46 Follow us on Twitter: @PrairieFarming Better Farming | April 2024 rescue others if you don’t have safety equipment. Root cellars can also have carbon dioxide caused by rotting vegetables. The carbon dioxide is heavier than air and displaces the oxygen. There have been fatalities in Western Canada in root cellars as well. Make sure your root cellar is well-ventilated before entering it. Otherwise, once you get in there it might be too late. Check the antifreeze Back in the old days when antifreeze was not cheap or commonplace, my uncle said they would fill up the Ford Model T with water when it was freezing outside because they couldn’t afford antifreeze. Then they would drive to town and make sure it wasn’t shut off long enough to cool down. After they got home, they would immediately drain out the water. The good old days! Now antifreeze is used in everything, and we probably have several dozen different types. Make sure to use the correct type for your vehicle. For the newer vehicles we repair, we always get the specific antifreeze from the dealer for that vehicle. There are several universal types we stock and use as well, but we are very careful as to what goes where. Adding the wrong antifreeze can do a lot of harm. I’ve always thought that antifreeze should be good for about -40 C. However, a John Deere mechanic told me the new tractors all use a 50/50 mixture that is good for -35 C. Generally, farm equipment is not used as much as a car or pickup in the very cold weather, so we still like to keep vehicles good for about -40 C. In 1975, I bought a 1950 Ford twoton grain truck at an auction for $800. It had the dependable old flathead Ford V8. About the second year I had it, I didn’t check the antifreeze strength and the block froze up and cracked over the winter. Tractors, Trucks & Growing Grain Hood cylinder locks keep your hood up to prevent accidents. Ron Settler photo
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