Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[rarefish383]

The road freight lobby here is strong. A few years ago they were biartching about paying road user charges on diesel when the private EV fleet got to use the roads almost for nix. I have found it quite hilarious that the screaming banshees in that lobby are quiet these days...with 'lecky freight trucks just around the corner.

Whilst I agree that EV users need to pay their fair share, various road taxes applied to fuel over the decades here were only ever done so ostensibly for the exclusive use of our national roading costs. Over the years however, and this will be further exposed as they wrangle with how to tax EV's fairly, successive govts have raided the fuel taxes for far more than national roads. That genie has to come out of the bottle in the next few years and hopefully there's no putting it back.

I'd also like to see some heavy scrutiny on the road freight industry's contribution compared to how much the public fork out to build or maintain roads for the commercial road freight users. I have a suspicion the road freight industry here have never paid their fair share and if they were hit with the true direct costs of their use of the national road network, suddenly we'd have a collective epiphany that maybe we shouldn't have run our coastal network into the ground (or should that be sunk it) as it is, as it has always been, not just cheaper but greener as a freight backbone in our Island nation.

A little off topic of the E vehicles. I got into an argument with a friend at work over driverless vehicles. He was a tractor trailer driver for UPS. Those guys can have slightly pumped up ego's. They think they can't be replaced. Any good tractor trailer driver can replace them, I mean how hard is it to go from point A to point B? A delivery drivers has to know where 150-200 stops are every day. You can't replace them in one day. Anyway, the point being, it will be the tractor trailers that go driverless first. Get on the hiway, stay in the right lane, go the speed limit. Pretty easy to program. The only thing saving their jobs is the Union. If the company can replace those jobs with new ones at the same rate, and guarantee the number of jobs at that rate, those drivers are gone.

 

[rarefish383]

With trout season closed, a man has to get a rise somehow.

But for one factor I think the lecky ute and EV vehicle concept is more novelty factor rather than practicality factor and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Yes, it can be done but for a range of previously mentioned reasons, I think it will remain on the fringe.

So what is that one factor, you ask? Government action. Regulation and taxation on the internal combustion engine vehicles and their fuel aimed at shifting buyers to EV would be the one way they can become competitive. Left to the market, EVs would be stone dead IMO.

EV's won't go main stream till oil is gone, or gets expensive. Some folks think it's expensive now. I talked to an old guy years ago. His first car was an Auburn Boat tail Speedster. He said he was making 8 cents an hour working then, and his fuel cost 8 cents per gallon. When I retired I was making $33 an hour, If petrol hit $33 per gallon, many electrics would pop up.

 

[KiwiBro]

A little off topic of the E vehicles. I got into an argument with a friend at work over driverless vehicles. He was a tractor trailer driver for UPS. Those guys can have slightly pumped up ego's. They think they can't be replaced. Any good tractor trailer driver can replace them, I mean how hard is it to go from point A to point B? A delivery drivers has to know where 150-200 stops are every day. You can't replace them in one day. Anyway, the point being, it will be the tractor trailers that go driverless first. Get on the hiway, stay in the right lane, go the speed limit. Pretty easy to program. The only thing saving their jobs is the Union. If the company can replace those jobs with new ones at the same rate, and guarantee the number of jobs at that rate, those drivers are gone.

Last I read Amazon was already doing it. Driverless trucks between some of their distribution warehouses, down a major highway. The company working with them was called Embark, if you want to point your friend to their website They were automating Peterbuilt trucks.

 

[MustangMike]

Dropped 2 Black Cherry and 2 Red Maple trees … started at 9:00 and they were all down, limbed and bucked by 12:00.

The one in the pic had to be placed between the shed and the deck. All 4 went down on the money.

 

[Deleted member 149229]

Took the 9010 out this morning to buck up that big oak trunk, it was 42”. But it was a morning of learning. In the video when I wasn’t dogged in the saw would “bog.” Since I had never had a Saw with that many cc or that long of a bar I discovered myself letting the saw pull me into the cut, then it “bogged.” As long as I kept some back pressure on the handle to prevent pulling me in there was no “bog.” Same as letting the felling dogs bite. Never too old to learn. By the way, that kicks azz and it’s only on its 2nd tank of fuel.

 

[cantoo]

28 C here today so I snuck out of work early and headed to the bush before my wife got home. I got one 20" poplar cut down and trimmed before I decide it wasn't worth getting eaten alive for poplar. Skeeders and black flies were unreal and then the heat and no wind. Bucked it up, loaded it up and headed for the house and shop. Got the wood chipper hooked up and ready to go to work tomorrow to spend some time getting everything tidied up on it so I can rent it out once in awhile. At least that's what I told my wife. Might work on the log deck for the wood processor too. She thinks I'm going to a birthday party with her but I' pretty sure I'm going to be tied up in the shop at work. Spend over $1000 on a couple of operations on one of our dogs. Removed some warts that turned out to be tumours. Vet said he was on borrowed time ( only 10 years old) so we made the decision to put him to sleep. Last second decision to open him back up and try to remove as much of the tumor as they could instead. It's been 2 weeks he's healing well and is running around and doesn't seem to be in any pain. We're maybe only going to get a few months but I like the dogs more than I like most people.

 

[chucker]

28 C here today so I snuck out of work early and headed to the bush before my wife got home. I got one 20" poplar cut down and trimmed before I decide it wasn't worth getting eaten alive for poplar. Skeeders and black flies were unreal and then the heat and no wind. Bucked it up, loaded it up and headed for the house and shop. Got the wood chipper hooked up and ready to go to work tomorrow to spend some time getting everything tidied up on it so I can rent it out once in awhile. At least that's what I told my wife. Might work on the log deck for the wood processor too. She thinks I'm going to a birthday party with her but I' pretty sure I'm going to be tied up in the shop at work. Spend over $1000 on a couple of operations on one of our dogs. Removed some warts that turned out to be tumours. Vet said he was on borrowed time ( only 10 years old) so we made the decision to put him to sleep. Last second decision to open him back up and try to remove as much of the tumor as they could instead. It's been 2 weeks he's healing well and is running around and doesn't seem to be in any pain. We're maybe only going to get a few months but I like the dogs more than I like most people. View attachment 749521 View attachment 749522

! dogs are smarter and wiser!!….

 

[MustangMike]

Dogs are "Man's best friend" … no way around it. And, they become part of the family.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Stuff you did not know (?) Philbert

thanks! had seen it before. remembered such pencils hold 'tricks of the trade'. but I had forgotten all but lead writes. lol. I actually had been thinking of this vid just the other day. you saved me having to look it up.

I am sure I can remember this go around... at least that it's 1/2" x 1/4". lol

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Cool. Most of mine are lost under the deck LOL I use mine to space out decking.

I got one lil pencil attached to a retract spring. on the farm working, I run across many things I need to note. so I have a small notepad in pocket and the retract pencil on T's collar... see something noteworthy, just pull out notepad, grab pencil off T and jot it down. right then... and there!! transfer to my main log later that evening...

not written down, bound to forget it! some times... quicker than u can say, "Jack Robinson!"....

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Scrounged up this today. Workday is going to be a lot easier now. Just need to fashion a vent through the wall which I’ll do tonight.

visited a rancher friend of mine the other day. sat on his patio and chatted. he said, sit here, close to me... [lol] and then he turned on his portable a/c unit. about 3' tall or so. 110-v. blew cool, well... imo, coolish. sweaty T and a fan mite been a good run for the $! lol. said had to have a vent line, 5" or so... to remove the hot air! omg, I could see acres of hot air! lol... and he had a lil drain line, too. ran along the heat vent, then pvc'd to spot in patio floor, then follered a line on out the rest of the way...

novel... air conditioning the outside!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Thought some of you guys that work with wood would like this.
https://cleveland.craigslist.org/fuo/d/lakewood-custom-black-walnut-table/6936398281.html

nice piece of wood. I have a walnut mantle over my L R fireplace. about 2" thick. rounded corners and front edge. I had it custom made and I put it there 40 years ago. looks as good today as the day I set it in place...

I liked the table in walnut. but for my budget... I think a Lowe's pine picnic table and a fresh can of Watco Walnut wood stain would be close enuff! lol $119.95

maybe finish it in exterior Varathane clear, #92 or satin #93

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I never knew that, doesn't sound to tasty to me .
I've noticed them eating the black gas caps on my gas cans, only on the gas cans from what I can tell, maybe its coincidental and they happen to be soy based. They have also eaten them on two small toro 2-stroke snow blowers that were on my front porch .
I got the engine all back together and installed and it's missing on the back cylinder(weak spark), that's the one right by the wires they chewed up. I don't think the wires in the picture are the problem though because the other coil gets power thru that one and its working, but they may have chewed thru another wire. Hopefully I can figure it out tomorrow, and I'm hoping it's not hard to find, it's hot out there .

I noticed other day one of my hose end caps had teeth marks!....

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I don't space fresh treated limber because it's gonna shrink anyway and leave a gap. If you gap it then after it drys the space is too big.

I thot about that, too. I see a new fence going up. in pine. they space it... then has wide gaps. never seen pine fence boards not shrink. edge to edge would be my best bet. but then, I use cedar...

 

[KiwiBro]

From the time I woke this morning until at least now (8pm) I have dropped, kicked, stepped on, knocked, fumbled, etc everything I have touched. Never had a day like it. Never been this unco'. Tried to work on a set of drawers in the shed. Spent over an hr setting up to do some fancy dovetails, did a test - perfect, routed two fronts before realising a finger on the dovetail jig had moved 1mm. Of course, there is no spare wood, and the grain was matching across all 5 drawer fronts and now is going to look like sh1t once I cut the drawers 2" narrower and start again.
If I wake up like this tomorrow i might have to reconsider being upright until normal service resumes. Crazy, crazy day.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I was filling the bird feeder last night and noticed iron sticking out of the ground. I immediately knew what it was.
Our cabin is on the site of a circa-1912 logging camp. The cabin itself is built on the footprint of the blacksmith shop. The blacksmith actually died in a fire that claimed the blacksmith shop. We occasionally find small bits of metal and this is the third horseshoe we’ve uncovered. I’ll heat this up in the coals on the campfire and straighten it out a bit before I mount it on the cabin somewhere. View attachment 748293 View attachment 748294 View attachment 748295

perfect! looks like a lucky find! ~

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

You know it’s old advertising when there’s no area code or cell number.

I can remember when Houston area did not use 713... kinda like when zip codes showed up.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

The morning was not too bad, but in the afternoon I just fixed a saw recoil (in my garage, out of the sun) and was sweating so profusely that I had to take my T Shirt off to let it dry! Went upstairs into the AC and took a drink break!

every day stuff here MM.... sometimes I just go over and sit down in front of a fan... cools nicely! I have to forget eating. almost anything... and 45 mins later gig is up! can't work outside. no chow and plenty of water... all day, so long as not in direct sun all day.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

I would but we aren’t allowed to talk like that on this site

Personally I’ve been screwed in multiple saw deals and as a moderator was thrown under the bus by those idiots many times. I threw the whole lot of them and their little ringleader on ignore and it sure makes this a better place.

They can slap each other on the back and refer to each other as “bro” and “cuz” but then when things melt down, watching egomaniacs fight each other is good entertainment.

[ lol, ]

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

You are lucky. With mandatory service fees with our cooperative here it’s 70 bucks a month before you even draw your first watt.

mine's a bit higher than that... but not bad, actually. actually it's a bargain. a/c is a must down here along Echo Lane...