Dave Fontaine awoke at 2:30 a.m. Wednesday to find the temperature on the south side of zero and a wind chill much below that.
While most would take that as a signal to snuggle even deeper under the covers, Fontaine arose, ready to battle the outdoor elements for what would be the next 18 hours.
Fontaine clears snow as a wintertime job. He uses a Kubota tractor outfitted with a blade to clear private properties in Iola and Gas.
What allows him to withstand Mother Nature’s harshest elements is a battery-heated suit whose wiring is plugged into the tractor.
So while being exposed to wind chills of 20 below zero, Fontaine was able to work nonstop most of the day.
“I wouldn’t have had to stop at all except the insole on my foot got cold,” Fontaine said, the result of having to operate his tractor’s hydrostatic controls with his right foot. “And there are a couple of spots where my face was exposed that got pretty cold.”
HIS GERBING’S Extreme Elements suit stays warm through the use of heated Microwire technology.
The Microwire consists of bundles of hundreds of microscopic, stainless steel strands, each less than the thickness of a human hair, and wrapped in a thin teflon coating.
The wires are arranged strategically so that the suit can heat up within a minute.
“The technology’s been around for a while, but the older suits had the thicker copper wire, and after a while, you could feel the wire,” Fontaine explained. “This Microwire creates a more even, comfortable heat.”
The suit is designed so different articles of clothing can be connected if necessary, such as gloves (Fontaine has those, too), pants (ditto) and boot liners (he plans on ordering some this week after realizing how cold his feet were). A pair of dials allows Fontaine to dictate how warm the suit needs to be.
“They have articles of clothing that can heat you from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet,” he said.
The suit is powered by a 12-volt battery on Fontaine’s tractor. Others use a portable battery system.
Fontaine bought the suit from a motorcycle dealership in the Kansas City, Mo., area.
“My original dream was to buy a tractor with a nice, warm cab,” Fontaine said with a laugh. “Then I saw how much those cost.”
So instead of forking over about $40,000 for a new tractor, Fontaine found it more palatable to spend $900 on his Gerbing’s suit.
“I WAS A little leery when I first went outside with it,” Fontaine said of his venture Wednesday morning.
It took less than a minute for his anxiety to subside. “It was actually nice and comfortable,” despite wearing only a pair of T-shirts, a sweat shirt and jeans below his heated suit.
Fontaine worked until about 8:30 that night — “I knew I needed to get some sleep at some point,” he said — before returning to work at about 5:30 a.m. Thursday.
By Thursday afternoon, he had cleared 17 properties in all, “and there will be more calls,” he predicted. Word of mouth advertising can be effective.
By Thursday, Fontaine’s pace had begun to slow, and he prepared to do some work for neighbors near his home on the outskirts of Gas.
“We have quite a few older neighbors who have trouble getting their driveways cleaned with snows like this,” Fontaine said. “Those are the people who may pay me with cinnamon rolls. Either way, the pay is still good.”
