How dry is western North Dakota?

We drove through ND today on the freeway, and I was surprised to see it as green as it was! Last time through was June 1 and it was really dry at that time. We will know soon how chick survival went.
 
07-27-21, SW ND: Miserable hot and water is way down everywhere. That being said, still seeing plenty of birds going to/from work and along the scoria roads in this area...
 
Labs said:
07-27-21, SW ND: Miserable hot and water is way down everywhere. That being said, still seeing plenty of birds going to/from work and along the scoria roads in this area...
Click to expand...
Nice to hear some positive news. I'll wait till later in the season to show up, can't stand heat.
 
Wiley Rooster said:
Labs, are you seeing adult birds or are their some chicks on the scoria roads in the mornings. ?
Click to expand...
Primarily adults and feathered out chicks from the earliest hatches.
 
benelli-banger said:
Must be a type of crushed rock...
Click to expand...
Super tough and sharp orange-red crushed rock they dig up for gravel out here. It punches through 6 ply tires like Goodyear Wranglers with ease, so most folks who live in the country use 10 ply All Terrains. If you are in ND west of the Missouri and find yourself on a road of bright orange-ish to bright red crushed rock, you are on scoria.

The first year out here after moving from the NE part of the state where we lived for 34 years, we had Wrangler 6 plys on both our trucks. They were just fine east of the Missouri, but in 12 months of driving scoria in SW ND we turned in 6 under road hazard warranty. The dealership didn't like it but couldn't deny us when they saw a chunk of scoria imbedded in the tire.

Same with the trucks Fleet Services over in Minnesota supplies to my team. They all come with standard 4 or 6 ply tires which start getting flats in no time. The first thing I do after taking delivery of a new one is take it into Dickinson and have 10 ply ATs put on.

10 plys aren't perfect either. This summer I got a scoria flat on one of my Expedition's tires and we got one on the patrol truck. Both instances the tire shop gave me the little piece of flint-sharp scoria that punch through between the treads.

Our drive to town for work is 32 miles round trip on scoria, and even getting to the closest blacktop (HW22) is 8 miles of scoria. Consequently, we have to replace even the 10 plys every 2 years. After 2 years of scoria they look like someone took an axe to them...
 
Last edited:
hunter94 said:
that's bullshit! the county should know better.
Click to expand...
Not just Stark County, the stuff is used all across western ND. Normal road gravel material isn't found out here so it's expensive. Cities use regular gravel and counties use it on a few heavily traveled roads. The further west you go from the Missouri and the farther from the bigger cities, the more scoria you have to drive on.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top