That time of the year again: Preparing for winter

Yeah, that time of year.  Time to wrap up the normal activities that involve warm weather and prepare for those that involve cold weather!
The other day I ran the furnace up in the shop to get the temperature up to 65, then turned on the music and went to work.  Unfortunately, the air compressor was running a lot of the time that I was out there.

Studded tires for the mother-in-law's car

Studded tires for my car

And I purchased, but haven't yet mounted, some new all season Pirelli Cinurato tires for the wife's car.  These are excellent snow tires, as well as great summer tires, but they don't last very long.

In the event you were wondering where I keep the off-season tires, well I have a place...

Sand is loaded in the plow truck

Plow is installed, tested and checked for oil leaks.

• The garden hoses have been rounded up
• The sprinkler lines have been blown free of water, and the heat trace is energized.
• The crawl space vents are shut
• The water heaters are installed in the bird bath and the water trough out back
•  The RV is re-tarped
• The hose bibs have the insulating covers installed
• The snow markers are installed for plowing
• The propane tanks are topped off
• The engine heater extension cords are in place

And now that I've done that, I've got a couple of smaller restoration projects in mind for the winter months - besides getting the big Zenith consoles up and running.

First up, an old cauldron that needs some TLC.  It was too late to get this refurbished before Halloween arrived.

A huge bench vise

 This old generator