New guy in Maine

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Hello all! It has been quite a while since I've posted. Not too much going on as it has been rain non-stop for at least a month. With the ground drying out, we got to some more homeowner projects. First on the list was to put in a garden bed on the front of the house.





Edge done with the myriad of rocks from the property, and mulched out. We will continue to add plants as we get them.







I also did a side bed on the garage. dont seem to have any photos.

Took time to cut down the gypsy moth nests that i could find and give them the proper send off. Dont need those guys taking over the neighborhood.



Alright, might as well update the firewood debacle. That maple that was taken down has proved to be quite a headache. The size of the rounds, the knots and sheer diameter have made hand splitting strenous. I have been working my way through and setting aside the difficult sections to fall prey to my neighbors hydraulic splitter. I also cleaned up the splitting area.



Some old super dry pine im splitting for a friend's firepit. Stuff is like paper, but should burn hot and quick.



starter splitter trash gathered so far.


the stuff to the right of the tire is the pile of unsplittables. there is a large amount of wood there still.


Pieces i need to buck up and get split. Waiting for it to not be 92 degrees outside.


What ive gotten so far out of the second load


Overview. Ive weedwhacked the brush back and am working on cleaning up and getting access to the gardens.


Thats it for now, hopefully i can get back on track with more consistent updates.
 
Trukn2004...
Just read this entire thread....WOW!!! You & your wife exemplify the best of what America has to offer anyone who has the ingenuity, drive & will to work. Great job and a great thread....Keep 'em coming!!!
Cornfused

Thank you very much! I try to always work and earn my keep. Its very fulfilling.
 
More pictures??? More pictures!!!

I was perusing the tractor forum and saw a lot of people recommend a wheel spinner to help with backing up tractors. I got one off ebay and I have to say, I love it! helps you find center quite easily



Since I had the tractor out, i decided I should go and grab the rest of the wood from the big ole red oak, and cut myself a wafer to attach another tire to for splitting. The current ash one works, but it never hurts to have a spare for friends.



The last bits, about a bucket worth of wood. Not too bad.






Did some more noodling and some splitting. I think i have split everything I can and what is left will fall to the hydro.



4019967A-0F40-4AC6-9D55-849C39D754C2_zps5jgaqkiw.jpg




I was very suprised that the white birch was still solid all the way through. It sat in the woods on the ground for several months. Thats it for now!
 
That doesn't really look like the white birch we have around here. White maple, maybe?

Haha, so the stacked stuff is sugar maple, their are a few birch splits in the loose pile in front, though it's mixed with oak and maple.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
It's been a great thread. What they might call a Steering wheel spinner now, used to be called a suicide knob. Back in the pre seat belt days lots of folks had them in cars and especially trucks. In a head on collision people had to be pulled off of them, stuck in their chest. But, if you put "Suicide Knob" on the plastic wrap, I guess not many people would buy them, Joe.
 
It's been a great thread. What they might call a Steering wheel spinner now, used to be called a suicide knob. Back in the pre seat belt days lots of folks had them in cars and especially trucks. In a head on collision people had to be pulled off of them, stuck in their chest. But, if you put "Suicide Knob" on the plastic wrap, I guess not many people would buy them, Joe.
Those knobs used to be on a lot of tractor steering wheels.
 
Yep, lots of tractors too, I had one on my Ford 640. I guess power steering on most everything now, makes them obsolete. But I think the nick name came from being on vehicles. They literally punched holes in peoples chests. Some heavy equipment they can't be used on, OSHA laws prohibit them. When I worked for UPS they weren't allowed on their vehicles, Joe.
 
It's been a great thread. What they might call a Steering wheel spinner now, used to be called a suicide knob. Back in the pre seat belt days lots of folks had them in cars and especially trucks. In a head on collision people had to be pulled off of them, stuck in their chest. But, if you put "Suicide Knob" on the plastic wrap, I guess not many people would buy them, Joe.

Thanks for the info! and i have to agree, hard name to market.

I went out and grabbed a bit more. three dead ash, two standing, one down all small. Got quite the bucket-ful out of it..




I had been out cutting, so the bush hog was still on. It carried the last three pieces and the saw and gear.



I also mounted the second tire to the big red oak slab i cut. Nice to have two splitting setups.


Only thing left to do was turn this....


Into this



It had been a bit and i forgot how easy dead ash splits. Got it all done in 15 minutes. I am going to stack it and plan to burn it this year. The wife also got me a sweet new beer glass, figure you guys might enjoy it.



Thats it for now!
 
My MIL has one of those, beautiful dogs. Hers thinks he is a 15 lb lap dog.
That is a Burner trait. They don't sit next to you, they sit on you. My 97 pound "little Girl" would back up and sit on your feet, straighten up and wiggle into your lap, with her head on your shoulder and big brown eyes looking helpless at you, Joe.
 
I threw out my back trying to carry my black lab up into my dump truck (floor is about 4ft from the ground).

Couple weeks later had a vet checkup... darn porker is almost 100lbs!
 
Hello friends, Its been pretty quiet on the maine front. Not a ton of work getting done due to it either raining or being 95 degrees. Ill try to catch you up on the little stuff that has happened.

First things first, I knocked out some of my welding projects that I had put off. Added mesh to the tractor grille and a trailer jack to the york rake so i wouldnt need to cart around a piece of wood.









I also went through a 2 month hell issue with my Ram. long story short, paint started to bubble and flake off, ram and my dealer told me to pound sand. After several attempts, i walked across the street, traded it in and picked up a 2017 Tacoma trd off-road. Ive had it a week and its a great truck.





And finally, some wood work! I took down a beech, got it split and just finished stacking it. Ive been very lazy on the wood gathering front, so im hoping to pick it up more now that things have cooled off.





And this is my pine pile. Ive been using it for my fire pit.
 
Did a bit more work today. Took down a red oak for processing. In my normal fashion, got it stuck. luckily, i was able to use the tractor and pull it down.



A small black birch was in the way, the tractor ripped it out of the ground with ease.





A shot showing the hooks i welded onto the bucket along with the grille in place. Those hooks are downright the best addition to the tractor.


Got two bucketfuls out of that tree.




Piled up for the splitting.




All split up. ill get to stacking it at some point.
 
A little bit of a sidetrack.

I was out in San Francisco this weekend for a friend's wedding. afterward we hit up the tourist spots. Alcatraz was impressive but I think my favorite visit was Muir Woods! The sights and sheer scale of the Redwoods is something to be seen. Wife and I spent about a hour and a half walking around. I was just blown away and humbled by the size and beauty of the ancient forest. One of these trees would heat my house for a decade. I got some pictures to share.





I believe the woman at the gate said the trees ran around 265-270 feet tall.








Most of the trees had fire damage, some where hollow at the base. I guess just their sheer size and water content means they very rarely die from a forest fire.



Overall a cool trip. I recommend you stop in if you are ever out that way.
 
Back at it with stuff a little less grand is scale :lol:

power company took down a standing dead maple. Got some wood, but unfortunately it was core-rotted about 15-18 ft up so it wasnt much. Got it split one day, then cracked a beer and went to stacking.




Ripped out the temporary gardens that Ive had for 3 years. Finally going to move it from where the wood is to the side of the garage in a terrace the wife and I made but never used. gets a lot more sun and frees up more wood space.
B447FA2D-7033-4B3C-B494-54FC6ED732F8_zpsgscn3ue2.jpg
[/URL][/IMG]


Bark from the maple. It was coming off in sheets.


Wife was running the tractor and side-swipped the pine pile..


Walking in the woods i found another little scrounge. Limb broke out of a big red oak.




I also found two red oaks out back of the house that fell over at some point. Ill be scrounging those up too. Should be a nice break from dropping live trees. Thats about it for now.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top