Refurbishing an old firewood trailer found on new property...

[anlrolfe]

Looks good.
Nobody's a fan of popcorn, coral reef looking welds? That's what gives 6010, 6011 a bad name. Kind of like fullauto, spray and pray.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Looks good.
Nobody's a fan of popcorn, coral reef looking welds? That's what gives 6010, 6011 a bad name. Kind of like fullauto, spray and pray.

Haha my arc welds are usually akin to bird...well you get the idea. The cutoff wheel sure took its time on the old beads.

The ole Hobart BetaMig has seen better days but despite having some broken transformer taps, she welds better than I can.



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[CJ1]

Eh for what you started with that does not look too bad, esp with a mig and rust! CJ

 

[esshup]

I second the post about getting a grapple bucket for the tractor. That is the most used attachment for the tractor here.

 

[Brufab]

After 10 years at our previous place, it was time to downgrade the dwelling and upgrade the property so in August of '21 it was goodbye to our 3.7 acres and hello to 34 acres. 10 tillable including the house, leaving the remaining 24 acres to hardwoods for the 3 kids to roam. Logged recently in 2019, the remnants of the skidding roads make great access to the tops left to rot. Cutting the tops to feed the wood stove will be somewhat bittersweet as they provided great cover for the whitetail. I managed to kill a buck and a doe with my bow, and my wife managed to kill her first whitetail with her crossbow.

Amongst the junk piles scattered throughout the wood was this gem, entangled in a mess of old fencing and barbed wire. She was overlooked when things were green and thick and only showed herself once the wood bared all with the turning of the season. One tire still held air, the other off the bead but I was able to get it back on and inflated tonight. Bearings are smooth and a bit of penetrant on the rotating trailer jack and it was free and operational. She has no suspension, just a (previously sleeved) cast I-beam axle welded to the frame and a drawbar hitch. Any remnants of the 4'x8' wood deck were removed with a few screws still needing to be cleared away. Our 28x40 pole barn had some miscellaneous rough-sawn lumber from what I believe to be old livestock stalls which will be repurposed for the decking.

The neighbor next door is the daughter of the folks who, now passed, built the house and barn in 1972 and said this trailer was used by their dad to bring firewood up to the house. The tillable was once all pasture for horses but has been row-cropped for the last 12 years or so. It will be nice to reclaim the tillable back to pasture for raising beef and using the woods for hogs.

Anywho, follow along if you please as I give this ole girl new life and get her back to what she was built for. She will be spending her days as a companion to my John Deere 4600 tractor.
View attachment 956733

Taming widow makers and making firewood this beautiful evening with my MS460 wearing her 25" B&C.
View attachment 956735View attachment 956734

What is the lime green tool in the pic. Thanks!

 

[Brufab]

The tires on mine were filled when I bought it, and unfortunately it is calcium chloride. The guy I bought it from lived in hill country and was deathly afraid of a tip-over.

I've done 2 rear tubes and have one that currently leaks. That stuff never stops eating things. I may end up doing beet juice but it is expensive. I may just ditch the CC and run the 300# of wheel weights per side and call it good.

We got the pie weights and was cheaper than 2 tires filled with beet juice. Have to keep an eye out for used ones

 

[OH_Varmntr]

What is the lime green tool in the pic. Thanks!

It is a Mingo Marker that uses marking paint and a measuring wheel to mark the trees at certain intervals for uniform cuts. In this case it has the 16" wheel on it.





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[Brufab]

It is a Mingo Marker that uses marking paint and a measuring wheel to mark the trees at certain intervals for uniform cuts. In this case it has the 16" wheel on it.





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Thanks! now I know what to research for.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Thanks! now I know what to research for.

My ex brother in law showed me them years ago and said how he'd like to have one. I bought 2 and gave him one for Christmas. Awfully handy, but can be a bit troublesome if you buy the cheap cans of marking spray.

All of my firewood equipment has orange marking paint on it at some place or another, including my chainsaws

 

[Cricket]

It is a Mingo Marker that uses marking paint and a measuring wheel to mark the trees at certain intervals for uniform cuts. In this case it has the 16" wheel on it.





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I've been sort of looking for such a thing - I'm *awful* at guesstimating length - but wasn't good at coming up with google search terms that didn't get me anything meant for big production. Now I can start with "Mingo Marker"... never know what I'm going to pick up on here.

 

[ericm979]

I found marker paint for mine at the local hardware store. When you use it make sure to not stop as you're pushing it along the log. If you stop with the wheel in the wrong place it'll just keep spraying. Also do not mess with the thing when you're in the garage and if you do, don't point it at anything expensive. I narrowly missed painting a very expensive bicycle.

When it's cold out it takes a while for the paint to dry.

I need to drill a couple small holes in mine and make a lock pin so it won't go off while in the back of the UTV. It hasn't yet but I worry that with my luck it will.

 

[kevin j]

Off the topic, but on this particular bunny trail, I’ve never used a Mingo marker but I kind of have to calibrate my eyeballs the first few cuts then after that I can freehand. I have used blocks of wood, marks on the bar. I made a magnet stick on type of marker, but I’ve settled on the simplest and least elegant is simply a plastic tie wrap cinched up tight around the left part of the handlebar. The tail sticks out to the left enough to mark 16 inches and then when I’m not using it it just rotates around and points to the rear and is out of the way. It doesn’t catch on anything because it’s flexible. It’s on the small saw that I use for limbing and marking the log or branch as I go and then switch over to the bigger saw for bucking. By that time my eyes are calibrated enough that I can freehand after that

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Off the topic, but on this particular bunny trail, I’ve never used a Mingo marker but I kind of have to calibrate my eyeballs the first few cuts then after that I can freehand. I have used blocks of wood, marks on the bar. I made a magnet stick on type of marker, but I’ve settled on the simplest and least elegant is simply a plastic tie wrap cinched up tight around the left part of the handlebar. The tail sticks out to the left enough to mark 16 inches and then when I’m not using it it just rotates around and points to the rear and is out of the way. It doesn’t catch on anything because it’s flexible. It’s on the small saw that I use for limbing and marking the log or branch as I go and then switch over to the bigger saw for bucking. By that time my eyes are calibrated enough that I can freehand after that

I can get close but it gets real interesting trying to load a nice and dry split into a hot stove that's 1/4" or 1/2" too long and have to take it, now on fire, back out and figure out what to do with it.

I quit worrying about production a few years ago once we got rid of the OWB. That thing was hungry for wood and I was always playing catchup so it was go go go. Now it's quite nice to have a really efficient stove to be able to enjoy firewood cutting again.

Some company used to make one that bolted onto the clutch cover housing somehow with an adjustable flag on it. Neat idea but I run one saw for everything and that thing hanging out there would get in the way when felling for sure.

 

[esshup]

I've got a Mingo and hate it for wood that has slippery bark. The wheel will slide and won't be accurate. I had the same problem as you with the paint, I ended up removing it from the marker and slapping the cap back on the paint until I was ready to actually use it.

I made my own magnet thing from a strong magnet from Harbor Freight and a piece of 1/4-20 threaded rod. Strong enough to stay on the bar when marking, I just remove it to buck. Painted it fluorescent orange so I wouldn't lose it. Cost me about $5 to make.

 

[Abbeville TSI]

I use a piece of broomstick the length needed and make a mark with my Echo 2511t, quick and easy.

 

[sundance]

I use a section of 3/4" dowel rod cut to length (and painted orange so I don't lose it). A piece of sidewalk chalk. Quick trip down the log marking and then start cutting. Makes the peices nice and consistent.

 

[Mad Professor]

I don't get picky about bucking up chunks. As long as the splits fit in the stove and they are not dinks, 2" bigger or smaller they all burn.

 

[Brufab]

I've got a Mingo and hate it for wood that has slippery bark. The wheel will slide and won't be accurate. I had the same problem as you with the paint, I ended up removing it from the marker and slapping the cap back on the paint until I was ready to actually use it.

I made my own magnet thing from a strong magnet from Harbor Freight and a piece of 1/4-20 threaded rod. Strong enough to stay on the bar when marking, I just remove it to buck. Painted it fluorescent orange so I wouldn't lose it. Cost me about $5 to make.

Did the same thing, a rare earth magnet on a aluminum arrow, i use it on my cs 400. 16" perfect everytime

 

[sundance]

I'm an engineer and on top of that pieces that don't fit or require maneuvering to get in annoy the wife. A couple minutes marking for a consistent product isn't much effort. Also start the season with the bin of shorts and uglies.

 

[Brufab]

I'm an engineer and on top of that pieces that don't fit or require maneuvering to get in annoy the wife. A couple minutes marking for a consistent product isn't much effort. Also start the season with the bin of shorts and uglies.

These newer wood stoves seem so finicky on size. Says 16" max but real world tests put it closer to 14" you have to buy a bigger one just so you don't have to be so accurate or anything a little bit longer doest have to be recut or heads to the bonfire