New guy in Maine

[trukn2004]

Do you have any problems with mice in your wood stacks on the porch? Or do you rotate enough that they don't get a chance to get comfy?

The wood on the porch doesnt seem to be too inviting to mice. I think with the daily traffic in and out of the front door, large open expanse to get to it, and my two dogs going in and out and sniffing the pile they dont bother it much. The stacks last about a month, and i am taking pieces off every day, so i think they stay vermin-free. The stacks in the yard however, those i find chipmunk and squirrel stashes, along with mouse houses.

 

[Woodyjiw]

The wood on the porch doesnt seem to be too inviting to mice. I think with the daily traffic in and out of the front door, large open expanse to get to it, and my two dogs going in and out and sniffing the pile they dont bother it much. The stacks last about a month, and i am taking pieces off every day, so i think they stay vermin-free. The stacks in the yard however, those i find chipmunk and squirrel stashes, along with mouse houses.

Yeah, I here ya, I've got a 14x24' shed that I fill for my OWB and those buggers try to take over.. Lots of traps, try and keep the numbers down.

 

[GVS]

Well, I've been burning that hickory for a couple weeks and i have to say, not a big fan. It is extremely tough to get going. The wood is seasoned well, but you have to really drive the air to if and keep it open for a while to get going. Once burning, yea, itll put out the heat, but with the excessive coals and the babysitting needed on each reload, I would rather burn the ash and red oak i have. I think in the future I will shy away from them unless they are dead and down.

Mix some ash in with the oak to help get it fired.
Of course I meant hickory rather then oak!

 

[trukn2004]

Mix some ash in with the oak to help get it fired.
Of course I meant hickory rather then oak!

Ive been doing that, problem is the stack on the porch is almost all hickory for now, with red oak below it, i will have to work on better mixing in the future.

 

[trukn2004]

My single artisanal piece of firewood. I store it like this to ensure optimal moisture content. [emoji23]


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[trukn2004]

Some video of the snow blower running.

 

[trukn2004]

Hi there friends!!

the 4 ft of snow we got in one week and then the week and a half of spring temps have made doing much outside almost impossible. Its just getting to some nice weather, but there is snow in the forecast now . I figured I would update you with some photos of the truck. I got the wheels and tires mounted after some delay and i have to say I love the truck even more now. Only thing it really needs is a set of flares to keep the mud off of the side. Other then that, its just perfect IMO.

AEV Salta HD 17x8.5 wheels with 35x12.50x17 Toyo AT II Extreme. Amazing setup, no lift, no rubbing, not issues lock to lock.

 

[Ronaldo]

I like white, especially big white trucks. SHARP!

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[trukn2004]

I like white, especially big white trucks. SHARP!

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Thanks! White was not my first pick, but buying used you dont get much choice. I will say that the color has definitely grown on me. It shows dirt really bad, but when clean the truck is sharp looking!

 

[phidelt1736]

Yeah it does show dirt but it hides all scratches and minor imperfections which I really like for a truck. I don't know if I'll ever have another color. When it gets washed it looks like it just rolled off the showroom floor. My buddy in auto body work always joke's "if it ain't right paint it white"

 

[trukn2004]

Well Apparently winter does not want to let go so i had to get some work in. After the last storm we had a tree on our road break. It was a Codom Rock maple and luckily the lead that fell, fell into the woods and not the power lines. Im in process on getting the remaining lead taken down, but the part on the road has been sitting there all cut up by the land owner, a water company. They said wood was up for grabs, so i waited a couple weeks to see if neighbors wanted it. Since we have snow in the forecast, i went out and cut up the bigger stuff and grabbed a truck bed full.

As you can see, split at a very old injury. The reamaining lead will not survive long and is pointed right at a power pole.





Did i mention how much i like this truck?




So there is another bed full left. I thought i grabbed a picture of the unloaded pile, but seems like i didnt. Good amount of wood, and i cant wait to get it spilt! Hoping to get the rest of the rounds today after work, and i need to noodle the big base piece. This was a impressive size tree.

 

[trukn2004]

updates!

He is a overall view of the tree. It is to the right of the power pole, you can see the broken lead still attached.


Next two show the rounds from the first load.




And the second load that was the remainder of the wood. Had to noodle a decent amount and split some pieces to make lifting possible. Forgot my camera while i was working, so no work shots. a neighbor did stop by and help load though, which was nice.



Splitting will re-start once the snow clears out. I also have a pile waiting to be stacked. On top of that, i need to get some wood on the porch after work today. calling for 5-11" of wet snow with the possibility of power outages.

 

[trukn2004]

Well, It is official. I have decided to deny any more winter. Tractor is mid transformation back to summer mode.





Looks funny with nothing on the front.

 

[TonyK]

Oh man why do you have to say something like that? You know as soon as you pull the blower off you are doomed to get 2 feet of heavy snow.

 

[trukn2004]

Oh man why do you have to say something like that? You know as soon as you pull the blower off you are doomed to get 2 feet of heavy snow.

Haha, Isnt that the truth! I will just ignore any snow. deny deny deny!! I put the loader on today, so i guess i can technically still clear snow.

 

[trukn2004]

With the warmer temps, i got back into the swing of things, pun intended!

New toy, the XA-22 Hookaroon. Awesome tool, bad-ass looking and helped keep my hands out of what little snow was left.


the start pile. All the maple from the last couple posts.


It all split pretty well.


Only things left were pieces that would need noodling, or were a bit too long.


I really should stack.




Anyway, thats where im at. Right now the snow is pretty much gone, just super saturated ground. I also promised some of this maple to one of my neighbors. She is older but still heats with wood. Great lady and since the wood came from the communal road I said i would bring my a bucketful for her.

 

[Ronaldo]

Those Fiskars tools are super nice, brother has one of those. Slick hookaroon.

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[trukn2004]

Might as well make another update.

My parents came up this weekend. and my father and I stacked the split wood. I decided to give the traditional method a chance to compare drying times and quality.

My traditional method:


Start of the more known method. Cribbed ends and stacks between




Shot of CMP taking down that maple. I forgot I had it. just gives a sense of scale with that boom maxed out.


So i finally went back and had a go at the rest of it today. Luckily I got my new bar fit up. I screwed up ordering it, so I had to snag two new loops of chain too to fit the .050" gap, but man is it nice.



No sugihara, but its a nice bar


Everything that was left.


Several photos throughout the process. A crap-ton of noodling, but it netted me a lot of wood.




Noodles!




The wife was in charge of running the tractor back and forth. I think i got something along the lines of 6-7 buckets out of what was left.


I split some, then took this super crappy photo from inside. Scale is not shown well, but there is a ton of wood out of the rest of this tree. Cant wait to get it split and stacked.


That is it for now, i am gone all week for a business trip, so what is left there will sit for a bit.

 

[Sledneck_77]

Great thread been away for awhile and read this from beginning until now. And man you've done some work! Keep it up. Just bought my tractor and can't believe how handy it can be. Awesome how dedicated you are to your work as well as this thread. Can't wait to read more. Pic is what I have to start splitting this weekend

 

[trukn2004]

Great thread been away for awhile and read this from beginning until now. And man you've done some work! Keep it up. Just bought my tractor and can't believe how handy it can be. Awesome how dedicated you are to your work as well as this thread. Can't wait to read more. Pic is what I have to start splitting this weekend

Thanks man! and that shed is freaking cool-looking! how much wood does it hold?