Utility and a local town gives me wood. I'm humble to get it lots of uglies but hey it is better than freezing.
Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)
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Sierra_rider
Piss revver
It was a long day of clearing singletrack today, I counted 7 tanks of fuel through the little Echo 2511. There was actually some good oak in a few of the lower spots, but not accessible by truck, so it'll stay where it is.
Another day of pruning and felling with no firewood to show for it... A tree failed and took out one of the private electric poles on my family's property. The power company cut the lines... It was on a debris strewn steep hill. I spent about 3 hours with a pole saw and Silky clearing branches and brush in the corridor and moving debris. Then I moved on to the MS461 to take down trees to prevent future problems with trees falling on the power lines or pole. The later was a clown show! The first tree, about 14" DBH, gave no signs of compromise but it was too close to the wires. Turns out it had a sap wood rind and black ant infested rotten heart. It was kind of heart stopping when I barely started the back cut and the 6 inch thick "hinge" broke right off! The second tree was about the same size and it was the same scenario. I don't know what kind of trees they are... at first I thought the leaves looked like walnut but when I got closer I saw smooth bark and lots of yellowish flowers. No walnuts in evidence. 70-80 tall range. The sound heart wood is light colored and the wood is soft and weak. I'm going to figure out what they are... maybe felling tips for them can be found. Despite being "in the woods" perhaps they aren't native? The property has old foundations and other building remains so I'm wondering if they might have spread from some planted as landscaping in the 19th century. Further supporting my speculation is that they seem to be localized to that one area of the property... They've been hell on the power and cable lines over the years so they have to go no matter what they are!
Well, I gotta give this kid (my old new best friend's best son in law) some credit - two weeks ago I looked at a pile of wood he had made with a rented skid steer. He had several trees taken down on his new property and cut them into chunks small enough to move. Unfortunately that meant still too large to load by hand. So he texted yesterday that he got after it and has it all cut smaller. So now I guess I'm obligated to go get it.
Nice looking set for sure.Due to family duties and doing a lot of pruning at family owned homes (shrubs, bushes and trees) over the past month I am way behind on the forums... We've had "hot house" weather here for months and everything has been growing like crazy. Weekly lawn mowing at my house has involved mowing it twice... once at max mower height and then a bit shorter. This so that I don't have big clumps with my mulching mower. Working around the rain I haven't been able to mow multiple times per week. Unfortunately, out of all that pruning and mowing I haven't earned a single piece of firewood!
My Stihl HT131 pole saw and Silky pruning saw have gotten a lot of use. Due to the need for more reach I got a Stihl PP900 with an extra mid-section of pole. That gives me 18' of pole length plus either the lopper or saw heads. I'm really impressed with the PP900... I've pruned 4" dead/broken branches with the saw head that were about 22-24 feet off the ground and nearly directly over my head. At that height and due to other branches slowing the cut branches down I can jump out of the way with no problem.
The PP900 is a very well made tool... the fiber glass poles with aluminum ends are made in the U.S., and the lopper and saw heads are made in Japan. It makes my 40 year old 12' fiber glass Snap Cut pole pruner look like junk even though it was a very serviceable tool. Changing tool heads and pole lengths is very easy. If you need a decent pole pruner this one is worth considering.
View attachment 1107792
I just snagged a new setup last week to
, also an extra 6' pole, so I have 18' and I can use a 3' pole from my big shot to size it more exactly if needed. I can also throw any of the three heads on both poles so two can be used at a time for larger/lower limbs if I have help and a job that works for, may get more poles down the rd, I've spent a bunch the last few weeks.Already have a couple jobs set up for them, but I don't think I could run them after the weekend I've had, but at least I was able to mow most the yard yesterday and the drives are now both open. The power company stopped by yesterday morning and said they would come right back and put the line up, so I dropped a good sized cherry(about 30"), that had a few big hangers in it and was threatening the power lines, they were gonna leave it til later
. But they were on double time, and were probably up there in hrs overall for the week/weekend...
This head/blade is a lot heavier, kinda wanted both as a lighter one without hooks(which are sharpened to cut the cambium on larger limbs) is nice in some spots, but suck in others. I'll probably order another scabbard like this one for the straight blade. Both blades are crazy sharp, much like my silky's. The pruner head is huge and opens to 1.75", I'll probably get a smaller one down the road too, but as said above more
.What did the Stihl PP900 run you?
Curious what type of trees they are. This weekend I cut a bunch of black locust, elm, cherry, and hickory, they'll be at least one red oak added to that when I get the large cherry out back. Bummer I lost the red oak, it was a nice 6-9" "save" tree and was straight until the 30"+ cherry came down on it
.I still need to climb the cherry in the front yard, I went heavy towards it instead of the house, I had another 6' to the house. I wasn't too worried about the 5" branch I lost, the house, a little more concerned.
This one was leaning into the last trees standing in the front yard, so I stood it up a bit, then cut the hinge real thin on the low side and stood it up a bit more, then set the other side of the hinge and let it go once I saw movement. The neighbors well head is in the flower pot, so I had my bucket and the notch angled just enough to get the tree in the yard if I brought the bucket over the stump. Precision guesswork at it's best!
Think that would work on these, their already "loose" lol.
The hanger/branch I broke, spoke of above, can bee seen in the tree(cherry) on the right.
Looks like some good firewood lol.
Adds a new meaning to throw another log on the fire
.
I burned The Who elm tree except the butt section, waiting for @Sawyer Rob to bring his trailer over to get it. He'd need his trailer to unless we made ramps to roll it up, I highly doubt my kubota would lift it.
I'll be working on removing the root ball of this one and the two near the main drive today. I don't think I'll get but maybe one out near the drive, but I'll get them cleaned off and if I can't get them out I'll cut the butts off then grind the roots later.
Nice looking set for sure.
I just snagged a new setup last week to
Already have a couple jobs set up for them, but I don't think I could run them after the weekend I've had, but at least I was able to mow most the yard yesterday and the drives are now both open. The power company stopped by yesterday morning and said they would come right back and put the line up, so I dropped a good sized cherry(about 30"), that had a few big hangers in it and was threatening the power lines, they were gonna leave it til later
View attachment 1108192
This head/blade is a lot heavier, kinda wanted both as a lighter one without hooks(which are sharpened to cut the cambium on larger limbs) is nice in some spots, but suck in others. I'll probably order another scabbard like this one for the straight blade. Both blades are crazy sharp, much like my silky's. The pruner head is huge and opens to 1.75", I'll probably get a smaller one down the road too, but as said above more
What did the Stihl PP900 run you?
View attachment 1108193
Curious what type of trees they are. This weekend I cut a bunch of black locust, elm, cherry, and hickory, they'll be at least one red oak added to that when I get the large cherry out back. Bummer I lost the red oak, it was a nice 6-9" "save" tree and was straight until the 30"+ cherry came down on it
I still need to climb the cherry in the front yard, I went heavy towards it instead of the house, I had another 6' to the house. I wasn't too worried about the 5" branch I lost, the house, a little more concerned.
This one was leaning into the last trees standing in the front yard, so I stood it up a bit, then cut the hinge real thin on the low side and stood it up a bit more, then set the other side of the hinge and let it go once I saw movement. The neighbors well head is in the flower pot, so I had my bucket and the notch angled just enough to get the tree in the yard if I brought the bucket over the stump. Precision guesswork at it's best!
Think that would work on these, their already "loose" lol.
The hanger/branch I broke, spoke of above, can bee seen in the tree(cherry) on the right.
Looks like some good firewood lol.
Adds a new meaning to throw another log on the fire
View attachment 1108194
I burned The Who elm tree except the butt section, waiting for @Sawyer Rob to bring his trailer over to get it. He'd need his trailer to unless we made ramps to roll it up, I highly doubt my kubota would lift it.
I'll be working on removing the root ball of this one and the two near the main drive today. I don't think I'll get but maybe one out near the drive, but I'll get them cleaned off and if I can't get them out I'll cut the butts off then grind the roots later.
View attachment 1108195
Last pick the Elm? Looks like Red Elm? I'd like to find one to make into lumber.
I spent the last 13 years as the Tree Warden in my town. I rarely gave wood to homeowners due to the really poor conditions of the wood. Many of the trees that were taken down were riddled with Carpenter ants. Some of the trees were way too large in diameter for them to cut up.
xraydaniel
Addicted to ArboristSite
Venison ribs were a failure. Of course this was a test to see if if would taste good. Deer fat is not tasty as I knew beforehand and the lean meat did not lend itself to a juicy texture. Now, if those were pork ribs on that there grill it’d be a different story.
I was wondering how they would turn out… Up here there’s just not enough good meat of them, but I thought maybe further south they might be palatable.
Because venison is so lean, it is best cooked rare, or it has to be "in" something like stew.
I've had guests tell me to cook their venison "more", but when it is put out for the taking, the rare stuff disappears and the medium cooked stuff does not. I just takes one taste! Over cooking it does not taste well, and it gets very chewy. Also, all fat has to be removed.
I've had guests tell me to cook their venison "more", but when it is put out for the taking, the rare stuff disappears and the medium cooked stuff does not. I just takes one taste! Over cooking it does not taste well, and it gets very chewy. Also, all fat has to be removed.
Sawyer Rob
Addicted to ArboristSite
SR
landfakers
ArboristSite Operative
Had a whole row of stacked wood fall over last night, no idea why. It was very solid last I checked, and the base was still darn close to level. Oh well it’s stacked back up now.
Also still waiting for a handle from whisky river trading co to fix my smaller axe, ordered 10 days ago and have got nothing. This is what I get for not just going to the store to get a cheapo
Also still waiting for a handle from whisky river trading co to fix my smaller axe, ordered 10 days ago and have got nothing. This is what I get for not just going to the store to get a cheapo
Nice looking set for sure.
I just snagged a new setup last week to
Already have a couple jobs set up for them, but I don't think I could run them after the weekend I've had, but at least I was able to mow most the yard yesterday and the drives are now both open. The power company stopped by yesterday morning and said they would come right back and put the line up, so I dropped a good sized cherry(about 30"), that had a few big hangers in it and was threatening the power lines, they were gonna leave it til later
View attachment 1108192
This head/blade is a lot heavier, kinda wanted both as a lighter one without hooks(which are sharpened to cut the cambium on larger limbs) is nice in some spots, but suck in others. I'll probably order another scabbard like this one for the straight blade. Both blades are crazy sharp, much like my silky's. The pruner head is huge and opens to 1.75", I'll probably get a smaller one down the road too, but as said above more
What did the Stihl PP900 run you?
View attachment 1108193
Curious what type of trees they are. This weekend I cut a bunch of black locust, elm, cherry, and hickory, they'll be at least one red oak added to that when I get the large cherry out back. Bummer I lost the red oak, it was a nice 6-9" "save" tree and was straight until the 30"+ cherry came down on it
I still need to climb the cherry in the front yard, I went heavy towards it instead of the house, I had another 6' to the house. I wasn't too worried about the 5" branch I lost, the house, a little more concerned.
This one was leaning into the last trees standing in the front yard, so I stood it up a bit, then cut the hinge real thin on the low side and stood it up a bit more, then set the other side of the hinge and let it go once I saw movement. The neighbors well head is in the flower pot, so I had my bucket and the notch angled just enough to get the tree in the yard if I brought the bucket over the stump. Precision guesswork at it's best!
Think that would work on these, their already "loose" lol.
The hanger/branch I broke, spoke of above, can bee seen in the tree(cherry) on the right.
Looks like some good firewood lol.
Adds a new meaning to throw another log on the fire
View attachment 1108194
I burned The Who elm tree except the butt section, waiting for @Sawyer Rob to bring his trailer over to get it. He'd need his trailer to unless we made ramps to roll it up, I highly doubt my kubota would lift it.
I'll be working on removing the root ball of this one and the two near the main drive today. I don't think I'll get but maybe one out near the drive, but I'll get them cleaned off and if I can't get them out I'll cut the butts off then grind the roots later.
View attachment 1108195
When I was buying I was thinking a longer hooked saw would be useful but quite frankly, with the 18' pole set up the lightest saw possible is greatly appreciated! With a 6' or 12' pole set up a longer hooked blade could be useful but at anywhere from 6' to 12' I could use my Stihl HT131 saw with it's 14' bar. As such, I don't think I'll be buying another blade but maybe someday...
I just spoke with the electrical contractor about a new pole. I anticipate this job is going to be stupid expensive due to all the bed rock and access problems.
Yes sir!
I marinate venison steaks and tenders. 20 minutes in the marinade is good but 3 days is better! ALWAYS grilled over charcoal but medallions in cast iron are very good as well.
Mid grade cuts are used in something like stroganoff or onion mushroom gravy. Roasts are always done up in some sort of gravy or liquid as well. Burger (straight ground, no added fat or domestic meat) usually ends up in spaghetti or tacos.
I have done some jerky but the homemade recipe I had was lost and attempts to reinvent it were not as good. And the store bought flavoring packs have gotten crazy expensive.
Mid grade cuts are used in something like stroganoff or onion mushroom gravy. Roasts are always done up in some sort of gravy or liquid as well. Burger (straight ground, no added fat or domestic meat) usually ends up in spaghetti or tacos.
I have done some jerky but the homemade recipe I had was lost and attempts to reinvent it were not as good. And the store bought flavoring packs have gotten crazy expensive.
Ricks of wood never seem to stop "working". I've had well stacked ones fall over after 10 or more years.
WoodAbuser
aka WoodchuckAbuser
I have raccoons at the cabin that seem to like to knock down my stacked wood. Need more buckshot!
Bears like to knock them over too looking for bugs
WoodAbuser
aka WoodchuckAbuser
Took the day off so I can get some work done around here!
More to come...
More to come...
