A litte upside to this winter?

[philoshop]

The maple syrup guys aren't happy, but the sap isn't running yet. This means we'll get a little more time to cut before the wood is springtime wet.
Very small consolation, I know, but at least it's something.
Get out and drop the trees you want to take, and worry about getting 'em out when your spot dries enough for the equipment.
Dropping and limbing before the sap runs can save you a lot of seasoning time.

 

[mainewoods]

Yup, the trees are just about as dry as they will ever get right now. A big white ash I cut up the other day is already starting to crack on the ends. They sure slide nice on this snow too.

 

[ash man]

Another benefit of the cold weather is the kill off of some pesky insects. On the radio today I heard the stink bug kill off this winter will be 95% as compared to the norm of 25%. Hope it works for skitters to.

 

[Cheesecutter]

and ticks

 

[mainewoods]

What's a stink bug?

 

[mainewoods]

Supposedly the cold we have this winter will kill a lot of the EAB and other tree insects. They estimate the larvae probably did not burrow deep enough into the bark to protect itself from the frigid,prolonged temps we had. We can only hope!

 

[zogger]

What's a stink bug?

Been in the news a lot the past few years. Highly destructive pest, also stinks, eats everything and gets into the house and wherever. One of those critters, once you have them around, hard as heck to get rid of them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stinkbug

 

[deerlakejens]

Have to have sustained temps below -30F to kill off EAB, from what state entomologists say.

 

[mainewoods]

It really doesn't matter anyway I guess. If that criteria was met up here it would only have killed existing larvae we already had present. No EAB has been reported here yet, so it is a moot point. Larvae further south of us would have still survived , as temps there weren't even close to -30, and continued their migration northward.

 

[Clyde S. Dale]

What's a stink bug?

I am envious that you don't know what they are and I hope you never do. No matter how tight your house is, they find a way in. They disappear for the summer but when they come back around mid-September they do anything they can to get inside your house for the winter. Then come spring they start appearing in your house looking for a way back out. I have probably flushed 1,000's of them over the last 5-6 years.

 

[mainewoods]

We have lady bugs by the thousands instead. Come Sept. they find their way into the houses and overwinter in clusters. At least they don't stink.

 

[philoshop]

We have lady bugs by the thousands instead. Come Sept. they find their way into the houses and overwinter in clusters. At least they don't stink.

I had a similar problem with hippies and musicians in my house in Buffalo. I didn't fit in, but we had a lot of fun. They'd get stinky after a while though.

 

[TreePointer]

I got more time skidding logs on frozen ground and snow than I can remember. That and a likely later start to grass mowing season are my silver linings to this winter.

 

[stihlfanboy]

Im in ohio and we got 2000 gallons of sap out off the 1700 buckets we put up in the last few weeks. Past two days been up to 50 now going out to gather in freezing rain.

 

[mainewoods]

As if access to the wood lot wasn't hard enough with 3 feet of snow pack on the ground , we have another 24" of snow on the way today and tonight. Snow was just starting to settle a little just in time for a fresh new covering. I am having a hard time finding an "up side".

 

[mainewoods]

OK, the logs do slide better on this snow than mud. How's that?

 

[theswampthing]

OK, the logs do slide better on this snow than mud. How's that?

Mud...mud, everywhere. Gonna just start dumping 2b. Tons and tons of it.

 

[mainewoods]

Zero mud here - snowing at the rate of 2-3" per hour since noon.

 

[UpOnTheHill]

Just got home from work and we have about a foot of fresh snow today. They say another 12 to 16 inches before its all over. Yuck... I'm sick of it.

 

[TreePointer]

We has some warmer temperatures over the past four days here, and things finally got muddy yesterday with a high of 66*F. By 7 a.m tomorrow, we'll drop down to only 5*F. T

The strong winds from the cold front just came in over the past hour and turned this morning's rain to ice. I heard trees snapping all over the place, which was followed by horizontal snow. We're only supposed to ~4 inches. Good luck to you all with this storm.