Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[mountainguyed67]

On another note, finally heard back from the state park volunteer coordinator. She game me a list of state parks near me that my need some help clearing trails. Also told me about a new-ish state park near me that's cutting new trails. Now all I have to do is convince the park ranger there that I'm not a total idiot and massive liability lol. With my luck I'll be relegated to using hand tools while the chainsaw stays in the truck.

I volunteer with a National Forest. Maybe not the same, but you can volunteer directly, or as part of an organization. Organizations are much more popular than individual. Also we have to do their chainsaw certification program and have a current CPR/First Aid card before we can run a chainsaw on their projects.

 

[Hinerman]

I don't post much anymore, but i get on here almost every day. I think I am done. I imagine this is what Facebook is like according to what i am told. Too many other things to do than waste my time reading this crap anymore. Carry on...

 

[djg james]

Damn that's a serious machine right there. Don't think HD has that kind of stump grinder. Also I just have two stumps to grind up, hopefully I can make do with something smaller.

On another note, finally heard back from the state park volunteer coordinator. She game me a list of state parks near me that my need some help clearing trails. Also told me about a new-ish state park near me that's cutting new trails. Now all I have to do is convince the park ranger there that I'm not a total idiot and massive liability lol. With my luck I'll be relegated to using hand tools while the chainsaw stays in the truck.

I considered volunteering at the State park I regularly camp at. Just cleaning up sticks and mowing. But then I don't want to take work away from the workers who rely on their job for an income. Plus I'm afraid the State would see how beneficial a volunteer system would be, that they might make the Superintendent reduce his work force. Some of the work they do is just busy work to keep them employed.

 

[Cowboy254]

Some of the peppermint logs you've posted look pretty straight. Ever have and sawn into lumber? Do they ever make lumber from them? What's the grain look like?

Peppermint doesn't generally make great lumber. It tends to warp and split and is not all that strong. It can have nice figure and make attractive floorboards but the wood is a bit softer than some other species and can get knocked about if people drop heavy/pointy things on it. Firewood is its best use and I do like it for that.

 

[farmer steve]

I was moving FIREWOOD bins around yesterday and when I shut off the tractor I heard this strange bird noise. Turns out that it was an immature bald eagle. We rarely see them here except in passing. Not sure why but there were several mature eagles attacking him. They would chase him off the tower but he kept coming back. The pic shows 2 them fighting in mid flight.

 

[Cowboy254]

I was on the scrounge for bonfire poles this morning. I use them to stabilise/neaten up the pile, and to provide early fuel before the core gets going. Like this...



So I traversed half of Mitch's farm looking for poles. Trouble is that he keeps the place so neat that there's very little left on the ground. Stihl, I managed to find a ute load, probably about a third of what I need. Weather permitting, I'll cover the rest of the farm tomorrow and hopefully find some more.



I transferred these to the trailer and then finally got back and finished off the good peppermint log that remained. A bit less that a ute load in that but it all counts. I didn't scrounge poles with the trailer attached as there are a number of sharp switchbacks on the tracks on the farm which are a bit awkward with the trailer if you misjudge.

 

[Cowboy254]

I was moving FIREWOOD bins around yesterday and when I shut off the tractor I heard this strange bird noise. Turns out that it was an immature bald eagle. We rarely see them here except in passing. Not sure why but there were several mature eagles attacking him. They would chase him off the tower but he kept coming back. The pic shows 2 them fighting in mid flight.

View attachment 901070

We have a bird - the magpie - where the young stay with their parents for two years, then the parents will chase it off before the following breeding season. I feel a bit sorry for them, you can see the young magpies consternation at being attacked by their own parents. However, they are being told to get off the couch and get their own place and they get the message eventually. Maybe bald eagles do something similar? Or maybe he just strayed into others' territory?

 

[U&A]

Scrounging for rocks.... still scrounging. Biy got a small 8’x 30” pool for his birthday but he has to work to get the pool. Scrounging the property lone for river rock and put down so pea gravel and soil i wanted to get rid of under the fabric.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[svk]

You guys complain about Chipper derailing the thread, but you just can't help trying to wind him up. If you don't want to hear how the other half thinks, don't keep bringing it up.

If people can’t control themselves enough to not post numerous links and a bunch of conspiracy theory stuff every time covid is mentioned, that is not my problem.

Someone mentioning that they got their vaccine/scheduled their vaccine/are planning to get their vaccine is no more off topic than 3/4 of what gets posted around here. Covid has impacted EVERYONE’s life and taking a step that will hopefully help us get past this mess is a good thing.

The “horse” aka semi civil debate on the pandemic/vaccine/rules surrounding masks etc certainly has been beat to death around here and I’d say 99 percent of the regulars in this thread are done participating in that. But I’m not going to avoid saying the word covid in fears of what Brett is going to post. If you recall, one of his tirades was spawned by me discussing online drivers training...the word covid wasn’t even mentioned.

If you have a problem with Brett’s posts I suggest that you take it up with him.

 

[svk]

Mentioning covid around here lately reminds me of mentioning the word leveraxe a few years ago. POOF out of nowhere, heeesss back.

 

[djg james]

I was on the scrounge for bonfire poles this morning. I use them to stabilise/neaten up the pile, and to provide early fuel before the core gets going. Like this...

View attachment 901069

Sorry, but I'm confused again (I get like that a lot). Aren't the poles usable firewood? Do you just stack this way to dry better? Or you just getting ready for a bonfire?

 

[svk]

How do you like that 439?

Sent from my CLT-L04 using Tapatalk

Haven’t even tried it yet. It will be my walking trail and four wheeler saw.

 

[SimonHS]

Mentioning covid around here lately reminds me of mentioning the word leveraxe a few years ago. POOF out of nowhere, heeesss back.

What did happen to the Leveraxe that was being passed around?

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/leveraxe.46925/
I have one. It is OK for straight-grain wood.

 

[svk]

What did happen to the Leveraxe that was being passed around?

https://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/leveraxe.46925/
I have one. It is OK for straight-grain wood.

I’ve had both of them now for about 4 years.

Two things more or less caused the LA thread to die: First of all many folks tested it and all came back with similar conclusions: Its worthless in twisted grain and or difficult-to-split species and works like lightning if you want to make small splits in straight grained, easy to split species. Secondly, the guy who invented Leveraxe sold the patent to Truper so he hasn’t been back since he monetized.

 

[HadleyPA]

So back about 20 yrs ago we rented a stump grind grinder that basically was a wheelbarrow in reverse. The difference was instead the wheels of the machine were where the legs of a wheelbarrow are and the grinder was in front where the wheel would be. I ran it all day on a bunch of stumps. It about beat me to death! I have also run jackhammer and to be honest I am not sure which is worse! They both suck. So last year when I had a couple more stumps needing ground I paid this guy to bring in his machine. It was actually bigger than it looks in the picture. I hate paying for anything I can do myself but in this case I consider it money well spent after a life lesson learned!

 

[rarefish383]

Just curious--am I the only one here who once owned a mule? Blondie--she hated me, loved my wife. A friend convinced me that a mule would be the best draft animal (draft horses had been the thing where I lived, and a bunch of people still used them, and this was pre-Amish). I had numerous mis-adventures with that beast. Owned her for a year, then sold her and bought a Farmall C tractor (wide front end). One of my earliest smart business decisions.

My Dad had a Farmall C, sorry I let it get away. I have a friend in Idaho that outfits with mules, but this is more of what I was thinking of

 

[rarefish383]

This is a pic of our first stump grinder, not ours, just the same model. It had a full 8' of travel. The wheels rotated in to tow. You could grind small stumps with the wheels in, but you could only get a few inches below ground. With the tires rotated out, you could get the full 8' of travel, but it was 10' wide. I think it would go 18" below ground level. it would beat our F250 to death trying to tow it. Usually used the C30 12' flat bed to tow it. The guy that does stumps for me now has an 85HP Rayco, joy stick, remote control, self propelled. His machine is so fast he can work cheaper now, than what I could back in the 70's and 80's.

 

[Ambull01]

I used to help my Grandpa plow with a mule. Mostly I just walked in front of grandpa and held the handles. My grandma always said the worst thing grandpa ever did was sell the mule and buy a tractor. She claimed the tractor plowed all the good ground under and ruined the gardens.

Hey where in the NC mountains are you? I used to live in Boone and went to Todd a lot, had family there.

I volunteer with a National Forest. Maybe not the same, but you can volunteer directly, or as part of an organization. Organizations are much more popular than individual. Also we have to do their chainsaw certification program and have a current CPR/First Aid card before we can run a chainsaw on their projects.

Yeah I'm hoping the VA state parks have some kind of chainsaw cert as well. Would be a great opportunity/excuse to run my chainsaw more lol. They also give you perks for volunteering like free stays in cabins on the state parks.

I considered volunteering at the State park I regularly camp at. Just cleaning up sticks and mowing. But then I don't want to take work away from the workers who rely on their job for an income. Plus I'm afraid the State would see how beneficial a volunteer system would be, that they might make the Superintendent reduce his work force. Some of the work they do is just busy work to keep them employed.

Hmm that's a good point. I definitely do not want to help mow or anything like that, I get enough of that stuff at home. My volunteer work has to be specific to using a chainsaw and cutting lol. Still haven't heard back from that Christian group about volunteering to help cut/split firewood for the less fortunate families in the area. I'm not religious but can't argue with their cause.

So back about 20 yrs ago we rented a stump grind grinder that basically was a wheelbarrow in reverse. The difference was instead the wheels of the machine were where the legs of a wheelbarrow are and the grinder was in front where the wheel would be. I ran it all day on a bunch of stumps. It about beat me to death! I have also run jackhammer and to be honest I am not sure which is worse! They both suck. So last year when I had a couple more stumps needing ground I paid this guy to bring in his machine. It was actually bigger than it looks in the picture. I hate paying for anything I can do myself but in this case I consider it money well spent after a life lesson learned!

Okay you all are starting to sway me away from doing it myself lol. Looking at the HD site they have two stump grinder models, they both look a little small. vibrations would probably be really bad, my hands will continue to shake for hours I think if I ran that. Time to find someone reasonably priced to grind these stumps.

 

[rarefish383]

My Dad had to take over working the small farm when he was young because my Grandfather became sick. When he was something like 12-16 years old (can't remember exact age) he would plow the farm with a TEAM OF MULES. Blows my mind someone that young could do that and not too long ago. When they sold the mules, my Grandfather cried, because they were like a part of the family.

My Grandfather started scooping basements with a team of horses and a scoop when he was 12. Every one called him Manny, because he worked and hung out with the men. He married my Grandmother when he was 16, and she was 20. He told her he was older than her, and since he hung out with all older guys, every one believed him.

 

[rarefish383]

I was moving FIREWOOD bins around yesterday and when I shut off the tractor I heard this strange bird noise. Turns out that it was an immature bald eagle. We rarely see them here except in passing. Not sure why but there were several mature eagles attacking him. They would chase him off the tower but he kept coming back. The pic shows 2 them fighting in mid flight.

View attachment 901070

Steve, it is Spring time. Eagles do court in the air. Are you sure they are fighting?