Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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100%, agree.

Sticks great till you're in an underpowered 10 wheeler plowing cul-de-sac or any other scenario where you're constantly going front and back, or constantly stopping and starting. It's a big reason short run and vocational trucks are automatics for years now. I prefer stick for many reasons, but automatics have their place.
I doubt I'm going back to driving. But if I did, I'd rather have an auto with a comfy new seat than a 13 speed that some lard ass has wallowed around on for 700,000 miles.
 
Sticks great till you're in an underpowered 10 wheeler plowing cul-de-sac or any other scenario where you're constantly going front and back, or constantly stopping and starting. It's a big reason short run and vocational trucks are automatics for years now. I prefer stick for many reasons, but automatics have their place.
Yeah, automatics definitely have their place. I find automatics especially useful when I'm hauling a heavy load. I don't have to keep frequently shifting gears. This is even more true when I'm driving in a hilly part of the country.
 
It’s 57° here, forecast is for 52° tonight. People here have been talking about it’s been “so” cold here, lol. (It was a little colder). I tell them it’s not cold, and they act like I’m crazy. I’ve been in colder places. In Germany we slept outside in our sleeping bags at -27°, that was during a field exercise near Baumholder. I was fine, but our canteens were all frozen solid on our hip. They’d bring a water trailer out from a heated shop, every day.
 
Well that was interesting.

My suburban started riding very rough and lots of feedback through the steering wheel.

One tire on each front and rear (different brands) had belt separation with wires working their way out of the side of the tread.

I usually run tires out of rubber before they fail. I acquired both of these as good used so I’m guessing these were both older tires. I’ll check date codes when I go to the shop next.
 
100%, agree.

Sticks great till you're in an underpowered 10 wheeler plowing cul-de-sac or any other scenario where you're constantly going front and back, or constantly stopping and starting. It's a big reason short run and vocational trucks are automatics for years now. I prefer stick for many reasons, but automatics have their place.
There are so many stop signs around here that sticks are not fun anymore. Back in ‘85 I liked cruising up Rte 28 through the Catskills in a stick equipped 1985 Scirocco. It had the power and handling to easily cope with the long steep hills and twisting roads. I did it once or twice a week to go woodchuck hunting in Bloomville. The driving and hunting were both fun…
 
I used to see those cheater chains on the school buses around here, but I don't think they have them anymore. I guess if you don't drive in the snow, you don't need them!

I learned to drive on my parent's cars (both autos, 64 Galaxy with a 352 and 65 Country Squire with a 390), but I bought my first used Mustang when I was 18 (a 67 fastback with a 289 - 4 speed) and have had stick shift cars ever since, including 9 of my 10 Mustangs, 2 Ford Rangers, 2 Ford Explorers and 2 Thunderbirds (85 Turbo Coupe and 92 Super Coupe). However, my 2019 F-150 was ONLY available with an automatic, and that 10 speed is spoiling me.

Gone are the days when you give up performance or fuel economy because you choose an automatic! If you are towing a heavy trailer and using the cruise control, it will sometimes triple downshift going up a steep hill, but it does not lose speed!

If I had to replace the Mustang with what is available today, it would be tough to stick with the stick knowing that it is both slower and gets worse mileage!

I don't like launch control ... I feel that if you have a fast car you should have to know how to drive ... but it is not going to change back again, and the auto works much better with it. It even limits tire spin when auto shifting ... and the sticks come with Rev Match ... WTF!!!! I know how to drive, I don't want that crap!
 
I did it once or twice a week to go woodchuck hunting in Bloomville.
Every year I used to go up to my aunt's farm (125 acres in West Winfield) with my 220 Swift to reduce the chuck population.

Then one year my cousin told me "Don't bother ... the coyotes have taken all of them". Was the end of an era!
 
Every year I used to go up to my aunt's farm (125 acres in West Winfield) with my 220 Swift to reduce the chuck population.

Then one year my cousin told me "Don't bother ... the coyotes have taken all of them". Was the end of an era!
Yeah… the coyotes did a good job on the whistle pigs. The urban woodchucks are a different story… an endless supply of them to the point they are a problem. Some are easy to get in a Havahart trap and others won’t get anywhere near them.

You hunted about 60 miles north of where I did.
 
Well that was interesting.

My suburban started riding very rough and lots of feedback through the steering wheel.

One tire on each front and rear (different brands) had belt separation with wires working their way out of the side of the tread.

I usually run tires out of rubber before they fail. I acquired both of these as good used so I’m guessing these were both older tires. I’ll check date codes when I go to the shop next.
I have seen that happen when tires are rotated from one side to the other side. The belts start working in the opposite direction and let loose. I have had it happen to me once with steel belted radials.
 
I have seen that happen when tires are rotated from one side to the other side. The belts start working in the opposite direction and let loose. I have had it happen to me once with steel belted radials.
Also improper install, damage included and items such as weights being dropped in.
 
We had a little bit of excitement next door at our farm tonight. A Toyota Tundra met a light pole. The driver was okay. The truck not so much.

Wife got hit in our "new"(08)honda odyssey tonight, she's fine and the van just got a bit scuffed as far as I could tell. Guess she stopped at a light that changed quickly because the train came thru town, there was fresh snow on the ground, but it was still 100% his fault.

How's the light pole 😆
 
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