Steve NW WI
Unwanted Riff Raff.
Talk about one of those days!
I planned to spend the day fishing, but the fish weren't cooperating, so I decided to call it a day about 1 and go cut a quick tree or two. Here's how the rest of the day went:
1:00 Leave fish shack.
1:15 Load saws in truck.
1:30 Back from fish shack again after retrieving can of gas for saws.
1:35 Get to woods, pick a nice easy dead red oak to take down.
1:40 7300 full of gas and oil, sharp chain on. Start it up and put the chaps and helmet on.
1:45 Grab camera, oughta be a nice felling video spot, dang forgot camera.
1:46 Should be an easy drop, mostly leaning the way I want to drop it, but with one limb shooting off almost straight out 180° to the direction I want it to go, so I grab a couple wedges and the whackersmacker just to be safe.
1:50 Face cut in, go to start back cut only to notice that the stump from this tree's twin is kinda in my way. Cut that off, full of rot and dirt. *&^&^, Grab another chain
1:55 Fresh chain on, start back cut and start wedges. Finish back cut, both wedges buried, but no movement. Notice that the wind is a little more than I paid attention to when I started, and coming from the wrong direction to help much.
2:00 Walk the long way around the tree to avoid being squashed and back to the truck.
2:05 Back at the shed, grab more wedges. Where the heck did I put them?
2:30 Remember wedges are in the ATV box, bro has the ATV. Settle for an old splitting maul with no handle, a wood grenade splitting wedge, and the old faithful 12# maul.
2:35 Back to the tree, discover that splitting maul just bounces back out of frozen oak when smacked with maul. Shin is sore due to this phenomenon. Wood grenade with the saw teeth in it sticks much better, but not the optimal felling wedge shape
2:36 Start really wailing on wood grenade. At this point, 12# maul becomes a hickory stick in mid swing.
2:55 Finally find maul head back, almost 30' away in a foot of snow. Pound handle back on, donate a few nails out of the truck toolbox to secure it, and go back to wailing. Get about 1/2 way in with it before progress stops.
3:00 Scratching head, practicing sailor talk.
3:15 Back to the house, grab the big rope and head back out.
3:30 Repeated pulls with truck are not working. Scratch head and cuss some more.
3:35 Steal ladder from tree stand, reposition rope higher for more leverage.
3:36 Tree on ground! YAY! Replace ladder on stand tree.
3:40 Time for some bucking. 7300 Dolmar makes short work of the bottom 10 feet. Get to rope, unhook it, but it's pinned under the tree. Go a bit further up the tree, make another cut, stick the bar.
3:45 Back to the truck, fuel and oil the 5100 and cut the big guy out of the tree. Forget about rope just long enough to roll the log over. Notice that a 5100 does a great job of turning a 75' rope into a 65' rope. More swearing.
4:00 Union break over. Back to bucking. Starting to snow.
4:30 Finished bucking and limbing. Slap myself in the face repeatedly while piling brush. Takes some of the attention off of the pain in the shin.
5:00 Getting dark out in the woods. Better load up the small stuff before it disappears under snow. Back truck up to tree, and start tossing wood in.
5:15 Truck loaded, back to the house. Good thing too, nature is calling.
5:20 Cuss loudly. House is locked, and my keys are in my good jacket inside.
5:30 Broke into house through basement window. Easier said than done while concentrating on not going #2 while crawling in.
5:32 Potty break over. Open door, close window, and fire up the computer. Hope there's another post detailing someone else's misfortunes, nope. Well, might as well give someone else a chuckle or 3.
6:45 Hit post button. It takes a while to type while watching the game that must not be named lest the NFL come and make you pay millions. Type while game is on, watch commercials. (Best one so far is the dog shock collar Doritos ad IMHO).
Rest of the night: watch football and check to see if anyone reps me for this!
Tomorrow: Stop on the way home and stock up on more wedges.
I planned to spend the day fishing, but the fish weren't cooperating, so I decided to call it a day about 1 and go cut a quick tree or two. Here's how the rest of the day went:
1:00 Leave fish shack.
1:15 Load saws in truck.
1:30 Back from fish shack again after retrieving can of gas for saws.
1:35 Get to woods, pick a nice easy dead red oak to take down.
1:40 7300 full of gas and oil, sharp chain on. Start it up and put the chaps and helmet on.
1:45 Grab camera, oughta be a nice felling video spot, dang forgot camera.
1:46 Should be an easy drop, mostly leaning the way I want to drop it, but with one limb shooting off almost straight out 180° to the direction I want it to go, so I grab a couple wedges and the whackersmacker just to be safe.
1:50 Face cut in, go to start back cut only to notice that the stump from this tree's twin is kinda in my way. Cut that off, full of rot and dirt. *&^&^, Grab another chain
1:55 Fresh chain on, start back cut and start wedges. Finish back cut, both wedges buried, but no movement. Notice that the wind is a little more than I paid attention to when I started, and coming from the wrong direction to help much.
2:00 Walk the long way around the tree to avoid being squashed and back to the truck.
2:05 Back at the shed, grab more wedges. Where the heck did I put them?
2:30 Remember wedges are in the ATV box, bro has the ATV. Settle for an old splitting maul with no handle, a wood grenade splitting wedge, and the old faithful 12# maul.
2:35 Back to the tree, discover that splitting maul just bounces back out of frozen oak when smacked with maul. Shin is sore due to this phenomenon. Wood grenade with the saw teeth in it sticks much better, but not the optimal felling wedge shape
2:36 Start really wailing on wood grenade. At this point, 12# maul becomes a hickory stick in mid swing.
2:55 Finally find maul head back, almost 30' away in a foot of snow. Pound handle back on, donate a few nails out of the truck toolbox to secure it, and go back to wailing. Get about 1/2 way in with it before progress stops.
3:00 Scratching head, practicing sailor talk.
3:15 Back to the house, grab the big rope and head back out.
3:30 Repeated pulls with truck are not working. Scratch head and cuss some more.
3:35 Steal ladder from tree stand, reposition rope higher for more leverage.
3:36 Tree on ground! YAY! Replace ladder on stand tree.
3:40 Time for some bucking. 7300 Dolmar makes short work of the bottom 10 feet. Get to rope, unhook it, but it's pinned under the tree. Go a bit further up the tree, make another cut, stick the bar.
3:45 Back to the truck, fuel and oil the 5100 and cut the big guy out of the tree. Forget about rope just long enough to roll the log over. Notice that a 5100 does a great job of turning a 75' rope into a 65' rope. More swearing.
4:00 Union break over. Back to bucking. Starting to snow.
4:30 Finished bucking and limbing. Slap myself in the face repeatedly while piling brush. Takes some of the attention off of the pain in the shin.
5:00 Getting dark out in the woods. Better load up the small stuff before it disappears under snow. Back truck up to tree, and start tossing wood in.
5:15 Truck loaded, back to the house. Good thing too, nature is calling.
5:20 Cuss loudly. House is locked, and my keys are in my good jacket inside.
5:30 Broke into house through basement window. Easier said than done while concentrating on not going #2 while crawling in.
5:32 Potty break over. Open door, close window, and fire up the computer. Hope there's another post detailing someone else's misfortunes, nope. Well, might as well give someone else a chuckle or 3.
6:45 Hit post button. It takes a while to type while watching the game that must not be named lest the NFL come and make you pay millions. Type while game is on, watch commercials. (Best one so far is the dog shock collar Doritos ad IMHO).
Rest of the night: watch football and check to see if anyone reps me for this!
Tomorrow: Stop on the way home and stock up on more wedges.
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