Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[rarefish383]

A Yuppie friend of my Daughter and SIL wants to get into making Fermented Apple drinks, hard cider. We put him in touch with our Vet friend and she leased him an acre for a small orchard. He put up solar powered electric fence and has had no problem with deer, and we have plenty of them.

 

[Aknutter]

What do you bait the trap with?

Little Debbie oatmeal cream pie cookies work great for bait . Raccoons, possums, skunks, cats, and small dogs have been caught using this for bait.

 

[muddstopper]

The deer tend to get my peaches. Unfortunately I've not found any effective AND legal means of keeping them out.....

I would check with you local wild life resources. Here in my state, if the wildlife is damaging my crops, garden, flower beds, etc. I can legally kill 3 and put them in my freezer and I dont need a permit to do so. If I kill over 3, I have to dispose of them on my property and anything over 5 I have to dispose on my property and also get permission from Wildlife resources

 

[Cowboy254]

A day or two's BTU's LOL, hearing the burn times you get with some of that wood, it's probably more like at least a week or two's .
Did you get limby going, what was wrong with it.

Limby doesn't like warmer weather very much it seems and it was a bit warmer the other day, probly 23°C or so. He'll usually start first pull, even after a 6 month layoff but if it is a bit warmer and he doesn't start in the first two pulls I get a sinking feeling. I assume it flooded but rather than investigate (or just beat him with a stick) I just used the other saw. I'll give it a go maybe this arvo. The 460 has never let me down, will burp 4th pull on full choke and start 2nd pull on half choke every single time like clockwork so it is a good back up if the big show pony is having conniptions.

I picked up some of that Mitch-cut wood to make up a load the other day so I probably have perhaps 3/4 face cord of it and given a day or two for the moisture from the dirt to dry off, it's good to go. I'm burning some now. As a couple of blokes have said, you have to love wood that you can cut and burn straight away.

 

[turnkey4099]

Sorry, no pics. I found a patch cord and tried downloadin g to the the 'puter. no go. error message.

I was sharpening chains this morning and stepped out to fuel up the saws when to my shock my truck was back!!. I took it out for a short drive 5 miles. Pressure cold a bit over 40, warm and 60mph 30. I reloaded everything back into it and it will be off to the old house scrounge in themonring. Pick up all I have on the ground plus buck and load as much as I can off those two stems I have down. Gonna feel good to finally bring home so actual firewood.

 

[LondonNeil]

Since I often go weeks or months between running a saw I always run it empty and empty the carb. This means the first start takes a load of pulls to get fuel to the carb. I now love the Makita for it's primer bulb and wish Stihl and husqvarna used them. I'm sure if/when the primer bulb degrades and splits/ holes I'll curse the ****Ing thing and ask why it's there...'Stihl and husqvarna don't need them!'
Other than that... And my sticky decomp, I rarely have trouble....damn....I shouldn't have said that should I.!?

 

[djg james]

Well, I didn't scrounge any firewood today, but in the interest of staying on topic, I did scrounge some of those little fungi that feed off of decaying wood. Losing spots to development and I was about to give up. On my third spot I ran onto these beauties, albeit a little old. Largest was 8-1/2". Found 35 around one tree in a 8 ' x 8' patch. Best find ever.


Started cutting them and then decided to go back to my truck and grab my camera. These cut ones were found in the frame of this picture. Tightest grouping I've ever found.



Trip to the lake to get some Crappie to go along with the mushrooms (and beer) and I'll be in heaven. Oh, and all will be fried in, what else, cast iron.

 

[Philbert]

I now love the Makita for it's primer bulb and wish Stihl and husqvarna used them.

For some reason the purge bulbs offend guys who use ‘real’ chainsaws, and they are mostly on ‘homeowner’ and some midrange models. If they make the saw easier to start, but have to be replaced every few years, that seems like a good deal to me.

That said, none of my battery or corded electric saws have them.

Philbert

 

[svk]

We don't have any woodchucks around our property. I've taken care of quite a few though. Skunks always meet their maker. I don't feel like having to deal with a dog getting sprayed. We have a little 10 tree orchard with apple and peach trees. The first year that we were going to have a big crop of peaches about 3/4 of the almost ripe peaches disappeared overnight. I set a live trap with some peaches in it and I caught a raccoon. Over the next several days I caught the mother and her 5 almost grown kits. They all got lead poisoning. There are so many of the nest robbers around here that I have no issue with getting rid of a few.

To get back on topic, I hope to scrounge up some wood with my new 400. Chomping at the bit to fire it up.

I never see skunks but porkies are shot on sight. Between chewing things and the hell they can cause with dogs, it’s not worth it.

 

[svk]

There’s a product called Ropel that works quite well for animals but I don’t think it’s recommended for fruit bearing trees.

 

[501Maico]

I haven't had to deal with racoons until after 30 years one got in my shed. Poking it with something long didn't get any reaction so I called animal control thinking it was sick. She tried the noose and it got very active running up and down the shelf. At that point she said it didn't seem sick and couldn't do anything else. I fixed the roof and left the door open waiting for it to leave, which it did after dark. Rinse and repeat the next day. I grabbed some plywood and closed off the opening between the deck floor and shed roof. Judging from the chew marks, it tried to get back in for some time after to enjoy that comfortable bed again.

 

[svk]

I haven't had to deal with racoons until after 30 years one got in my shed. Poking it with something long didn't get any reaction so I called animal control thinking it was sick. She tried the noose and it got very active running up and down the shelf. At that point she said it didn't seem sick and couldn't do anything else. I fixed the roof and left the door open waiting for it to leave, which it did after dark. Rinse and repeat the next day. I grabbed some plywood and closed off the opening between the deck floor and shed roof. Judging from the chew marks, it tried to get back in for some time after to enjoy that comfortable bed again.

View attachment 984201View attachment 984202View attachment 984203View attachment 984204View attachment 984205

Funny how that is. Between me and my dad, we had been on these premises for 45 years before a squirrel got into the larger shed one winter. He brought in about ten gallons of pine cones and shredded them everywhere. Also ate a floaty tube. I patched the hole and no problems since.

Love the pic of the raccoon sleeping.

 

[Cowboy254]

I picked up the last 15 rounds of the other day's scrounge with Cowlad (when you have to roll each one end over end down the hill you are very interested in how many you have to go). Yes, I did post this pic the other day but I'm hoping it will be allowed on the basis that it gives context to the rest of the post.



Split them just above the track then chucked them down and loaded up.





Little bit of clean up and I'm done.

 

[chipper1]

Limby doesn't like warmer weather very much it seems and it was a bit warmer the other day, probly 23°C or so. He'll usually start first pull, even after a 6 month layoff but if it is a bit warmer and he doesn't start in the first two pulls I get a sinking feeling. I assume it flooded but rather than investigate (or just beat him with a stick) I just used the other saw. I'll give it a go maybe this arvo. The 460 has never let me down, will burp 4th pull on full choke and start 2nd pull on half choke every single time like clockwork so it is a good back up if the big show pony is having conniptions.

I picked up some of that Mitch-cut wood to make up a load the other day so I probably have perhaps 3/4 face cord of it and given a day or two for the moisture from the dirt to dry off, it's good to go. I'm burning some now. As a couple of blokes have said, you have to love wood that you can cut and burn straight away.

Any chance that one falls into the coil recall.
Yep, hard not to like ready to burn wood. I get quite a bit of the black locust like that .
I have about a 1/4 cord of it to pick up that's in a pile out back right now. I'll put it in the woodshed for next yrs wood, to refill the wood I robbed last week for the one customer I'm committed, I took 1/2 cord out of there for her. What's funny is I already took a half a cord out for here in the fall(spring here now), so this half cord has been replaced twice lol.

 

[chipper1]

Since I often go weeks or months between running a saw I always run it empty and empty the carb. This means the first start takes a load of pulls to get fuel to the carb. I now love the Makita for it's primer bulb and wish Stihl and husqvarna used them. I'm sure if/when the primer bulb degrades and splits/ holes I'll curse the ****Ing thing and ask why it's there...'Stihl and husqvarna don't need them!'
Other than that... And my sticky decomp, I rarely have trouble....damn....I shouldn't have said that should I.!?

If you wait until the primer bulb splits to change it, you've waited way too long.
They are not only nice to help start a dry saw(not that I leave mine dry), but they are also a great fuel system condition indicator. If they stop looking mostly clear, it's time to change out not only the bulb, but also the fuel lines and filter and a carb kit isn't a bad idea.

For some reason the purge bulbs offend guys who use ‘real’ chainsaws, and they are mostly on ‘homeowner’ and some midrange models. If they make the saw easier to start, but have to be replaced every few years, that seems like a good deal to me.

That said, none of my battery or corded electric saws have them.

Philbert

I use real chainsaws, my 550s, 346, 353, ms201 and many others I've had have primer bulbs.
What I think is interesting is how some saws without them will crank almost instantly , then others will take many pulls. Dolmar makes some of the easiest starting saws.
Interesting fact, most saws that are low on compression will need to be pulled over more to get them to start, since the impulse to the diaphragm/ carb is weaker.
Have a great day guys. Blue skies here today .

 

[H-Ranch]

Yes, I did post this pic the other day but I'm hoping it will be allowed on the basis that it gives context to the rest of the post.

 

[SS396driver]

Tank is in . J bolt hold downs worked great so the leather strap is decoration .
A buddy who owns a 72 Chevy and operates a small brewery sold me three Jack Daniels kegs cheap so the new one will be used at the house . Plan on making a high top out of it
JD added some plastic button vents I’m assuming to dry the inside. Im going to plug them with oak dowels . Truck now has a strong smell of bourbon not a good thing if I get pulled over

 

[501Maico]

Funny how that is. Between me and my dad, we had been on these premises for 45 years before a squirrel got into the larger shed one winter. He brought in about ten gallons of pine cones and shredded them everywhere. Also ate a floaty tube. I patched the hole and no problems since.

Love the pic of the raccoon sleeping.

The local squirrels and I have an understanding....might....maybe....they are so curious. A while back I was working in the shed and went inside for a tool. When I got back an unknown gray was already in there checking things out. After that I never leave the door open when I leave, even for 30 seconds. I run a dehumidifier in there so it's tight and pitch dark. I wouldn't want a squirrel to be hiding and get trapped in there.

 

[MustangMike]

Back in the mid 80s when I was building this house and the soffits were not yet installed my brother and I had to engage in an "Attic Safari" to remove a raccoon. It was very unnerving to hear it walk over your head at night knowing only a layer of sheetrock stood between it and your kids!

I first went up by myself, but just spotted the insulation moving like a wave with the raccoon moving under it. When I tried to expose it, it made a bad noise. At that point, I knew I needed help.

The attic space is cramped, you cannot fully stand. My brother lifted the insulation with a stick, and I shot the charging beast with a 22 cal handgun loaded with fragile HPs. My brother was panicked saying that I waited too long to shoot, but I did not miss, and stopped it in its tracks. We then discovered there were several little ones in the nest, which may be why yours tried so hard to get back in.

 

[svk]

My father's elderly neighbors passed away a couple years back. Their adult kids more or less left the house (which I believe is valued in the 3-400k range) go into decay....The raccoons ripped out one of the eave vents and more or less moved the whole colony in. My dad told the kids a few times about the raccoons and they did not seem to care. Finally did something when the city approached them due to blight issues.

I cannot imagine that attic after having multiple raccoons up there for months on end.