Chaining Up

Chaining isn't the end of the world and its not dangerous. Chaining will get you out of the bad situation. I'm also a Northeast guy like the op. I didn't leave the confines of the east coast besides wandering off into Texas or Chicago every once in a while. I ran NYC and New England, and we have our fair share of winter weather plus the hills in PA and WV will turn you western boys white. That being said, the NW is a different kind of animal completely. Colorado and their 11,000 ft mountains, Oregon and Cabbage, Cali and Donner, which aren't bad as Colorado's Wolf Creek but hold their own challenges. Every driver worth his salt out there throw chains. I do as well. It's a pain, but it could save your life by getting you out of a bad situation. You come across 90 and Snoqualmie has chain law up, you better make your plans early if you're not chaining. You got Ellenburg and Easton and that's it, and both have limited parking. Learn to chain, don't be afraid to do it.

 

Its mostly a matter of understanding what one's self is capable of and confident with vs being over confindent or over cautious in my opinion. I can honestly say there were times I chained up and drove that 50 - 100 miles in a few hours time or so just to be able to unchain. But I can also say there were times when another 5 miles was just not a good idea. Most of my decisions when it came to factoring chaining played heavily on the time of day, and amount of traffic I may be surrounded by along with severity of weather conditions.

After you chain a few times and get the hang of it, the chaining part becomes a whole heck of a lot easier. Only because with repetition you get a better understanding by doing. Pratice throwing chains on, its not going to hurt anything. And its a whole heck of a lot easier when you dont have gusts of wind blowing snow into your face and your hands are not feeling like they are about to freeze off through your gloves.

Just keep in mind, safety has no hazards. IF your not comfortable with it. Then don't do it. Its better to keep you safe along with others, then putting yourself into a bad situation where you could not only harm yourself, but also others.

 

When working in the Oilfield our boss said we needed to chain up all round; steers, drives, and drag. If we didn't and we got stuck, then we had to pay the bill. If we chained up and still got stuck then the company we were working for at the time would pay to get us out. We chained up a bunch. I only got stuck once...mud up to the axles, luckily we got another truck in to pump me off and then it was an easy task to pull me out. And if you think chaining up on the side of the highway sucks, then you haven't done it in a few inches of mud in an oilfield chain up area lol.

Now I run between Cheyenne and Wamsutter almost every night and this time of year it can suck. Best thing you can do is slow down. On the way back to Cheyenne I'm running empty so braking and slowing feels a lot safer, but then you are very light and you have to take that into consideration when accelerating and braking since you can break traction easier. A very steady slow speed can keep you moving, no excessive acceleration or you'll spin. And the wind can and will push you around on the ice. I haven't had to chain up yet this year, but I'm not afraid to if I need to. When chaining, it is best to get them tight. If you get excessive slapping you will eventually start breaking the cross pieces if you run on them long enough, or they can come unlatched and start tearing stuff up. Safety wire comes in handy to secure the loose ends. I'm of the school that drapes the chain over the tires with the excess in front/back, then drive forward, or backwards on an incline, until you can attach the ends and tighten them up. Drive forward a little bit to let then settle, then retighten.

Was heading back to Cheyenne about a week ago, and ran into a slalom course of spun out trucks heading up Sherman pass east of Laramie. I wasn't chained up, but was only doing a slow steady 15 and hadn't spun my tires heading into the hill. And luckily the trucks were not all spun out in the same spot. There were trucks in the right, left, and middle lanes, but I was able to make my way through them without any problem. If I would have had to stop for any reason I would have had to throw chains on to get going again. If i was loaded and heading west down the hill, i probably would have turned around and gone back to Cheyenne and called it a night since there were trucks stopped all over the place westbound heading down. About halfway down it was at that point where you had snow and slush which can be really slick. Once I was on top, along with about 5 other trucks that made it up, it was all snow, which is much easier to drive on. It may be a little rougher, but you do get better traction on snow, then slush and ice. Personally i would rather the plows raise their blades and just throw sand down instead of creating a hard pack sheet of ice. But I cannot stress enough, that if you are going to press on...SLOW DOWN. It may take me a few hours more for me to get home, but so be it.

 

Hammer, Chompi never been in the ditch! See the difference?

 

Really, Chompi? Is that the best you can do? This may just be the most pathetic response I have ever read. Beat the straw man much?

 

NO...

I can do much better... Like not drive my supertrucker ### into the ditch!

Believe me hammer I am far more superior to you when it comes to intellect and physical stature. Take your outta shape supertrucker comments down the road with you.

 

ROFLMAO! Really, Chompi? Can your daddy beat up my daddy, too?

I rarely bring up intellect, because it doesn't make one person any better than any other, it is a gift. An IQ of, let's say 140, means you can process information in a way most people can not; it does in no way make you 'better' than another. But since you bring it up, I'm sure you can spit out the formula needed to calculate the volume of fuel in a fuel tank? You know, inches to gallons? Or maybe a brief discussion on the physics of why cars fare badly in collisions with big trucks? Maybe a small treatise on the effects of various axle configurations on the stability of articulated vehicles in high winds?

When you walk in a room bragging about your big d***, you might make sure you're not outclassed before you go whooping it out.

Have a grand day!

 

I'm assuming that this post is referring to the one immediately prior by Hammer166. If that be the case, with all due respect, there is no need to resort to childish tirades (like kids on a playground) in an attempt to hide the apparent fact that you are either too inexperienced or too scared (or both) for winter driving. There's no shame in either case as not everyone is cut out for it and, in fact, you should be commended for knowing your own limitations. However, trying to belittle someone that DOES have, both the experience and the ability to drive safely and effectively in winter does not diminish intelligent peoples view of Hammer166 but rather, highlight your inexperience and fear and make you come off like some spoiled little kid. I am in full agreement with you that YOU should pull over and park should winter road conditions become such that chains are required to continue safely. Everyone has their own experience threshold/comfort zone and should operate within it.

 

Here's the answer to your 3rd grade math equation...

Assuming you are talking cylindrical tank measurements you measure the height and diameter of the tank in inches for horizontal tanks you use the length instead of the height, divide the diameter measurement by two to calculate the radius.

Pi * radius squared * height (length for horizontal) Pi is a constant measured as 3.14

Volume = x inches * x inches * x inches = x cubic inches

Convert to cubic inches to gallons by dividing 231


So what kind of physics would you like to talk to about? I am very educated in Fluid Dynamics, Hydro Dynamics and also Continuum Mechanics but will entertain any type of conservation of any of the sciences.

 

You missed the question... calculating the volume of cylinder is easy... calculating the volume of liquid in a horizontal cylinder requires some integration, which while not hard, is more than third grade math. But I think I proved my point, and won't bother with you anymore.