Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[SS396driver]

Three loads of mostly black birch this was the last one today it was short because the battery in the wireless remote died on the winch and the wired remote was hanging in the barn . This was along the state road power company dropped and left it yesterday . When I was leaving the after hours crews came . They were a little dismayed as I got most of the good wood . Pays to be retired

 

[Cowboy254]

Started out a dull and drizzly day here but I felt the need to scrounge. I knew of a big log that was down along the side of a track in the designated scrounging area locally. It has been there for a few years but too big for your average scrounger. Since I'm even more average than your average scrounger, I figured today was the day. You can see a small short branch sticking out a fair way down the log that's where I got to, working back from the far end. Doesn't look very big at that point from this angle.



The first few rounds had some soft stuff in the middle but they got progressively better as the rounds got bigger.



You can see the stub of the branch sticking out at the last cut.



The weather ended up being half decent by the time I was done.





And of course since my eyes are bigger than my ute...



And yes, I forgot to take the fishing rod out .

 

[Logger nate]

Should burn good, so dry and light it floats in the air, lol

 

[SS396driver]

Wife took a picture of the trailer in action

 

[farmer steve]

More free wood showed up this morning. Dead solid ash. Not as light as @Logger nate wood though.

 

[sean donato]

Had plans to work the wood pile, but it started raining by the time my wife got home from work. So started cleaning up the basement. (which doubles as my shop)
In Donato news.
We've settled on a solar company. $41k USA made system all Component's come with a 25 year warranty, save the Inverter, but from what research I've done, it seems to be a very good brand of inverter and not many complaints to be found about them. Hoping to have it paid off in 10 years rather then the full 20. Monday, we sign the paper work and get things underway. Uncle Sam has a 26% tax break, that I'll put back on the principal so takes system cost down about $10k. Hoping everything goes smoothly. 2 things caused us to go with this company over the other dozen or so we looked at. I found out I work with the operations managers husband. So we ended up getting a few bucks knocked off the system, and this is one of the only companies that didn't give me grief about hooking up an auto transfer switch for the generator. So were pretty excited to be done with high electric bills.

 

[sundance]

Had plans to work the wood pile, but it started raining by the time my wife got home from work. So started cleaning up the basement. (which doubles as my shop)
In Donato news.
We've settled on a solar company. $41k USA made system all Component's come with a 25 year warranty, save the Inverter, but from what research I've done, it seems to be a very good brand of inverter and not many complaints to be found about them. Hoping to have it paid off in 10 years rather then the full 20. Monday, we sign the paper work and get things underway. Uncle Sam has a 26% tax break, that I'll put back on the principal so takes system cost down about $10k. Hoping everything goes smoothly. 2 things caused us to go with this company over the other dozen or so we looked at. I found out I work with the operations managers husband. So we ended up getting a few bucks knocked off the system, and this is one of the only companies that didn't give me grief about hooking up an auto transfer switch for the generator. So were pretty excited to be done with high electric bills.

If I was in your age bracket and someplace with some actual sun I could be pretty tempted. Pushing 70 and deep in the woods I'm not ready for that kind of investment. Good on you for the research. Hope it all works out for y'all.

 

[sean donato]

If I was in your age bracket and someplace with some actual sun I could be pretty tempted. Pushing 70 and deep in the woods I'm not ready for that kind of investment. Good on you for the research. Hope it all works out for y'all.

Me too lol

 

[mountainguyed67]

I’ve been working on an engine swap since May, just got it going. The log grapple is close to being working too, I plan to do a lot of tree work before the snow shuts me down. Some will go into burn piles, some will go to firewood. The new to me engine is a turbo with 42 hours, the old engine was non turbo. The loader is at 5,200 feet elevation, so the turbo will help. This startup was without touching the throttle.

 

[mountainguyed67]

Too many people cook the piss out of it.

You prefer to leave the piss in?

 

[Cowboy254]

After yesterday's successful scrounge, you know what I needed...



So I went back to yesterday's big peppermint. Put a series of cuts in but didn't cut through.



I was able to split off around the rings as they were.



And that's when the fun started because there was a bullant nest in there.



Their butts are so shiny you can see my reflection! They were pizzed at me, can't imagine why. I jumped on and hit with the head of the X27 as many as I could but there were two times when I failed to see one on a bit of wood I was carrying back to the trailer and they both bit me through my shirt. Anyway, I split up the rounds and took a couple of half rounds off the start of the main trunk. Had to stand on the log to finish the vertical cut.



Ended up with over 2 cubes today to make about 5 for the weekend (didn't load the trailer and ute as high today).

 

[Cowboy254]

From where I was cutting you could just see Mt Bogong (highest mountain in Victoria) through the trees.



And then on the way out looking the other way is Mt Buffalo.

 

[mountainguyed67]

he has great taste in saws

If he has great taste in saws why is that junk brand in the picture???

 

[mountainguyed67]

The 72 approves of its new digs View attachment 932776View attachment 932777

Will that handle snow load?

 

[MustangMike]

Well, it may not be pretty, but the 6' length gives it a lot of leverage, the Hop Hornbeam a lot of strength, and the large diameter makes it comfortable to carry on your shoulder.

Besides, when Cowboy sees it I'm sure he will say "Now this is a Cant Hook"!

 

[chipper1]

If he has great taste in saws why is that junk brand in the picture???

What junk brand .
My saws got a little chilly this morning, first fire of the season.
That's the bar I used to do the dirty work on the stump Steve.

 

[SS396driver]

Will that handle snow load?

Yes . But they do recommend removing the snow after a storm . Either with a broom on the outside like a snow rake or just pushing up on the inside to make the snow slide off.

 

[djg james]

Had plans to work the wood pile, but it started raining by the time my wife got home from work. So started cleaning up the basement. (which doubles as my shop)
In Donato news.
We've settled on a solar company. $41k USA made system all Component's come with a 25 year warranty, save the Inverter, but from what research I've done, it seems to be a very good brand of inverter and not many complaints to be found about them. Hoping to have it paid off in 10 years rather then the full 20. Monday, we sign the paper work and get things underway. Uncle Sam has a 26% tax break, that I'll put back on the principal so takes system cost down about $10k. Hoping everything goes smoothly. 2 things caused us to go with this company over the other dozen or so we looked at. I found out I work with the operations managers husband. So we ended up getting a few bucks knocked off the system, and this is one of the only companies that didn't give me grief about hooking up an auto transfer switch for the generator. So were pretty excited to be done with high electric bills.

26% tax break off of $41k is $10k final cost? Not criticizing your math just curious about the cost.

 

[sundance]

26% tax break off of $41k is $10k final cost? Not criticizing your math just curious about the cost.

A little careful reading seems to show the it's 10K off total cost (seems reasonable for 26% tax break). Down about 10K seems to work with the math.

 

[sean donato]

A little careful reading seems to show the it's 10K off total cost (seems reasonable for 26% tax break). Down about 10K seems to work with the math.

It's roughly $10k off. final project price came to $39421.00 26% of that is $10249.46. So our out of pocket after the tax break is $29171.54. We got a few grand knocked off from knowing the manager. So pretty happy.