My history with the HUP and the 3 Tons are tied to snow because snow played a part in going to look at them and or in picking them up and hauling them home. In the case of the HUP the first time I saw it it was about 20 degrees on a snowy January day in Vermont. The C60S was likewise picked up and hauled home on a cold day.
Though I rarely drive either of the trucks out on the highway once they have put out the road salt I do drive them regularly when it has snow heavy before they use salt.
As any of you who have driven military non-directional tires on snow know they are next to worthless on a snow covered plowed snow. The contact area of the tires is so small that you have about the same traction as a bicycle. In fact once I've plowed the door yard and go to back BEAST out of the garage if I leave it in two-wheel drive it stops moving as soon as the rear wheels hit the snow. The drag of the grease and oil in the front axle is so great it requires four-wheel drive.
But if the snow isn't plowed it is a different story, We have not had a storm that would stop BEAUTY even the heavy wet snow storms we get some times don't stop it. There have been times that have used the 3 Ton to brake a path for my civilian 1 ton Jeep plow truck which couldn't move in the two feet of heavy wet snow with the plow up let alone. A couple of times up and down the drive with big truck and then the plow could start to work. Over the years I have had plow drivers from the town show up at the door during heavy storms when they have gotten stuck near the house. As long as they haven't plowed all the road completely I can get traction and generally can pull them out. But every now and then I have gotten the trucks stuck and when 11,000 Lbs is stuck in the snow it is stuck. Here Beauty has slipped off the road into a ditch. The power cord running out to the truck are to keep the water system in the box from freezing over night.
Neither of my trucks have the arctic option of a heater so whatever the temperature out is what it is in the cab. I made up the radiator muff which covers the grill and this allows the engine to warm up much quicker and completely. It also makes a big difference in how the engine runs at low temperatures particularly if the manifold heat riser valve is stuck in the open position or has been blocked off. At temperatures below 50 F I run with the cover over the lower half below 20 F you can generally run with it fully covered on all but the steepest hills. The radiator muff has little impact on the cab temperature but does have a big impact on the engine compartment temperature.
The first couple of years that I had the HUP I stored it for the winter in a neighbors barn up the road jacked up and sitting on blocks. But what I discovered was that I had brake and seal problems almost every spring when I took it out of storage. Once I build a garage space for it and drove it up and down our drive every couple of weeks I had less problems with brakes and other things from sitting. Mice and chipmunk problems during storage is another issue but I'll write more of that later. I've come to the conclusion that regular driving is less damaging than sitting for long periods.
Cold weather starting of 6 volt systems. Many of my friends in the military vehicle hobby have converted their trucks to 12 volts to solve the cold weather start problems. Strangely I have never found this to be a major problem. Now modern 6 volt batteries have more cold cranking amps than those of 50 years ago. The CMPs are sensitive to cold starting but this is more and issue of maintenance clean plugs ignition timing and the freshness of the gas. The fuel pumps with the manual priming lever help greatly in cold weather starting.
Another little trick that I discovered years ago for starting the big truck when it had a weak battery. This works particularly good if you have to start the truck with the crank. All you need is a 9 volt radio battery and two clip leads, with the ignition switch in the OFF position clip the little battery to the battery terminal of the coil the other to ground. Switch OFF is so that you are not trying to feed the entire circuit of the truck. Then you turn the engine through with the hand crank. The 9 volts gives a nice hot spark and I have had very good luck starting the engine this way. This same approach also works when the truck battery is low and just turning the engine over.
Another thing that I have noticed that when cold the truck will often catch/fire just after you release the starter. Reason the engine is still turning but now has more juice to the coil. Even below zero both of my trucks generally will start. The most help that has been needed even at 20 below was putting the charger on the battery for and hour before trying to start.
I would love to find all the components of the arctic hand primers system that shots gas directly into the intake ports. I suspect that this would also solve the problem of vapor lock starting as well. I will admit that the 6 volt batteries can run out of cranking power when you are trying to clear a flooded or vapor locked engine. I understand that the Ford powered CMPs are more prone to vapor lock than the Chevy.
The coldest I have ever been, is taking the HUP to a Pearl Harbor event on the 50th anniversary I started out and it was below zero in the truck and it never got above 20 degrees all day long, oh yes that was Fahrenheit. The best thing I can say about driving CMPs in bad weather is that at least you are more protected than in a Jeep. Being out of the wind means an awful lot once the temperature drops below 30.
Yes, we do get snow here in New Hampshire some years a lot some years a little 1980s some time, all three trucks have a nice heated shop to live in out of the weather.
Mother nature gave us surprise largest snow fall in New Hampshire for October in recorded history. Started snowing at 3pm on the 29th and by 7am on the 30th we had from 20 to 24 inches of heavy wet snow on the ground, trees everything. This was a real suprise storm as the trees still have their leaves so we have pretty colors and snow at the same time on left 7AM right 11AM
Below is Beauty coming out to brake trail for my plow pickup which could not move the heavy wet snow until snow was packed down below the under charage. Part of the problem for the plow was that the ground is not frozen so the blade has to be carried several inches up of the ground.
Click here or on the photo to see a video of playing in the snow and driving out along the drive to break trail.
Here is my 1977 plow truck only 47000 miles, no I don't take it out on the road during the winter just up and down the driveway and to clean up the door yard. But my little truck just could not push the snow out of the way until it had been knocked down.
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