Is it Ski Season Yet?

[blair]

My fellow Clipper mates,

The family and I recently purchased a 1978 clipper and to date and have taken 2 amazing trips through the Great Northwest.  We are starting to think snow and looking forward to spending weekends at the ski resort warm and cozy in our Clipper. 

Does anyone know how these beasts handle in the snow?  I have yet to purchase chains and so any feedback regarding same would be appreciated or tips on other snow paraphernalia.

Thanks a ton,

Blair

[John Eversoll]

     Hey"   P D 2""""   This is right up your Alley!!!!

      Just for the record,  PD2 lives in Alaska with his Clipper"

     John

[prophetdaniel2]

you are not gonna beleive this, but ive never driven my rig in the snow! now i tore out the dash heat, so i never will. sorry t dissappoint. i dont know how warm youll be, these rigs dont seem well insulated.

[Horst]

I'm assuming you have a generator - cause if you don't - you'll might have power issues if you don't have shore power.
I have never been below freezing in mine - but I have been out in the mid  30s, and it did fine with just a good electric heater (I had shore power.)
Also - you'll need to winterize your water lines, etc.
You might want to run a second small fan somewhere around the cab area (condensation sometimes becomes an issue)
Have fun  - I've always wanted to do that.

[USNRetired]

Snow?  Oh, that stuff I see on TV during the Winter Olympics.  I grew up in Portland, Oregon - joined the Navy in 1966 and have not been in the snow since, except to take the grandkids up through Julian and the Sunrise Highway AFTER the roads have been cleared and in my Jeep Chickory. 

However, I do remember seeing log trucks and such running all over the place throughout the winter around Mount Hood and they had chains.  Those are pretty big rigs and when not loaded with logs are pretty light.  The drivers would just slow it down and followed a similar rule I learned about riding a motorcycle in the rain.  You drive it exactly the same as on dry pavement, but slower - with more distance between you and the guy in front.  If some IDIOT decides to pass you and jump in front, take a deep breath, smile at him, wave at him telling him he's number one (with the middle finger) and continue keeping that distance.  You have a lot of mass and it likes to keep going.

I still have my cab heat, but would only use it during the winter since it heats no matter what setting I put it on.  Damn good heater!  Put it on air, coolest setting and turn the fan on and you get hot air.     That fan thing is a great idea!  I have on that plugs into the lighter...  may just hard wire it to the fuse box though and epoxy it somewhere on the ceiling or something. 

My next big thing is I want to install a good CB Rig, figure out where to mount the antler(s) and maybe eventually a 2 meter rig.  That is after I solve my refrigerator problem.

[John Eversoll]

  How doo dee doooo,  Well, as far as mounting the "antlers" goes


   I mounted mine on the side mirror frames at the top.  Ran the cord along the frame and into the door.  Out the inside of the door next to the jam and ran the cord to the unit. 
Pretty direct.. and easy

[USNRetired]

Hey John... will try this as a last resort.  I had thought of mounting on the mirror frames, but that would require me to drill holes in the door, right? 

How about the rear bumper... but that requires a long antenna lead from the radio.

I'm a retire Navy Radioman, have run some cable in my life, but sure hate to!  That's why I'm retired.

[John Eversoll]

Hey Bro, that is an issue, runing cable and it is not cheep... You get the best clarity with shortest cable

you can run..  I have mt C B mounted under the drivers seat out of the way....

As for driving with chains, I was told that you could put one on the drive wheel and the other on the drivers side front tire.... Don't have the experience of this yetr but am sure I will....
John

[bulldog 1995]

if you run chains on your rig, keep in mind that the propane line runs about 6 inches in front of the driver's side duals. if they brake loose and damage that line it could cause a little "excitement" for you.

[John Eversoll]

Funny you should mention that, The previous owner had a 1/4 in steel plat covering that line I guess for such potential problems....

[USNRetired]

Now there's an idea!  1/4 inch steel plate to protect the propane line in critical locations!  1/4 inch surely would do the job!  When the time comes to redo my propane lines, I've been thinking about armoring the entire run to protect the lines, including gas lines.  Maybe a little overkill, but what the heck!

[John Eversoll]

Hi Jim, I just ran steel tube inside the frame... I don't care for the way it was run along the frame so I did better by running it thru the frame.. But I did put two in line filters ..  One just after the tank and one just before the fuel pump and then I have one just before the carb.
Better to be safe than sorry....John

[USNRetired]

After my recent adventure having to pay to have the tank dropped, new lines run, new float inside the tank, etc so on and so forth, I am ready to armor everything!  May just get up the courage to climb under the beast and start running some channels and doing some replumbing and rewiring.  Won't hurt to redo the propane lines as well while I'm under there.  Just need to get someone to feed me beer every now and then.  Cannot do the scotch or the job would never get done!  I really do like my scotch!

[John Eversoll]

OH    Glenn Levit""""

I miss drinkling Scotch....... But it was time to hang it up.....

I was doing a bottle of Glenn and a 12 pack every night.

What I can't figure out is I always had money to buy the booze

and the beer....  Now I don't drink and I am broke almost every month???

What's up with that!!!!!
Anyway, I know that the age of these rigs takes a toll. and it is up to us to keep them in running order

Sometimes Ya just want to call Pick Ur part and say come and get it...

But then after the Blood presure goes down ya start to think how to remedy the problem..

If we didn't have these rigs to play with, We would probably end up Playing Penuckle with the wife and her friends.........................................Eyuk...........

Keep in touch Jim.    John..  Oh I had to change my Email acct , some SOB hacked into it and started sending crap to all my friends..

[USNRetired]

HI John, just changed my email account too for similar reasons...  jamesjohnson10@cox.net ...  ;-)