Heading in a new direction..more like a circle.

[Stephen Alford]

    Hey Mr Mike .... how is the arm coming along ?  Hope the healing is going well. Hard to imagine tackling your work load with two arms let alone one.

   Mr Bushmechanic you are highly over rating my mechanical skills.   When I pick up a wrench in my right hand the devil takes my left.  :D  Thought you might get a chuckle out of my impromptu sliding hammer to remove the pilot bearing. Only had a foot between the engine and the tranny. Poor ol 3/4 johnson bar had to take a hit for the team.  The grove in the handle did the trick. Three waks and wala.



 

  Was back in the woods Tuesday. Had to refit the armour ,change all filters etc. What I wanted to mention in case someone else has to do this  be sure to calk the engine on both sides over the axle before you pull the front ahead. Keeps the engine from rolling right or left. Pilot shaft can be borrowed.  Put the pto in gear as well as the trannny.  May have to  turn the engine over through the starter hole.  If you put the two halves together without using come alongs etc. its best.   Been a busy week as deliveries fell behind .   Sure feels great to get back at it. Go easy  

[mike_belben]

Hey mr stephen.  Good to see you got her back together.  I'd say my arm is pretty well healed, its only as achy as everything else now..thanks for askin.  Tryin the get everything in the yard cut and split but my system needs work.  I dont want to stack all of it, but because of all the dirt piles thatve been hauled in, i dont really have a good place to pile.  

What do you do for wood storage?  Do you sell green or seasoned?  I cant move a single rick in summer but need to have all i can piled and ready to go come the first cold.

[Stephen Alford]

   Glad to hear your on the mend Mr Mike.  I suspect our firewood markets are different. When you live on an island the mind set is different. If you were to check our DNA there would be traces of packratasorous or at the very least squirelamentala. Those spellings are probably wrong.  :D   We tend to store and make ready for winter ; that and the mentality that we will meet each other again in the coarse of our days.  It is rare that I have any inventory ahead.  Inventory is just tied up resources.  My situation has evolved with the focus on folks who buy their wood a year ahead.  Those who buy their wood a year ahead plan their finances the same way. Getting paid is not a problem.   I do a stump to stove same day.  Cutting more than a load a day (1&1/2 cd) is the goal. Hopefully when things are working right I will get a couple loads delivered one day of the week.  Cut in am, process after lunch then deliver around suppertime when folks are home to pay.   Folks are pretty much creatures of habit when they buy is a variable you can nudge but who you sell to is up to you.   Sorry for rambling...need more coffee... 

[mike_belben]

Ramble away, its all helpful to someone.  

Im coming up on my second winter at it here and i hope that those receipts with my number on them generate repeat customers.  But i havent ever sold a summertime load of heating wood.  One summer load that i lugged down a big hill to a firepit along a creek a few days after i busted my arm up is all ive moved since last winter.   In summer you can buy a face cord for $35 picked up.   Our winters are mild enough that many many people do all heating cooking and hot water off LP filled at the co-op or tractor supply.  We also have a natural gas pipeline just about everywhere (this region produces small volumes of gas and oil) with a nearly free hookup to your home.  It all keeps the firewood price low.  


But you havent seen saveitallacitis until youve toured the rural south.  Its like a perpetual yard sale where everything is worth 3x MSRP to the owner.  Ive met quite a few nice folks with a disorder level cling to their junk, while passing out leaflets for the hoarders association i am starting up   

[Stephen Alford]

   Wanted to post a pic of what some of the stands look like one year later.



 

   The wood and appearance of the stand are pretty much dependent on the history of each stand.



 

   Some of the firewood coming out.



 

 The wee one has arrived safe and sound....wakeup sunshine suns up in da swamp...days half gone...nothin done yet... :D



 

[thecfarm]

The wee one have a name?
I would show a picture of my firewood,but you all would thing I was stupid or lieing. ;D

[mike_belben]

The stand and the junior logger both look like they should, fine work sir!

[Stephen Alford]

    Her name is Ramona... wanted posters will probably say..."Moni and Grampie".  :D

 On the firewood side of things the province is now offering rebates starting at 500$ for heat exchangers.   But sales are holding.  Inventory is way up ...got 3 sticks on the infeed...



 

 Often get urban buyers comment they would get mor but have no place to store it.  This technique often helps with that.  Do need to lay branches across every now and then to stabalize...



 

   Sure do not miss changing skidder tires but the spoons have come in real handy..



 

   Talking with an old friend that had worked here with me the first time.  Wanted to come and spend a couple of days. What a treat to work with some one who knows what there doing..



 

 

[thecfarm]

Lucky you. I really only have one friends that really wants to help. He comes and finds me in the woods with leather gloves on and does not ask,You need some help? He just jumps in and helps. He's still in training. :D  I trained him on some just cut full 2"X8"X14' rafters. He remembers that training. :D
Some show up in thier sandales,or whetever some wear, and get on the phone and call me in the driveway and ask if I need some help. : 
Not much wood cutting going on here. I was doing good. But started another project, : and smoothing out some of the New Piece. It is looking good,real good. Not even many rocks. Yes,I said that. Very odd place. 200 feet away,it's all rocks.

[Stephen Alford]

   Bring on da pics....... ;D     When you work alone it is odd to hear a saw moannin  on the cut...add a couple ravens ...a few song birds and a wee of diesel ....sweet  ;)

Tried these felt bags ...hot peppers left,regular center and some Kale on the right.  Seem to be a great idea.



 

[Stephen Alford]

   Things keep chugging along. The province is now offering a  rebate on heat exchangers starting at 500$ . combine that with a hot summer consumers are moving in that direction. The AC in the summer and heat in the winter are going to keep those puppies around awhile.
    Some of the extraction trails from last year grassed in quite nice.



 

   Finished one block. not much tado upon completion. Paused for a bit of a boilup and watched the wind dance with the grain then onto the next block....



 

  

[baronthered]

Great thread here. Thanks to everyone who has shared even the smallest thing. This thread is what makes a forum more than just a bunch of random posts.  It a community, a family and a place where we can share our trials and triumphs. One of my favorite threads of all time. Thanks to you all. Keep warm and keep a light shining.

[Stephen Alford]

   Hey folks,things are winding down on this project.  The landowners are just fantastic folks to deal with.  Want to put up enough wood on the landing so they will have firewood for the next few years without having to deal with the cutting and extraction.  Thanks everybody for taking the the time to read and post, wanted to just add a couple fall pics...keep looking up 

 

 

 

 

 

[nativewolf]

Some sale worthy photo's there Mr Alford.  I was wondering how it was going this fall, we had a near brush with sleet this morning but that will probably be the only scare for a few more weeks.  Cooling down.

[mike_belben]

Boy those colors really pop, thats pretty.  Ive been wondering when youd turn up.  Im trying to set my place up for efficient processing right now and keep thinking about what you said a while back on it.  

Good to see youre still at it old timer  ;)

[thecfarm]

I don't have many stands of just about all hardwood.Lots of hardwood I see. I think I said it before. Out of the 170 acres I own,maybe only 3-4 like that. And that 3-4 is down by the house.
Glad things are going good for you.
Got your winter lots all picked out?

[Stephen Alford]

   One of the odd results of getting the new android phone is that I am rarely on the computer anymore.   The texting etc has really helped with sales , but with the pad format versus my finger size I do not type on it very much.
   In some respects this project was a test. I wanted an opportunity to modify the gear, combine that with downsizing and get an idea of costs/efficiency/production.   It also provided an opportunity for pictures which I can use to help landowners make an informed decision.  This is not really a profit orientated indeavour .  It would be more of a service that yields intrinsic values  such as access for recreation , firewood etc.   If it merely keeps an ol timer  out of mischief and in the woods... alls good :D

[snowstorm]

your not that old

[Stephen Alford]

   Hey folks...have not contributed in awhile so thought I would start by updating this thread which was started 2 years ago , and add a couple pics.
  For the first year ever the gear has been parked for a couple of months . two reasons really...without the skidder winter logging with the crazy weather just was not working, not feasible really at least for me. Primarily because I only cut hard wood (green)and sales are not there. Second wanted to head to the other side of the country to meet my new grand-daughter. The woods plan as of the moment is to dig the gear out of hibernation this week. Going to try and find a wood lot were strip cutting will be acceptable to the woodlot and landowner.   We shall see...
   British Columbia and the rockies are something that pictures just do not do it justice. for a flatlander like myself a totally humbling experience.  Recommend  a trip there to anyone.

This is were I stayed
<br


 

The wood was amazing


 

 

Some of the scenery


 

 

 

 

 

Lots of wildlife..a cougar strike across the lake and a chance to practice my stealthin technique

 

 

Family pic.. and got to pick out a new outfit for my wee bairne...

 

[GRANITEstateMP]

wow, beautiful country!

[thecfarm]

Nice pictures and nice updates.
I am almost in the digging rocks mode. :D  Almost is still 2 months away. I still have that bog road to finish,and the truck road. I might start cutting in another area. That is a wet hole. Might have to haul in a few rocks in there too.  Lots of dead fir to get. Live ones too.

[Bruno of NH]

Beautiful pictures Sir

[47sawdust]

Stephen,
Very nice looking family.Did the "wee bairne" take the photo?

[Stephen Alford]

  Not everybody has the love of   "da Rock" you folks in Maine  and New Hampshire have.  Wanted to bring home a couple pieces of the rockies  to clear the water out of my ears after swimming.  The guy going through my luggage at security just shook his head when he picked them up. :D



 


   The "wee bairne" would have loved to get her hands on the camera ...but she shock tests everything.  She took to pullin suspenders like a PRO. I am a big advocate of early child hood learning. Ya just cant start to soon. We had several moose calling tutorials.  So if you meet an infant who turns her head sideways and goes...UGH...UGH   you will know who she is. Her and I were very pleased how quick she piked it up. Her mother not so much.... :D

[47sawdust]

Stephen,My youngest grandson is 1- 1/2.The next couple of years will be the best formative years for us.The silliness we are able to share is priceless.As you mentioned , the parents aren't always impressed with the new habits they bring home from G-ma and G-pa's house.HaHa,tough nuggies.