Yep, it's not that much lighter, but definitely smaller!
Every pound counts when you have a 2.5 though!
Eclipse 2017
- Thread starter StG58
- Start date
Yep, it's not that much lighter, but definitely smaller!
Every pound counts when you have a 2.5 though!
OP
Probably going to go with an Engo anyway. The new Engo 9,000 pound winch is right between the two Warns in weight if they all have synthetic cable on them. Engo's headquarters and parts warehouse is just across the river from me so I can go bitch them out if I have problems. Nobody seems to be having any issues with them on TJ's, so what the heck, right? The way Warn is sourcing parts from overseas now, Brazil and China, my conscience is pretty clear about the Made in the USA thing.
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Oh, I agree. Everyone is sourcing parts from overseas.
I am attached to the brand name, "Warn", that's part of it. When I hear brands like Engo, Tigershark, Smittybilt, etc., they just don't give me that brand recognition like the Warn name does. So that's part of it for me.
OP
What, you don't like Shittybuilt!? Awh, come on @Chris, everybody knows them...
Say, did you know they have dump trucks down in that area that you can only see the bumper on when they pull up behind your TJ? Big suckers. Long story.
OP
Next size down. It was still kinda street legal, sorta. Pulling a 4 axle flatbed trailer. He caught me on a turn around for a switchback. Nice about it though. That was on Sunday after we figured out that getting to Grand Ronde was going to be a little more complicated than we expected.
OP
So, the "incident" occurred in a canyon (not a surprise, it's all canyon down there!) where the north - south Weyerhauser mainline crossed a creek and made a sharp bend to the right and went up the side of the hill, another spur road took off to the left and another mainline took off to the right across the Siletz river. We were pulled off under some trees by the creek to consult the GPS units and the worthless map in the shade. I should have known that it was a less than perfect place to stop, because it was a pretty decent place to stop with lots of room for the area. We were sitting there when this monstrous truck and trailer comes tooling down the hill and groans to a stop right on our rear bumper. I didn't have my CB on because we hadn't seen anything other than Toyota's, Subaru's and the pickups of the locals all day. The fly fishermen were out in force! We did see a good looking young lady wearing nothing but chest waders though carrying a fly pole and a tackle box next to the road. The things you see in the woods. Anyway, the truck driver rolled up behind us and stopped. I jumped out of the Jeep and walked back to see what was up. The conversation went something like this: "I'm in your way, right?" "yup". "Sorry about that, I'll move" "Thank you" He was pretty nice about it, was smiling and didn't get all excited or hollar' or nothing. I got out of his way and he turned that rig around and headed down the mainline to the east. I was not expecting heavy traffic on the road on a Sunday. My bad. To give you an idea of the size of the trailer and dump truck, you could of probably put two TJ's, maybe three, easily in the back of the dump truck with lots of room to spare and probably six on the flatbed trailer. The driver was almost rubbing brush turning it around 180 degrees. Lesson learned.
As far as the point of the the trip, getting from the lower Siletz area up to Grand Ronde, it's going to be a challenge. We got within a dozen miles of Grand Ronde, as the crow flies, and within five miles of Hwy. 18. That's coming up from the south. The area down there is all small timber company owned with these huge patches of Weyerhauser and Simpson land. Most all of it's gated, no cuts and berms to speak of, and not a lot of spur roads. There's BLM, state forest land and Forest Service land as well, but it's really patchy. This is the home of O&C land and it shows. Think checkerboard squares of section sized land parcels with various ownership. And everybody has a gate. It's an interesting navigation challenge. The best bet at this point is to get on BLM or Forest Service land and navigate north that way. It'll be hard to get to probably, but I'm betting it's so far back in the pucker brush that the roads are still open. There is one small chunk of Siuslaw National Forest down there, kind of a finger of land, that would be perfect for our uses if there is any road access to the north at all. It's worth another trip, anyway.
As far as the point of the the trip, getting from the lower Siletz area up to Grand Ronde, it's going to be a challenge. We got within a dozen miles of Grand Ronde, as the crow flies, and within five miles of Hwy. 18. That's coming up from the south. The area down there is all small timber company owned with these huge patches of Weyerhauser and Simpson land. Most all of it's gated, no cuts and berms to speak of, and not a lot of spur roads. There's BLM, state forest land and Forest Service land as well, but it's really patchy. This is the home of O&C land and it shows. Think checkerboard squares of section sized land parcels with various ownership. And everybody has a gate. It's an interesting navigation challenge. The best bet at this point is to get on BLM or Forest Service land and navigate north that way. It'll be hard to get to probably, but I'm betting it's so far back in the pucker brush that the roads are still open. There is one small chunk of Siuslaw National Forest down there, kind of a finger of land, that would be perfect for our uses if there is any road access to the north at all. It's worth another trip, anyway.
Watch... You're going to get there and there's going to be a million lost yuppies trying to view the eclipse, but having lost their way in the process, haha.
I'll have to explore that area more sometime. We aren't far away from Grand Ronde since we're in West Salem.
We go over to the casino there once a month on a Sunday for their brunch buffet. It's only about 20 minutes from us.
I'll have to explore that area more sometime. We aren't far away from Grand Ronde since we're in West Salem.
We go over to the casino there once a month on a Sunday for their brunch buffet. It's only about 20 minutes from us.
OP
lol, probably... I'll put all the effort into getting into the perfect spot, get the whole clan up there safely and efficiently and then be buried up to my eyeballs in little lost yuppies and snowflakes! That would just figure. Spend hours un-ditching, passing out directions, water, gasoline, advice (bad? hehehe), comforting lost souls, healing the sick and injured, counseling the wayward and unwise... Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed.
Have you ever headed out into the Kings Valley area from where you're at @Chris? It's a pretty good access point from Salem. There's lots of gravel to explore and a few interesting skid trails out west of there.
I haven't headed out to Kings Valley, but I'll have to do that one of these days, sounds like my type of stuff. Ever since we moved here last year, I've noticed we are in a really great place. We're close enough to civilization, but we're also on the other side of the Willamette, and we aren't far from nothing but country for as far as the eye can see!
OP
You seriously are in a great location there. Kings Valley and the Coast Range just minutes to the west and Detroit and the central Cascades to the east.
Say, is your one daughter getting over her riding in the car deal? I always wondered if there was a sound or something that was bugging her. Oldest daughter has hypersensitive hearing (the Navy tried really hard to recruit her as a SONAR Officer) and she had issues with some things growing up. Ear plugs fixed that. I was wondering if your daughter might have something similar going on in the car. None of my business, of course, just curious.
Yep, I'm really happy we ended up where we did. Plus, on this side of the river, we're still Salem, but it's not really the same. West Salem is Polk County, and with the river separating us from the majority of Salem, it feels like we're in our own little town, which I quite like. I've been doing a lot of browsing on Google Maps and Google Earth, and I see a lot of country surrounding us, which is great. We're actually within 1.5 miles of the Salem city limit and the rural routes anyways.
Our daughter is a little better with the car now. She still hates being in the car, but my guess is around 2 years old, that will pass. The issue with her is that we can't have the top off with her in the back until she's a little older. Something about little kids and how their nasal passages aren't developed enough (or something), so tons of wind in their face makes it hard for them to breath (and scares them). When our other daughter was about 3 years old, that's when she became totally okay with the top off!
More pending doom according to ODOT @StG58:
http://www.kgw.com/mb/news/eclipse/...st-traffic-event-in-oregon-history-odot-says/
http://www.kgw.com/mb/news/eclipse/...st-traffic-event-in-oregon-history-odot-says/
OP
Everything I keep reading suggests it is. At least it's happening during the week, so it won't ruin my weekend. We don't intend to leave the house that day at all. We'll just watch the news and laugh at every news story we read about the millions of idiots who wind up in a stupid situation.
I'm looking forward to watching the ODOT traffic cams on that day!
OP
It'll be still pictures on the traffic cams probably.
Good plan on staying home, you'll have a good view from your place, or at least within walking distance.
I've got two chances to work my original plan out, then it's on to plan "B". Getting less hopeful as time passes. If I can't "thread the needle" west of Dallas, or hit that finger of the Siuslaw, we'll be hanging out in a friend's cow pasture for the weekend. Won't be horrible, but not what we were hoping for.
OP
Thanks Chris, it'll be something to talk about later if nothing else.
It's a once in several generation thing, ya' know? No wonder folks are all spun up. It's just too bad that sooo many people have decided that Oregon is the place to be to view it. It'll work out, I'll bail if it starts looking too crazy and go to plan "B". It's early yet and there's still lots of time.
