Another dreary overcast day. On top of the mud we already had, add a couple hours of hard overnight rain. The main “road” is barely passable in 4wd. I know this because I just this minute got home from town, because D&L needed to go today and so everything got moved forward. Just as well, I’d have been out to check the road condition anyway since Landlady is coming in early this afternoon. So now I have certified that the road condition sucks, and I’ll be driving out to the county road in a couple of hours to get her and Dharma.
And while I was in town, look what I got!
I asked the local hardware to order two 30# propane bottles. The hardware ordered, and charged me for, two 40# bottles. I went ahead and took them and had them filled even though I’m not completely convinced I can use them the way the regulator station is currently set up. The snow shelf might be too low, the hoses might be too short. But I reasoned, I already think that the shelf and hoses are inconveniently low and short respectively. So if these bottles don’t fit, it’s just incentive to fix it in the fullness of time. And next time I’m sitting out a prolonged cold snap I’ll be happy for that extra four gallons.
They had better only charge you for what you ordered, their error they should eat the difference in price if there is one.
Worst case, you can always dig out a little trench to make those bottles work.
As you accumulate birthdays, after you raise the snow shelf, make it wider and lengthen the hoses, and put a wider platform under the bottles, you and your well-used, banged up and dented body will be very glad you made the change. A platform made from cinder block pavers, on wood or on the ground, might also be more long term comfortable for your neck, back and knee. You do do regular strengthening exercises for your back, yes???, other than your daily chores. And if you find yourself with a large pile of spare cash, think about buying a Thermatex Platinum infrared heating pad. Has no relationship to a regular heating pad, does not use a gazillion watts of electricity, and can safely be slept on without skin burn concerns.
RE: propane bottles – while re-engineering the hose connection(s), any advantage to making a manifold to connect multiple tanks? They’d probably have to remain independently valved, but turning a knob at zero-dark-thirty is easier than wrench work on hoses, especially if 40-pounders become the norm. There’s plenty of cold yet to come, but this winter’s about to enter the post midpoint downslope, so it’s likely a project for next winter.
Related: keeping track of how much propane actually gets used? I’m thinking of manifold size, either 3 or 4 tanks in parallel; could be a few more 40s reduces the number of refill trips and provides a useful reserve. You’ve already ruled out 100 lb tanks, but what’s the largest you feel comfortable working with? (70 lb is common here for fireplaces, but I’ve seen 50s and 60s).
That would add a lot of complication to a situation that’s largely fixed with two bottles and a bypass regulator. It’s not that big a deal swapping out a bottle every ten days or two weeks. It’s just important not to think I’ll get away with forgetting the whole thing for a month.