintely behind for being ready, I guess it's a good thing. This will be my last post on this thread,... and I guess later on when winter finally does show up, I can start a new one for this year,... this is what my driveway looks like this year (1st pic), compared to what it looked like last year (2nd pic),...


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## miltonplower

hey alaska boss how's the 00 chevy comming?


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## toby4492

Alaska Boss;839060 said:


> Well, exactly 1 year ago today, when I started this thread, we had already had about 20" of snow,... and it was -18°,... and I was plowing full-time. And this year, we have had maybe 2", and today it was +42°,... what a difference a year makes! But since I'm defintely behind for being ready, I guess it's a good thing. This will be my last post on this thread,... and I guess later on when winter finally does show up, I can start a new one for this year,... this is what my driveway looks like this year (1st pic), compared to what it looked like last year (2nd pic),...


Thanks for another great thread AB. :salute:

I look forward to this years version and wish you a safe, profitable season. :waving:


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## Alaska Boss

miltonplower;839094 said:


> hey alaska boss how's the 00 chevy comming?


It's coming along,.. but not near done yet. I had a bunch of deer to deal with this week,... so it got put on hold for a few days while I was busy getting my winter meat supply in,... 



toby4492;839101 said:


> Thanks for another great thread AB. :salute:
> 
> I look forward to this years version and wish you a safe, profitable season. :waving:


Thanks toby,... & wish the same for you too,.. :salute:


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## gene gls

Alaska Boss;794655 said:


> Well, the temps out on the water average in the 50's for the most part, (10°-15° C), unless we've had some calm sunny days, then it gets a little warmer. The prime-time fishing goes from about mid-June thru mid-August, but the big ones are always out there somewhere. Prices average from about $250-$300 per person, depending on the boat, and it's no big deal to come back with 100 lbs of fish each, which makes ocean-fresh halibut & other stuff cheaper than hamburger, but it's $12 - $15/lb in the store, even here.


What kind of fish is that on the right in the first set? Thanks for all the great pics. I will be looking forward to the new thread.


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## airtime

great thread, very enjoyable to read and view your pics. makes me miss my time in the colorado mtns. looking forward to this years posts.


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## Alaska Boss

gene gls;841400 said:


> What kind of fish is that on the right in the first set? Thanks for all the great pics. I will be looking forward to the new thread.


That's a lingcod,... a very ferocious predator with a mouth not only big enough to swallow itself, but full of long sharp teeth as well. They're like a pitbull,.. sometimes we catch a smaller fish & a lingcod will come along & clamp onto it & it won't let go even if it's pulled out of the water. Another excellent white-meat, non-fishy tasting fish. That particular one in the photo you quoted was only about a pound off of the state record from back in the mid-'90's,.... but of course having a big octopus in it's stomach sorta boosted the weight on that one,... 
wesport

But, back to the main topic,... I've been getting an inch or two of snow every day or two lately now,... and this weekend it's supposed to fianlly get below zero,... so maybe winter will finally set in around here in the next few days,... I hope !! :waving:


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## miltonplower

any pic's of the new chevy is it done yet?


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## Alaska Boss

miltonplower;843404 said:


> any pic's of the new chevy is it done yet?


It's not done & ready yet, but things are coming along,... today I picked up my new plow,... and I'm taking pics as I go,.. but I think I'll wait til it's done with everything,... then post them all together in the equipment forum,... :waving:


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## ALC-GregH

I don't recall you listing the Case skid steer in your sig last year. 

Look forward to all the great reads and pictures you post.


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## Snowplow71

Can you bust the secret on what plow you got? I'm going to guess a Boss V... 

ALC-GregH,
The skidder was in his signature last year I'm pretty sure. Haven't seen him use it yet tho.


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## jadyejr

Alaska Boss;842858 said:


> That's a lingcod,... a very ferocious predator with a mouth not only big enough to swallow itself, but full of long sharp teeth as well. They're like a pitbull,.. sometimes we catch a smaller fish & a lingcod will come along & clamp onto it & it won't let go even if it's pulled out of the water. Another excellent white-meat, non-fishy tasting fish. That particular one in the photo you quoted was only about a pound off of the state record from back in the mid-'90's,.... but of course having a big octopus in it's stomach sorta boosted the weight on that one,...
> wesport
> 
> But, back to the main topic,... I've been getting an inch or two of snow every day or two lately now,... and this weekend it's supposed to fianlly get below zero,... so maybe winter will finally set in around here in the next few days,... I hope !! :waving:


Now that fish is hardcore! I want one!


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## Lux Lawn

toby4492;839101 said:


> Thanks for another great thread AB. :salute:
> 
> I look forward to this years version and wish you a safe, profitable season. :waving:


Agreed...
Some crazy weather you got up there Boss thats for sure, I b!tch amd complain when we get a little lake effect snow here. What you guys get....well all I can do is laugh and shake my head.


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## Alaska Boss

ALC-GregH;844374 said:


> I don't recall you listing the Case skid steer in your sig last year.
> Look forward to all the great reads and pictures you post.


Yeah, it was there,... had it now for a few years,... but generally don't use it for snow removal until later in the winter for moving piles, or pushing banks back, etc. I've got about 5 or 6 different attachments too,... so that machine can do almost anything I need, (or my neighbors need,... )



Snowplow71;844654 said:


> Can you bust the secret on what plow you got? I'm going to guess a Boss V...
> 
> ALC-GregH,
> The skidder was in his signature last year I'm pretty sure. Haven't seen him use it yet tho.


I just bought a new plow yesterday for the new truck,... and it is a Boss V, but an 8.2. It's not what I really wanted, would rather have had another 9.2, but I got it from one of my best friends, and even tho it's a couple years old, it's never been used,... as a matter of fact, it's never even been registered,... so, I have a plow without a scratch on it for less than ½ price of new,... just couldn't pass it up. Plus, I have an extra set of brackets for the Boss wings, which I'll put on it,.. then it'll be a 10 foot plow,.. which will still work just fine. Just didn't seem to make sense to spend over $3K more for another foot of plow. A VXT would have been great too, but then my wings wouldn't fit,... and the regualer V's have done the job over the years anyway,... pictures to come,.. :salute:


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## Alaska Boss

Lux Lawn;844903 said:


> Agreed...
> Some crazy weather you got up there Boss thats for sure, I b!tch amd complain when we get a little lake effect snow here. What you guys get....well all I can do is laugh and shake my head.


Yeah,... "lake effect" is one thing,... but places like Valdez get "ocean effect",... I'm just glad I'm live far enough into the interior to be out of that "effect". But our temps are going below zero now,.... so everything is froze and locked up now until next April/May,.... so I have 6 months of plowing ahead of me now,... and so far I've only had a couple inches of snow,.... not enough to plow,... but after the next snowfall I will,.... :bluebounc


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## DareDog

wow thats a big log!


no updated signature yet??? :bluebounc


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## Lux Lawn

Alaska Boss;845315 said:


> Yeah,... "lake effect" is one thing,... but places like Valdez get "ocean effect",... I'm just glad I'm live far enough into the interior to be out of that "effect". But our temps are going below zero now,.... so everything is froze and locked up now until next April/May,.... so I have 6 months of plowing ahead of me now,... and so far I've only had a couple inches of snow,.... not enough to plow,... but after the next snowfall I will,.... :bluebounc


I'm sure that everyone up there has to have 4 wheel drive, so what kind of trigger do you go by.


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