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[More Two Tracks are going to be closed by the Forest Service in Michigan]

More Two Tracks are going to be closed by the Forest Service in Michigan.

Your favorite National Forest trails may already be officially closed. Even though there is no sign or gate at the beginning of a trail, it still may be illegal for you to drive there. If you are caught there you may be cited with misdemeanor charges and fined. Unless you consult a GPS and a current Motor Vehicle Use Map at each and every turn, you won't know if it is legal to be there or not

Congress has given the US Forest Service the task of closing as many Forest Roads as possible to reduce the costs of maintaining the roads. According to 36 CFR 112.5(b) :  "For each national forest, national grassland, experimental forest, and any other units of the National Forest System (§212.1), the responsible official must identify the minimum road system needed for safe and efficient travel and for administration, utilization, and protection of National Forest System lands."

The purpose of my post here is to get you to help him decide that the 'minimum road system'  is bigger than they currently have due to roads they have already closed.

The Huron-Manistee National Forest managers have begun the closure process. The notification to the public can be found here: http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/hmnf/news-events/?cid=STELPRD3823719

That means, soon, it will be illegal to drive on even more of the Two Track trails in the Huron or the Manistee National Forests than it is now.

I am asking you to follow this link to the Great Lakes Four Wheel Drive Association website to learn more about why they want to do it, why it's a bad idea, and what you can do to help us keep the trails open.

What we need is an overwhelming response from the public telling the Forest Service we need those two tracks kept open. You can call them, write them, or email them. Following this link to GLFWDA.org will give you ideas on what to put in your letter or email. You can cut and paste directly from there if you want. Once you decide you want to email them, it will only take you 5 minutes or so.

It is important to act soon. Comments will only be accepted till February 15, 2015.

Driving through the public forests has been a historical part of the culture for generations of Michigan families. So many people and groups continue to use the Two Track trails in Michigan. These include:
•   Hunters
•   Fishermen
•   Berry Pickers
•   Photographers
•   Recreational Drivers
•   Wildlife Watchers
•   Mushroom  Pickers
•   Campers
•   Firewood Gatherers
•   Geocachers
•   Artists
•   Hikers
•   Joggers
•   Families on picnics
•   Botanists
•   Biologists
•   Fall Color Tours

Please feel free to repost this message (with links intact) to anyone you think wants to keep the trails open. If you are facing similar closures in other states, feel free to use any of this material in your own fight. Good Luck!

If the hyperlinks are broken, please go here:
http://www.glfwda.org/showthread.php?13521-1-More-Two-Tracks-are-going-to-be-closed-by-the-Forest-Service-in-Michigan

GLFWDA needs your help!

If you would like to see the funding approved for the ORV park in SE Michigan, please make the effort to write to the DNR requesting that they approve the funding.  A final decision will be made on December 3rd.

You do not need to make a big speech or long letter.  Just respond to the info below and express your support and thanks.

Thanks! :thumb:

Send email only to:
Michigan Department of Natural Resources
Paul Yauk – Land Acquisition Manager
yaukp@michigan.gov

Please make sure you include the following information in your correspondence:

Grant Application: TF-14-0191

Grant Title: Oakland County Adventure Park Partnership

For those who do not have Books of Faces...

Just read a couple of reviews of the new BFG A/T - almost makes me want to go back to all terrains.  20% more sidewall strength, tread that wraps around the sidewall, and 15% more miles of wear sounds like a pretty good set of improvements.  The only failure I ever had (3 sets) was at the edge of the sidewall, and even with all of the mean things I did to mine I was still averaging 44k miles or more on each set. 

http://www.glfwda.org/showthread.php?13438-Success-Story-Land-Use-Permits-for-Club-Trail-Rides-(i-e-SB50)

Anybody else going?

Last year my wife bought me a GoPro for the Jeep since I keep ruining other family cameras, and the throw aways just don't get the job done.  It took me over a year to finally have the time to figure out how to turn it on and record something.  But I could never see what I was recording, so I bought the LCD attachment - but that started another 6-month learning curve.  At R&V last month, I had Trevor sitting in the back seat for a while, and asked for some input on getting everything working right.  He told me he thought I had wasted my money on the LCD attachment - I needed to use the App for my phone.  So today at lunch (yes working on the holiday weekend) I sat down with my phone and my GoPro....and it WORKS!

Thanks Trevor!  I should have consulted with you in the first place.

I do not know who makes Engo.  But it is slow and reliable like a Harbor Freight winch FWIW.  Steel cable is a bit rusty, but no kinks and not a lot of fraying.  Free spool switch has been rusted in the engaged position for several years.  Not very pretty, but it works.  If you are looking for your first winch, got a tight budget, or need something to mount on your trailer, this will work. 

WLB member pricing:  $50

Anybody got one in their garage?  I am going to swap out my winch and get my old T-Maxx mounted, and need to add some simple TJ recovery hooks since the front bumper on the LJ has no bottom frame tie-ins, making my d-rings about useless.  If I am going to that much trouble I think I might as well go back to a simple stock bumper, stock hooks and a basic winch plate up front, but I don't have any of the pieces and parts in the garage to do it.  I am dealing with a million other things right now, so a real front bumper has to wait until next year.

Please take a minute and complete this short survey

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Oakland_County_ORV_Park

http://content.yudu.com/Library/A2vc70/UFWDAVoiceMay2014/resources/index.htm?referrerUrl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ufwda.org%2Fthe-voice%2F

Includes an article written by yours truly, and a couple from Jim Y Sarah Rutkofske of GLFWDA

I found a request on jeepforum.com looking for Jeeps to transport veterans for the length of the parade.  I have a message sent to the post commander, told him I had Jeep friends, I'll let you know what I find out.

Sitting around the campfire we got into a discussion of what we carry in our Jeeps - each of us likes to play on different terrain, has more or less experience, has more or less disposable cash for "stuff", so no two Jeeps are equipped the same.  I started to type out a lengthy list of the crap I carry, but thought maybe I would stick to the unusual stuff, or the stuff you never realized was hiding in my grossly overloaded Jeep.

-2m radio - until you have been in the woods where no cell phone will work, and in terrain that CBs are limited to 1/2 mile at best, you will never appreciate the value of HAM radio.
-My first aid kit does not contain an epi-pen since I do not have those kind of serious allergies.  But I have 4.7 pounds of medical supplies, and I tie a mean stitch when required.
-AC/DC AA battery charger w/extra batteries.  My GPS always dies 2.3 miles after the start of a trail ride
-Jumper cables and welding wire
-Tarp to sleep under or work on top of
-Gal & Qt Ziplocks, since you never know when you might need to drain an oil pan or diff and re-use the oil
-Peat-Sorb for when the oil ends up on the ground despite the ziplocks

Anybody remember the first year we did trail maintenance at Mio?  There was a small section to the east of the main part of the route that took us several trips to open up enough to get a fill size truck through.  I went up there with Ryan and his family for their first trip as the new maintenance team for Mio.  That whole area has been cut - still some trees left but you would not recognize the trail today.


Sent from my electronic tether

I didn't plan to do it, but sold the E rated tires right out from under the Jeep today.  Someone on gl4x4 was looking for a set of MT tires, same size, I sent some pictures and measurements, sold.  So today's question is "what size do I buy?". Currently only have room for 32", planning for 35" but have a lot of work to do first.  And a lot of money to spend that I currently don't have.  Thinking about an inexpensive set if 33's for now, can make the work by adding a body lift which is first on the to do lost.  Or do I go with a set of inexpensive 35's, get the saw all out and use fenders like Gogolen's?

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk

"Show unread posts since last visit" has not worked for me in some time - something I need to refresh or cookies to delete on my machine?  My phone works fine, just my computer that will not show what's new since my last visit.

I need my box of little baby pan pans for the upcoming tax season and my source here at work switched to a different fundraiser.  Can anyone hook me up?

I now have the opportunity for a new project....maybe.

The insurance company called - the dealership quit counting at $7k to repair my Jeep, they are guessing $8-9k total. Book value is about $10,900, salvage value $4,000 so they are done.

So here is my question, fellow club-mates - $6,900 check and I could tow the rest home. I probably could part it out and come out ahead. Old but generally well cared-for drive train, tub, soft top, 4 decent tires, blah blah.....

Or - assuming no significant frame damage, which is still up in the air - I could collect the $6,900, put a new front clip and bumper on it, and drive it with a salvage title and maybe have a few bucks left over. Too ambitious for an accountant?

Recently I did a short seminar at the Jeep Creep on trail communications - I had planned on getting into other methods of communications besides electronics, but based on the group we had and what they were looking for, I focused on CB, FRS and ham radios.

This week, the topic of trail communications came up on ATV Offroad's website - and I thought it was worth sharing here.  We do not cover it in the UFWDA 4WD Awareness training, and have never covered it at a club event that I recall.  Some of you may have seen me use them on the trail, especially where we do our trail maintenance project in Atlanta and encounter lots of our smaller friends.  So here is a quick primer, cut and paste style:

From http://www.atvoffroad.net/forums/showthread.php/1093-hand-signals/page2?highlight=hand+signals

Default Re: hand signals
Quote Originally Posted by hardway
where does one learn these hand signals?
From friends & family who teach you to ride and/or in the safety course that Bill teaches. Otherwise I really don't know as it's not in the handbook. Michigan Snowmobile Association publishes the basic hand signal cheat sheet annually in their magazine. Can't say I've ever seen it in a CCC or AMA magazine, but could have missed it.

Here's the essential portion pertaining to this discussion:
When meeting an oncoming rider, you hold up your left hand to indicate how many are riding behind you. If there are three people in your group and thus 2 are behind you, you would show two fingers. The next guy behind you would hold up one finger. Last guys holds up a closed fist.
If you are solo, you hold up a closed fist.
If there are more than five people or you have mittens on, you hold up your outstretched hand (ie all fingers extended as opposed to a closed fist).

Example would be last weekend on Sunday there were 6 sleds behind me. I held up 5 fingers, next guy held up five, next guy held up 4, next 3, next 2, next 1, last closed fist.

The MSA chart shows that the lead rider should use a hitch-hiking motion to indicate more sleds behind him with the last rider to use a closed fist. This is the "international" signal according to the chart. This past weekend I saw one person do this (out of hundreds of riders passed) and have never seen it in use before. Seems to me that the "number of riders" option discussed first is much more popular than the latter option and is the one I subscribe to.

All I can say is WOW!

Dad and I arrived a day early, and spent Thursday on the trail with a group led by Jim K - sort of a scouting/exploration trip.  Left at 11am for a three hour trip (cue the Gilligan's Island theme song) and returned 8 hours later.  Some gnarly creek/stream crossings (4-8' deep cuts, usually a V at the bottom, or maybe 3-4 feet of creek bed at most) compounded by a broken fuel line (dropped the tank on the trail, JB weld, etc) and a couple of dead-end trails.  The finale of this run was a 36+" diameter maple tree that was broken 12' above ground with 3 separate trunks over 24" each to clear from the trail.  Great fun!

Friday we spent the day with Jim M - trails like "Lower 2" that looked cool but proved impassable, and "No Bridge" with 7 creek/stream/river crossings including the Chippewa River (1-2' deep, rocky bottom, 5+mph current).  For the first time I found the forward mounting of my winch to be a liability, I dug lots of furrows in the dirt/gravel/rocks exiting the narrow stream/creek bed cuts.  Sure wish my key for the locking pin on the cradles was not left in my desk drawer at the office....New gas tank skid along with stout rear bumper, rock rails and trans/engine skid were all used extensively.  At one point the trail disappeared in the woods, we picked the path of least resistance through shrubbery and 1-3" trees until we finally found the trail - it was 50 yards above us on the ridgeline, had to cut our way up there.  10 hour day on the trail!

Saturday, again with Jim M, was a trip to Tribag Mine (abandoned in the early '70s) but not until we took some beautiful pictures of the Batchawana River falls, dealt with a 200 yard section of the trail washed into the river earlier this year, ripped off and replaced a brake line on the trail, and crossed a beaver pond (we later whacked the dam to let the water down) with 32-34" standing water over the road (more if you didn't stay on the road).  We lunched at the mine, explored both the upper and lower mine entrances (old copper mine) then sent off to explore a trail Jim had not seen in more than 2 decades - the "Back Door to the Mine".  We found it, but spent almost 7 hours going 4 miles.  At about 10pm, we discovered that the next 400 yards or so were a nasty boulder-strewn washout.  Did I mention one of the guys in our group (the same one who lost his right front tire twice in about 30 yards?) lost his clutch slave cylinder and was trying to negotiate the rocks with no clutch pedal to work with?  At 12:30am, when any other single obstacle would have made us stop on the trail for the night (8-10 hours of trail in the dark to back-track, including sneaking along the washed out trail along the river in the dark) we finally hit the Carp Lake Rd, a gravel road that although dusty was suitable for 35+mph travel.  Pulled into camp at 1:15am, where moments later the sounds of beer cans popping open could be heard all across the campground!

Surprisingly most of our recoveries were made with a simple strap - only a couple times was a winch required, although having v-8 equipped Jeeps and buggies make a strap work much better.

Fantastic trip - if you can make it, and have a comfort level with rough terrain, narrow brushy trails, deep and/or moving water, and being self-sufficient on the trail, then you have to make sure to get this one on the calendar for next year!