If I wasn't so close to retirement.....I would buy this truck tomorrow!

customboss · January 10

1 hour ago, diyer2 said:

Rural living is the best. We are in the forest, 7 miles to our small town, 30 and 60 miles to the bigger towns. 15 miles to a rural country store, gas station.

No neighbors, quiet except for the F'in barking dogs.

I live on other side of mountains from him. Love it.

rdonarski · January 10

We've lived rural for the majority of our 53 years of marriage. Right now, we live on about 4 acres on a small lake. We have a home and a cabin on the property with a total of 405 feet of frontage. There are only a handful of places on the lake and only one other year-round resident that we never see or hear. It's quiet in the summer and quieter in the winter. Being in N WI winters can be tough, but we've learned to deal with them. Last winter was the snowiest on record. By this time, we had over 3 foot on the ground. This year is just the opposite. We only have 2 inches and had only the 3rd 'brown Christmas' in the 82 years of keeping records. Temperatures have been extremely moderate this winter too. 25 degrees right now. We've had as low as -43 degrees since living here. Crime is minimal. Our house is not visible from the country road that has maybe a handful of cars a day. Life is good!

Jettech1 · January 11

11 hours ago, customboss said:

I live on other side of mountains from him. Love it.

I'm jealous! Maybe someday.

Jettech1 · January 11

11 hours ago, rdonarski said:

We've lived rural for the majority of our 53 years of marriage. Right now, we live on about 4 acres on a small lake. We have a home and a cabin on the property with a total of 405 feet of frontage. There are only a handful of places on the lake and only one other year-round resident that we never see or hear. It's quiet in the summer and quieter in the winter. Being in N WI winters can be tough, but we've learned to deal with them. Last winter was the snowiest on record. By this time, we had over 3 foot on the ground. This year is just the opposite. We only have 2 inches and had only the 3rd 'brown Christmas' in the 82 years of keeping records. Temperatures have been extremely moderate this winter too. 25 degrees right now. We've had as low as -43 degrees since living here. Crime is minimal. Our house is not visible from the country road that has maybe a handful of cars a day. Life is good!

Wow, now you have got me totally jealous.....I'm so happy for you all though! Enjoy!

Dr1ft3r · January 11

20 hours ago, KARNUT said:

I would love to live up there. My wife hates the cold. So we’re in my favorite 6 months of the year from October through May. Her least. She complains during this period, I the other.

There are pros and cons to being single. Being able to do whatever I want is certainly one of the pros. I spent a large portion of my career travelling, usually to remote locations. So meeting someone certainly wasn't easy, and I was wary of anything serious anyway as it would have an effect on my career.

But now I'm not travelling anymore as I am in a permanent location working in such a great position for an awesome company that I can not even imagine how I could possibly move up from where I am. So, maybe I'll finally settle down? Time will tell...

KARNUT · January 11

2 hours ago, Dr1ft3r said:

There are pros and cons to being single. Being able to do whatever I want is certainly one of the pros. I spent a large portion of my career travelling, usually to remote locations. So meeting someone certainly wasn't easy, and I was wary of anything serious anyway as it would have an effect on my career.

But now I'm not travelling anymore as I am in a permanent location working in such a great position for an awesome company that I can not even imagine how I could possibly move up from where I am. So, maybe I'll finally settle down? Time will tell...

I haven’t met many people who are glad they’re single. Even people who had failed relationships try again. When you meet the right one you want to do things together because they’re your buddy. I always traveled with my work. Once the kids were grown she went with me. I never felt I being held back from doing what I wanted because of my family. It was the opposite. New ideas and fun possibilities when it isn’t just yourself. You have to be wise when choosing your companion especially before you add the little ones to the mix. It isn’t easy, it was for us. The separation rate is high. That has always baffled me. Being alone isn’t for most people.

rdonarski · January 11

4 hours ago, KARNUT said:

I haven’t met many people who are glad they’re single. Even people who had failed relationships try again. When you meet the right one you want to do things together because they’re your buddy. I always traveled with my work. Once the kids were grown she went with me. I never felt I being held back from doing what I wanted because of my family. It was the opposite. New ideas and fun possibilities when it isn’t just yourself. You have to be wise when choosing your companion especially before you add the little ones to the mix. It isn’t easy, it was for us. The separation rate is high. That has always baffled me. Being alone isn’t for most people.

I agree Marriages have ups and downs. Our daughter was unhappy because her husband wasn't giving her enough attention. She divorced him. Their 3 kids were teenagers. It was devastating for them. We tried unsuccessfully to get her to wait till they were all 18. It ended in a very ugly divorce. That was probably about 7 years ago and ever since, she has spent all her time desperately trying unsuccessfully to find a new husband....just like the old one.

Edited January 11 by rdonarski
TMI

KARNUT · January 11

2 hours ago, rdonarski said:

I agree Marriages have ups and downs. Our daughter was unhappy because her husband wasn't giving her enough attention. She divorced him. Their 3 kids were teenagers. It was devastating for them. We tried unsuccessfully to get her to wait till they were all 18. It ended in a very ugly divorce. That was probably about 7 years ago and ever since, she has spent all her time desperately trying unsuccessfully to find a new husband....just like the old one. Recently my wife criticized her desperate lifestyle and now she's not talking to us.

We’ve had our current home 24 years. All the family gatherings happen here. My grandkids only remember this home. We happened to mention that there could be a time for downsizing to the house in the back. They were traumatized, they actually looked up from their devices. Imagine when their parents disrupt their family home.

Edited January 11 by KARNUT

Dr1ft3r · January 12

22 hours ago, KARNUT said:

I haven’t met many people who are glad they’re single. Even people who had failed relationships try again. When you meet the right one you want to do things together because they’re your buddy. I always traveled with my work. Once the kids were grown she went with me. I never felt I being held back from doing what I wanted because of my family. It was the opposite. New ideas and fun possibilities when it isn’t just yourself. You have to be wise when choosing your companion especially before you add the little ones to the mix. It isn’t easy, it was for us. The separation rate is high. That has always baffled me. Being alone isn’t for most people.

I'm used to it. I was engaged once, we split up after 5-1/2 years and before we were married. I was 23 then. So I've been single for most of my life. I've enjoyed life in other ways. I also take care of my family, just not a wife and kids. I spend a couple of grand per month just helping out my mother. She doesn't NEED the help, but I'm trying to make her as comfortable as I can. I have nothing better to spend money on, not including myself.

Jettech1 · January 12

2 hours ago, Dr1ft3r said:

I'm used to it. I was engaged once, we split up after 5-1/2 years and before we were married. I was 23 then. So I've been single for most of my life. I've enjoyed life in other ways. I also take care of my family, just not a wife and kids. I spend a couple of grand per month just helping out my mother. She doesn't NEED the help, but I'm trying to make her as comfortable as I can. I have nothing better to spend money on, not including myself.

Very noble of you sir, it's a pleasure to know you on this forum!

Pryme · January 15

Since this is kinda a free for all thread.

what do you guys keep in your truck for recovery straps etc? Well us guys in snow states.

my daughter called me saying she was stuck in a snow bank. I went to tank her out and all I had was a 2” tow strap with hooks. Tiny hooks at that. Barely wanted to stay on my hitch safety chain hole. Plus there is nothing to connect to under most cars these days. So I went very slowly no yanking and pulled her out via rear control arm. Went fine.

but prompted me to stop by good ole harbor freight.

got these.

the Hitch mounted shackle is solid steel!! It’s one block of steel. And a beefy D ring for 23 bucks with coupon. The strap has material covered loops on each end and is pretty substantial feeling. It was also about 23 bucks with a coupon.

this set up should do me well just in case. I’ll toss them under the seat.

rdonarski · January 15

Last summer my neighbor had a dealer get stuck trying to pull his pontoon out. I had a small strap and was able to pull the truck (Ford ) and pontoon out easily with the small strap I had. The boat landing I work at is steep and not in very good shape (by design - property owners prefer it not be used). Because there is a lot of money on that lake, owners tend to have big boats. I've helped a couple of them. I decided to invest in a bigger strap and D-hooks. The strap is 35K lbs. I always have them with me. A couple of years ago, I got lost and ended up on this backwoods road in the middle of nowhere. A guy came running out on the road and flagged me down. Turns out he was stuck in the woods. Had no phone coverage and next closest place was about 5 miles away. Fortunately, he had a heavy duty tie down strap we were able to use. Got him out easily too and decided I would never be caught w/o a strap again.

KARNUT · January 15

We always had just chains. 4x4 trucks and tractors that’s what you needed. During one holiday my son in law backed on the lawn next to the driveway. It got down pretty good, a tundra. My brother in law I found out always carries a tow strap. My two wheel drive truck couldn’t move him with a chain. My brother in law pulled out this tow strap. I just laughed. He proceeded to hook up the tow strap to our trucks. His instructions were get a little running start when the strap tightened up. The stuck truck gives it the gas. It worked. It multiplied the pulling power.

Jettech1 · January 15

19 hours ago, Pryme said:

Since this is kinda a free for all thread.

Wait what??? Who said that young man? LOL....ok it did kind of turn out that way. Sometimes it's nice just post whatever...lol...

Dr1ft3r · January 17

On 1/14/2024 at 5:46 PM, Pryme said:

Since this is kinda a free for all thread.

what do you guys keep in your truck for recovery straps etc? Well us guys in snow states.

my daughter called me saying she was stuck in a snow bank. I went to tank her out and all I had was a 2” tow strap with hooks. Tiny hooks at that. Barely wanted to stay on my hitch safety chain hole. Plus there is nothing to connect to under most cars these days. So I went very slowly no yanking and pulled her out via rear control arm. Went fine.

but prompted me to stop by good ole harbor freight.

got these.

the Hitch mounted shackle is solid steel!! It’s one block of steel. And a beefy D ring for 23 bucks with coupon. The strap has material covered loops on each end and is pretty substantial feeling. It was also about 23 bucks with a coupon.

this set up should do me well just in case. I’ll toss them under the seat.

Since I have a 12,000# winch the storage bin under my back seat is completely filled with different brands of everything mentioned here, and then some. 100' of 3/8" dyneema winch extension rope, several D-rings, a few snatch blocks, one of those hitch mounted d-rings like in your pic (I have hitches on the front and rear of my truck), a few tree savers, some synthetic winch rope protectors (in case they are rubbing on something), and a few other things that escape me at the moment.

Then my ATV also has a 3,500# winch and I have another set of gear for that which stays with my ATV. Recovery gear sometimes breaks or needs to be taken out of service due to wear, it's a good thing to have more than you need.