Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[WoodAbuser]

My frugal buddy has a couple of Harmon pellet stoves. Really likes them. The co is about an hour north of us and we went to a guys place that worked there for sometime to buy parts. He ended up buying a prototype stove the guy had and parts. I think he shelled out about $1,000 and told he me just the parts were worth that. I see used stoves pop up on marketplace and Craigslist for 2-3 grand. I'll keep an eye out for gas ones.

Kewl, thanks. Still waiting for pix of your cast iron tho. You and @Kodiak Kid are really slackin in that department.

 

[JimR]

Just leave me the Mounds bar.

Almond Joy's got nuts, Mounds don't.

 

[gggGary]

The weight difference between the 462 and the 460 is huge. It's even considerably lighter than a 440

Hey thanks for insight but I'm confused: I just picked up a 462 as a replacement for my 440. The 462 with a 25" bar is 20 lbs the 440 with a 20" bar is 18 lbs. I thought I was going LIGHTER! both bars std Stihl. I'll guess MAYBE a half pound diff 20 vs 25"

 

[gggGary]

Oh my aching back ! When I built my house, I hired a local guy to hang drywall on the ceiling. Big guy, he put up 4' x 12' sheets of 1/2" drywall by himself. I never could have done that.

Yup major remodel, about the ONLY thing I hired out was rocking the great room ceiling. A long time ago I delivered sheet rock with a trailer, and my back as the unloading "tool".

 

[JimR]

My 63 SS came from the factory with a 409 in it.

But, when it came to me it had a 283 under the hood, so I bought a 58 for 75 bucks from the aunt of a guy I worked with and then took the 348 tri power out and put it in the 63.

SR

A guy in my neighborhood growing up bought a brand new 1964 Impala SS with the 409 in it. Shortly afterwards the motor came out and got suped up. I don't recall what he did to it but it was very fast. I recall the headers on it and the rolling idle of a pretty good cam. I recall him taking a bunch of us from the neighborhood for a ride on the local highway. The speedometer only read to 120. The needle was at where 140 would have been.

 

[WoodAbuser]

A guy in my neighborhood growing up bought a brand new 1964 Impala SS with the 409 in it. Shortly afterwards the motor came out and got suped up. I don't recall what he did to it but it was very fast. I recall the headers on it and the rolling idle of a pretty good cam. I recall him taking a bunch of us from the neighborhood for a ride on the local highway. The speedometer only read to 120. The needle was at where 140 would have been.

 

[djg james]

Yup major remodel, about the ONLY thing I hired out was rocking the great room ceiling. A long time ago I delivered sheet rock with a trailer, and my back as the unloading "tool".

Yea, it's amazing what we could do when we were young. When I built the house, I could sling around 4'x8'x3/4" plywood like it was nothing. Carried every bundle of shingles up a ladder on the roof by myself. My Dad in his 50s helped out. Not heavy lifting, but major work none the less. Bigger guy than me. Missouri farm boy.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

A guy in my neighborhood growing up bought a brand new 1964 Impala SS with the 409 in it. Shortly afterwards the motor came out and got suped up. I don't recall what he did to it but it was very fast. I recall the headers on it and the rolling idle of a pretty good cam. I recall him taking a bunch of us from the neighborhood for a ride on the local highway. The speedometer only read to 120. The needle was at where 140 would have been.

I know exactly how fast my 63 went with the 348 tri-power under the hood.

How do I know, by the "ticket" I got doing 136 in a 55. My foot was flat on the floor, AT LEAST I had smoked the 390 Torino I was racing! Light to light and top end! lol

SR

 

[svk]

Speaking of electrolysis... When we cut up the large maple tree at my son's house a few weeks ago I used my bark spud to peel the poison ivy vines off the tree. The spud was my grandfather's originally... Unfortunately the handle broke. It was riveted into the head and it turns out it was rather rotten inside the head. Many years ago it had also received my father's favorite preservation technique... Namely the head and handle were sprayed with rattle cans. After removing the rivet I discovered that it was a replacement handle... I found there was a piece of another handle deep in the socket. I dug out what I could but corrosion held onto bits of the wood. With that I subjected the head to electrolysis. The paint came off with the corrosion. I was able to remove the rest of the handle and while carding it off with a brass brush I discovered that the head was stamped... "Staatsburg." Yup... it was made in Staatsburg, NY. Upon investigation I also determined that despite it being kept with my grandfather's logging tools for the 67 years since his passing it wasn't a bark spud at all. It also could be well over 100 years old...

Staatsburg Tool company made ice tools. Such tools were used in the harvesting and warehousing of ice cut from the Hudson River and elsewhere. The best I can tell what I have is a light summer chisel. Such a tool was used in the ice houses to separate blocks of ice in the summer so they could be removed and shipped out for sale. It has a slight curve to the blade that would facilitate prying blocks of ice apart. From the literature I found on-line they were made from "fine tool steel." From what I see of this tool I have no doubt it was a good quality of steel. The edge shows no abuse and the corrosion was trivial considering it sat in unconditioned space in a shed for many decades.

It makes for a dandy bark spud, and I'm unlikely to harvest ice, so I'll keep using it as a bark spud.

About centered in the middle of the main blade is the Stastsburg stamp.
View attachment 1145031

Note the slight curve in the blade.
View attachment 1145032

That's great!

 

[GrizG]

Oh my aching back ! When I built my house, I hired a local guy to hang drywall on the ceiling. Big guy, he put up 4' x 12' sheets of 1/2" drywall by himself. I never could have done that.

I bought a panel lift... those 4x12 sheets were tricky enough to handle in tight quarters 30-40+ years ago... not happening now! I had my house and one of my father's houses to rock and no help available most of the time. I did get help staging the rock about the houses and that was a big help. I used the lift not only for the ceilings but also to hang the top sheets on the walls. It was worth every penny!

 

[djg james]

I bought a panel lift... those 4x12 sheets were tricky enough to handle in tight quarters 30-40+ years ago... not happening now! I had my house and one of my father's houses to rock and no help available most of the time. I did get help staging the rock about the houses and that was a big help. I used the lift not only for the ceilings but also to hang the top sheets on the walls. It was worth every penny!

This guy did NOT use a lift. Just his head and his arms.

 

[MustangMike]

You guys all talking about the 348, I never heard any cool songs about the 348, but….
That big brother of it, the 4 0 9

That one….

Giddy up, Giddy up

Yea, but after the 409s blew up, you had to replace them with 348s!

 

[gggGary]

Yea, but after the 409s blew up, you had to replace them with 348s!

My first car a used (up) 61 impala convertible, originally a 348 auto, when I got it a 2bbl 283 3 speed with a hurst shifter. LOL
He was asking $100, I got him down to $75. It went to the crusher when I was done with it.
Wisconsin kid, beater, rust bucket, it was DONE. (car jumping for distance in the air)

Always thought a 61 "butterfly" coupe one of the coolest Impalas ever.

 

[MustangMike]

The first car I wanted to buy was a Black 58 Thunderbird that was for sale at a gas station that was owned by my friend's uncle for $500. I was 16 and my father would not allow me to buy it!

When I was 18 I purchased my first car, a Black 67 Mustang Fastback with a 289 - 4 speed. I mistakenly purchased it at night. It needed new brakes in all 4 corners (had to borrow the money to do them) and there was a trail of oil smoke in back of it, so I learned how to rebuild a car engine (we had previously monkeyed with lawn mower engines). I sent the heads out to be done and did rings and rod bearings w/o removing the block from the car.

A friend of mine still talks about seeing sparks flying off the crank as I honed the cylinders with my drill.

Added a 600 Holley and dual exhaust (thrush mufflers - LOUD), and I never got beat by another 289 or 283 (and there were lots of them out there at the time).

I could even beat my good friends 69 Z-28 to 60 (after that he pulled away from me), but it drove him crazy that I could do that!

I think if I put a 289 Hi per cam in it and headers he would have been in trouble! (Like Shelby did with the GT-350s).

 

[bob kern]

I've heard from coworkers that they are next to useless in ideal conditions, and worse than useless in the rest.

Tillotson carbs are e-z, all you need is a straight edge like a raker file. If they have little raised nubs by the lever you set them to that height. If they don't, set it level with the carb body is what I recall. Might be a little off, but in any case my raker file has done a dandy job of setting up my Tillotson carbs.

I wondered if they were all the same therefore eliminating the need for a gauge. Might be why I can't find one.

 

[bob kern]

Shhhh! its a secret, but I'll give you a clue!

I know , I know, !!!!! You gave em' the ol' evil eye and they jumped up there themselves!! Lol

 

[JustJeff]

My Dad had a 58 Chevy 2 door station wagon. They were not called Nomads in 58, but after American Graffiti it would be really cool to have.

Was a 6 cylinder 3 on the tree. He was on the highway and the radio started blinking and he totaled it into a bridge abutment.

It was black and white; I've not seen another like it.

There was a nomad in 58, I had one. However it wasn't like the previous ones with 2 doors. It was basically a 4 door wagon with impala trim. Mine was the 6 cyl.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

I know , I know, !!!!! You gave em' the ol' evil eye and they jumped up there themselves!! Lol

Try it some time! You'd be surprised! It looks like this!

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Kewl, thanks. Still waiting for pix of your cast iron tho. You and @Kodiak Kid are really slackin in that department.

You can't rush perfection!...
Or laziness.

 

[SS396driver]

The first car I wanted to buy was a Black 58 Thunderbird that was for sale at a gas station that was owned by my friend's uncle for $500. I was 16 and my father would not allow me to buy it!

When I was 18 I purchased my first car, a Black 67 Mustang Fastback with a 289 - 4 speed. I mistakenly purchased it at night. It needed new brakes in all 4 corners (had to borrow the money to do them) and there was a trail of oil smoke in back of it, so I learned how to rebuild a car engine (we had previously monkeyed with lawn mower engines). I sent the heads out to be done and did rings and rod bearings w/o removing the block from the car.

A friend of mine still talks about seeing sparks flying off the crank as I honed the cylinders with my drill.

Added a 600 Holley and dual exhaust (thrush mufflers - LOUD), and I never got bear by another 289 or 283 (and there were lots of them out there at the time).

I could even beat my good friends 69 Z-28 to 60 (after that he pulled away from me), but it drove him crazy that I could do that!

I think if I put a 289 Hi per cam in it and headers he would have been in trouble! (Like Shelby did with the GT-350s).

Not a 58 or black , 1960 but it’s a ragtop