No Power=No Gas

[Timothy]

Us Yankee's used to laugh when I was at Camp Lejuene NC, first flurry and the Southern boys were in the ditches.
I forget if it was 78 or 79 but they got 3 feet in one storm, They closed the Base for 3 days. The Southern boys were huddled in the barracks, We were jumping off the third floor catwalk into the drifts  

You don't have to go that far south to find this sort of thing.

Here in CT, they close the schools the day BEFORE the storm...

I've lived in the north for 50 of my 53 years, including one in Iceland where it snows a FOOT an hour and I've never missed a day of work because of snow.  If the office or shop was open, I've managed to plow through the crud.

I've also never owned a four wheel drive vehicle.  I'm rethinking that because I can't do as much physically as I once could.

[rat31465]

I have a brother-in-law who moved from northern Iowa to southern Missouri.  The first winter there, after the first 2 inch snowfall, which paralyzed his city, he was out clearing his driveway with his big, track-drive John Deere snow-blower when his neighbor came across the street, introduced himself, and said, "Y'all ain't from around here, are ya?"

Speaking as one who has lived in Southwest Missouri all his life I have to say....Bull Puckey.  We don't say y'all here.  We say Youn's. 
As for the two inches of snow shutting down the city...well all I can say is that he must not live in Springfield, and that our area in SWMO does seem to draw an enormous amount of Domestic foreigners here due to our lower cost of living andnewer Health care facilities.
 Lot's of em retiring here and bringing their bad habits and poor driving skills with them.
Most of us real Hillbilly's laugh at snow, but when the freezing rain and ice starts to hit then it's game on.

If you don't like the Weather in Missouri just wait a few hours... yesterdays weather...we had Thunderstorm warnings which prompted flood warning which gave way to Tornado warnings and now today our temps have dropped and we are under a winter storm advisory with light freezing rain to give way to snow flurries this afternoon.

[fightingquaker13]

Sort of like Texas. It never got that cold, and little snow. BUT.... you did get ice storms. 2" on the road, and I don't care if you are from the upper midwest. You aren't driving in that if you're sane. It was rare, but it was ugly when it happened.
FQ13

[mortdooley]

Just don't tell your insurance company or fire marshall. Honestly, I really think propane is the way to go with generators. As for gas? Well a seperate building for storage is a huge plus. I wouldn't fell comfortable keeping much in the garage.
FQ13

Although my manners are not always the best I really don't live in the barn, its a good 50 yards behind the house.

[Bidah]

I store gasoline and diesel in tanks above ground.  I use Stabil the in gas and it has worked for me quite well.  Personally I believe that propane is the way to go for generators, especially ones that sit unused for long periods of time.  Our house generator (remember that off grid living thing) is propane.  Propane is liquified at somewhere around 40 below zero.  That generator has started up all the way down to 37 below zero.  It hasn't gotten any colder than that since we got it, so I don't know how it would be if we hit 50.  I do keep a backup generator to the backup generator, and that one is gas.  I can tell you trying to get that thing started at 20 below is a major pain, especially when it has been left outside.

-Bidah

[Sponsor]

[billt]

  I do keep a backup generator to the backup generator, and that one is gas.  I can tell you trying to get that thing started at 20 below is a major pain, especially when it has been left outside.  -Bidah

When I lived in Illinois I found a 1,500 watt blow dryer to be a very useful tool in getting engines started in very cold weather. I used it to start my Volkswagen Rabbit Diesel in -15 degree weather. I would use a piece of duct tape to attach it to the air intake portion of the air cleaner, then turn it on for about 3 to 5 minutes. It would warm all of the air in the intake and all I had to do was energize the glow plugs, hit the starter, (with the hair dryer still attached and running), and it would fire right up. It rattled like hell and belched white smoke until she warmed up, but it started.

I also had 2, Honda 250 SX 3 - Wheelers that were a bear to start when it got below 20 degrees. I built a little platform out of 2 X 4's just high enough to level the exhaust of the hair dryer at the cylinder head. I attached it with Zip Ties, plugged it in, let it run for about 3 to 5 minutes, blowing hot air right on the cylinder head at the spark plug, and they would fire right up with full choke and no throttle. My snow blower had a primer along with electric start, so it would fire no matter what. A hair dryer can put heat right where you need it on an engine to help get it started. Now, if you need a generator to run the hair dryer you could resort to a few of those chemical hand warmers they sell to put some heat into that.  Bill T.

[tombogan03884]

One convenient thing about propane powered stuff is that in a dire emergency it can be converted to run on methane.That you can generate on your own.