Making it through another year, '23-'24

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah Ted, I hear you. Tat record cabinet I made back before Christmas was the same thing. Sometimes customers suck, but customers are also great things to have. Can't win, or is it lose?
--------------------
Well those two videos I posted here yesterday I uploaded to the wrong youtube account. On reflection I also could have done a better job. So this morning I re-edited them to add some 'color', not that anything I can produce would be comparable to anything coming out of the expansive and extremely talented staff at the Hobby Hardwood Studios (Inc). But I am trying. Now uploaded to the correct account, just to clear the record up, here are the correct links (the old ones still stand, but that channel doesn't get much traffic)

And the other one:

[21incher]

I didn't think of a winch! I could use that idea myself! Tie a winch to some boots and lift me to the top of the shop, then give it the ol' back and forth to shake my back out, yeah, that sounds nice!

Make a video,  I would love to see that.  And remember not to wear the slippery silk socks  .

[Old Greenhorn]

I think that ship sailed without anyone aboard.

[doc henderson]

also, remember not to shake your booty, or you may fall out as well!       

[thecfarm]

Be careful!!!
Both in the woods and on that steep part.

[woodroe]

Quite a tangle in that 1st video. Spring pole city. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah well, these trees are where we find them. Blowdowns like this don't happen very often, but last winter because of the ice storm, about 60-80% of my logs came out of storm damage. Usually I really like these. I generally get a lot more logs out of them than I can out of the pecker poles and I get to work in one spot for a while. Yes, they are a lot more work and those spring poles and working overhead add to the hazards if you don't take a well thought out approach. Because I am no spring chicken, I have time to think it through. I generally pick the leader laying close to the ground and limb it from bottom to top as far as I can get in. Then, on the same branch, beginning at where the branch is 8" diameter, I begin marking on my way to the top again until I get to 4" diameter. At that point I cut it off and begin cutting my 40" bolts from the top back down to that 8" diameter. Anything bigger is firewood. Then I pick another leader and do it again. When I get a bunch on the ground, I back the buggy, truck, or forks in and get those loaded and out of my way. Then continue. This allows me to relieve those spring poles slowly. Once I have all my logs out, the grunt work begins. I buck the remaining big stuff into skidable logs, I cut the under 4" to 2" stuff into pole and stack them or just hack them into firewood length (which I stuff in to the truck corners after loading my logs). From 2" to 1" I cut into 6' or so poles and they go to the Broom shop over at the Ashokan center where they will do cleaning up and sizing as needed. The small stuff gets diced up small enough that it can be easily walked or driven over without notice.
 This particular tree is just a bit tougher because the SxS is the biggest unit I can get in and 25 logs is a very full load. Figuring an average 35 pounds per log, that's over 800 pounds. So I load into the SxS then take them out to my truck a mile away, hand transfer them, then return and do it again. So more time and fuel expended. Then I bring them home and hand unload again to the stack. Best is when I can get my truck or trailer right up by the tree, minimize my steps, and load directly to bring them home ot get the Toolcat in with the forks and keep moving along loading the forks, then I can carefully roll them into the truck or trailer staged a little further away.. I continue to try different techniques and try to think of better ways. Some work, some don't, none are 'wrong'.
 The nice thing about blowdowns is that the rootball remains attached, feeding the tree, sometimes for years, but it keeps it viable until I can get to it or cut a path in. The tough thing is the extra hazards. SO far I have 22 logs out of this tree (2 Leaders) and a bunch more to go yet.
 Also that path out is very tricky and cannot be taken for granted, even just one time would be really bad. But I have had worse, and those are usually the ones where I have to carry each log 100' or more to get it to a transport vehicle. That makes for a short work day, or a very long one.  Anything for a laugh and it's a living of sorts. Pretty certain I am the only guy in NYS doing this at this level with a comprehensive work plan. If there is somebody else, I can't find them.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, feeling a bit stronger today. Not twingey at all and no problem getting out of bed. Still I took my time this morning, made breakfast while it warmed a tad, did some light stretching, then headed to the woods. Bill was doing road work nearby and using the SxS to shuttle back and forth between equipment and the shop. So I forgo that idea (pulling logs out with the SxS) and just drove my truck up to near the area and walked in with my gear, only about 200 yards.
I took my time and hacked up one of the major leaders, cut both stems free of the stump and limbed what there was. They are ready for skidding out. Funny thing, when I cleared the remaking stuff holding those spring poles down, they barely moved. They were stuck there. I took the one closest to the road for logs, it was bent in such a way I felt it could catch the top corner of a cab on a passing buggy and I took another one.  One was just junk and I cleared that out, but I left the one that arched over the entire trail. I thought it looked pretty cool. Probably has some good logs in it, but it looked cool. I'll find another tree. Also, I want to see if it pushes out buds in a few weeks, it does have a barber chair type split up the side. I cut 24 logs today which is enough in my 'delicate' condition. Next order is only 35, so I should be able to get the rest over the weekend and get them out to a trailer staged nearby.
I have a lot of brush to dice up and I got started on that. I'll finish in the next session there. Also some stuff in the 'yet to be cleared' section of trail going forward. Bill is planning a trail clearing party for Sunday and we will have a handful of guys and kids to try and open some stuff up and through. I might even drive my Mule down there for the 'event'. Since I put a bunch of time into that area, I would like to finish it up nicely. It is already looking a whole lot better after today. There is also firewood to fetch out of there also.
SO I came home and was going to split some firewood. I got a call from friends Jay and Molly, about a mile away and they wondered if I could help them carry out a loveseat from their house and carry the new one in. So I headed over there and it took about 20 minutes to make the swap, no big deal, but they were more like short couches and a bit more heavy than the love seats I pictured. AT 77, Jay is still in pretty dang good shape and Molly just got a new hip back in January and is bouncing around like a young gal again. But for all the music they have given me (actually all of us) over the years, I am more than happy when I can help them with something. Before I left, they were trying to lend me a mandolin to get me back to playing and practicing again. I didn't bite, no time. But that was very gracious. I remember trying out Jay's f-style mando several years ago and being so nervous I might hurt it (or worse, butcher the tune I was playing, which he wrote and won a Grammy for), and at the same time having some celebrity anxiety. Kind of like the first time I sat in Bill Keith's kitchen for a lesson. I felt like a little kid in his all-time heroes kitchen, which I was, but not a little kid. Anyway, that feeling is smoothing out, but it's always there just a little lurking in the back of my head. I'm getting better at it and Jay and Molly are more like neighbors now than celebrities, although they are both.
After some chit-chat I came home and split some wood, just 2 cart loads for the shop (I was out again) and the back was warning me. So I stopped that and went and did a little wok on the trailer. Not much, but moving forward. Tomorrow I may start the wiring, putting in a new trailer plug and wire, installing a breakout box, and maybe getting that front wall back together. It would be nice to get that done this weekend. Then I can finally begin to slowly work on improvements and getting it ready for my stuff. I also have the new bearings arriving any day now, so I'll change those out on a rainy day before I take it off the blocks.
AT least I am able to get some work done now. I am being very cautious and moving on to something else when my back starts to complain just a little. By Monday I should be good. I have a pickup coming at 9am tomorrow, then a delivery to do early in the week, then back to cutting. Only 140 logs to go! I can't wait to move on. So much to do, not enough time. Gotta start looking for shows, and gotta start making more stuff.
But tonight I am just tired, which I suppose is good.
Tomorrow? Well that's just another day.

[doc henderson]

very good!

[aigheadish]

For comparison's sake, Tom...

I felt very accomplished today.

I'm 46 years old, I think.

I had the day off work, so Irish coffee and a good nap.

I got up and decided to finally put a foot on the tractor blade, to keep it from falling over upon detach. Welded a few things together.

Then, swapped the blade for the mower deck, and mowed a couple acres.

That was it. 

You're a beast. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Not really, You are still working for 'the man'. Days off are rare enough and you need to use them for recharge. I'm retired, any day can be a day off, and many are although I fill them doing fun stuff or things I 'just want to do', or sometimes, nothing at all but read the forum and watch movies. You don't have a choice in your rare days off, so you need that recharge time, it's important. I am just having a good time, so it's different.
 Beast?, heck no, I just gotta keep moving.

[doc henderson]

We are all just trying to keep up with Magic Man.  

[aigheadish]

Well, either way you want to say it your tales, here, are inspiring and fun to read about. I'm very glad I got the chance to meet you and ramble around your hood so I understand what you are talking about. @Magicman is on a different level, certainly from me. 

[Old Greenhorn]

I'll just do a quick update here, I have to get to work before the rain comes in. Saturday I spent the whole day on the trailer, I'll update that over in the trailer thread later to keep things slightly organized. Sunday I spent the morning on the trailer trying to gets the lights working correctly. I also finished off the front wall, sans trim, which I have to make. Between al that I piddled with the mule, charged the battery back up, added oil, and threw the right tools in. 
 Bill has been hinting that maybe I should be using my SxS instead of his. I am hesitant for a number a reasons: power ground clearance, suspension, and stability to name a few. I have yet to put a mark on his and I always back out of dicey situations that he would plow through, because it is not mine and I refuse to take a chance with it. But I thought it was about time I saw how it really compared, plus he was supposed to be having a bunch over for trail clearing and I intended to pitch in. So around 11am I headed down the road. The drive only took about a minute more than with my truck. Turned out the 'clearing crew' all had to do family stuff for Easter. So I headed out to see if I could get the Mule into that tough spot I was cutting. I still had logs to pull out and cleanup work to do. Bill and Inga found me about 20 minutes later way back in and trying to find a path. I began backing  when I came to a boulder field I didn't have the ground clearance for.  So they saw my predicament and Bill pointed out a loop trail I didn't even see, and could barely make out while he was pointing at it. He and Inga were on a tiny little ATV that he likes to ride. He looks like a clown in a little car, but the thig goes anywhere. So he zipped up that trail and I followed, much more slowly. He was at the top in no time, I found all the trees that wanted to eat the roof off the Mule. Good thing it's a steel roof. If it was plastic, it would be toast and I would still be out there collecting pieces of plastic all over the place. I thought I ripped off one of my work lights and various other doo-dads and slid along a bunch of trees, but got to the top. It was real dicey getting the last 20' into the flat and I could not have done it if Bill weren't watching and coaching. I had the Mule teetering on two wheels for the most part and there was a hole under the one wheel hanging out in space. BUT, I got in! We loaded the logs I had already cut and talked about what I had left to do. He asked me to cut out that tree that arches over the trail, it does have good logs in it. There is also small firewood to take out when I am done a a large amount of brush to be diced up. He also found an alternate route so I can avoid that whole 'teetering thing' which could have easily gone very wrong.  We messed around, Inga did more tree climbing, and we enjoyed the day. Bill headed out over the dreaded 'drop of death' and I turned around and went down the way I came in BUT I took out one little maple pecker pole that allowed me a tight, yet stress free exit from the area. Going down I found some other trees that wanted a piece of the mule and one succeeded in ripping a fire extinguisher off my roll bar and destroying the bracket. We now know, for sure that Bill's SxS will NOT fit up that trail until a few more trees are gone. His is about 6" wider than mine and his roof is plastic. It won't stand a chance. I MAY do a video on the next run, just for laughs.
 Anyway, I came out and drove around to my staged trailer and unloaded onto that. Bill and Inga went back to the shop and she got on her battery powered ATV and they both came and found me and helped. We were in one of the few open filed' areas he has. The skies were blue, the wind was calm, and the temps were in the upper 50's. In short, PERFECT. So we just kind of hung out, chatted, watched Inga running around having fun and enjoying a beautiful day. Then Inga wanted to do some 'wheelin' so they headed out to a swampy area and I followed until the road got bad. When she had gotten stuck enough times, they turned around and headed back out. Inga's batteries were running low. As we headed back to the shop, her batteries finally quit, so we threw her machine in the back of the Mule and headed back so they could plug it in. EV's, ya just can't trust 'em.
 After that, I headed home and worked in the trailer until 5pm, then changed and my son took us out for the Wife's (2nd) birthday dinner with the grandsons.

 Today we have rain in the afternoon, but I think I will take the Mule down and do another session to try and finish this next order. I may pack a lunch and bring my rain gear and see how far I can go and how much I can get done. Tomorrow is much more rain straight through until Thursday evening, so I gotta try to do it now, but the terrain is going to make it slow.
 Just gotta keep on pluggin'. One day at a time.

[Old Greenhorn]

So Monday after studying what all the weather guessers were saying, I decided to take the Mule down and get this weeks order done and get the trailer out. Don't want it to be stuck on the other side of the washout. Tricky ride in to the site once I hit the woods track, so I thought I would share it with y'all. It's a long video, so get fresh coffee first, or save it for later, or just skip it. It's just OGH doing 'his stuff' again. I also shot it for clients to give them a picture of what getting logs means. It did not come out as well as I had hoped and it took several hours yesterday afternoon, and all evening to edit. The overnight for the 'export' and more time this morning for upload. It is what it is (we can't all be Yellowhammer and be dapper and jaunty):

 It began raining just as I was coming off the hill. I hooked up the trailer to the Mule and drug it all home. Contacted the client and she said a Tuesday delivery would be 'perfect'.


Well, a full day yesterday mostly. They moved up the forecast by about 6 hours and increased the rainfall rate. So I started loading the truck at 7:30 and was on the road before 8:30. I texted the client to apologize for moving things up to beat the rain and gave her my ETA. She thought that was super and was concerned about the rain herself. I grabbed breakfast and ate as I drove. Got there a bit after 9 and she and a helper unloaded in 5 minutes and within 10 I was on my way home with another SGU in my pocket.  Nice Gal, farm raised. Told me how much she was impressed with my business and how I ran it. She was surprised by the professional looking invoice I emailed her the night before and how I kept her in the loop, etc. All nice things to hear. She was shocked I did this alone. (So am I.) Anyway, a nice easy delivery. It started raining when I was 3 minutes along on the trip back.
 On the way home I stopped in town and picked up some stuff.
 When I got home I started working on the front shelf in the trailer. I found some 3/8 plywood I have been trying to use up for years. I made a carboard template of the front wall curve and traced out 2 shelves on the plywood and hacked carefully cut them from the sheet with a jig saw. I did a test fit and mostly, they are there, I can adjust more later, but at least I didn't screw it up. Then I went out and found some 1X pine that I milled 3 years ago. It was wet so I brought it in by the wood stove to get the surface water dried off. That happened overnight, and today I will be working on the frame work and fitting everything. Hope I can find enough wood to do what I need. I should have brought more of that 1X material inside.  Dummy.
 Looking like pretty solid rain from yesterday through Thursday evening. Hopefully I can get this shelf done and move on. We are getting close to an inch so far and Sunday I set up my rain tank to start collecting water. Figure it won't freeze at this point and it can take a few rain events to fill it, but maybe this one will do it.  I should check it.
 Ah well, past to do for me to get to work.

[aigheadish]

Nice video Tom! 

Do you guys get honeysuckle up there? My woods, even trying to get 5 feet in are impassable, without ripping out honeysuckle. Your undergrowth in non-existent, which I understand is from too much overstory growth? Nothing seem to stop the honeysuckle here. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Nope I have not seen any wild honeysuckle here and certainly not at the level you 'enjoy'.  I doo see it in some yards, but it stays controlled and does not 'take off' for some reason.
 What we have on the ground is lots of rocks, deadfalls, and blowdowns. Yes, it's a pretty high and thick canopy so the ground stays pretty shaded and the lower branches die and fall off. It can be much cooler in those dark areas in the heat of the summer.
 If you go back to the elevator tree video and look in the background when Bill is climbing you will see that it is more open. In fact, there are a bunch of white pine saplings about 5' high in center frame. That area, about 4-500 yards from this last video, was burned over about 15 or more years ago. (Accidental previous landowner fire.) Maybe just 2-4 acres, but walking it I see new hardwood generation now, and of course EWP and Hemlock.
 Out state still holds that 'no fire is good fire' line and will not allow private burning, but they are beginning to come around. They are just in the last year or so doing some controlled burns on state land. Banning burning has really decimated our forests here with choking undergrowth and almost no hardwood regen. Everything is Hemlocks and EWP. Before the white man showed up and 'fixed things' the indigenous population would routinely rotate burn areas for for cultivation and habitat, as well as a hunting technique. This allowed the nut trees to have what they needed to produce very good crops. Then the white man moved in and plowed those open areas for 1-200 years, eventually abandoning farming as a way of life and those fields were reclaimed by the forest, but with no burning to control the volunteer species, they took over and kept any hardwoods at bay.
 There are a few places on Bill's place that burning would provide a good benefit, but there are no laws to handle prescribed burns in our state yet. That will likely take another generation until all the 'conservationists' see the light and allow it to happen. There is SO much ignorance out there, tainted by mystery politics.
 Oops! Fell into my 'no burning' rant without thinking, sorry. Now what were we talking about?

[Old Greenhorn]

Well I can see that the video had the desired effect but I was surprised that a few folks actually watched it.  Catching up since I started the shelf unit. Yesterday I made the frame out of whatever I could find, mostly I ripped 1x6's in half, some were EWP some were read pine, anything that would work. This is by far the most hokey and poorly built thing I have made since I was 16. The leg/frame system doesn't even stand square by itself.  But each of the 3 legs will be screwed to the wall, so that will hold it in place and add strength as well. The plywood will be screwed to the under cross pieces doing the same. SO I am very confident, when installed, it will be fine and rock solid......I think.  It's just shelving for boxes, how bad could it be?
 Around 5:30pm the power went out, so after a while I took the wife out for dinner and found my truck battery flat dead. No warnings, not nothing, just dead. We took her van and I put a charger on the battery and left it overnight. This afternoon, the charger was at a trickle, so I tried starting it and just got one click and the battery was dead again. Put the charger back on and it was drawing 5 amps. No need to go any further checking alternators and starters. Check3d the date on the battery: 2013. OK, it doesn't owe me anything and is due anyway. I called Bill because he mentioned a while back he gets a deal on his battery's from his supplier.  I went down, swapped out the battery and picked up the platinum version of that battery from AutoZone. Stuck that battery in and all is peachy again. $210.00 and done.
 SO this morning I wanted to get some paint on the shelves to cover up the lousy wood. Well I had some latex brown, yes, really brown, that I bought as a mis-matched color for $6.00 for the gallon a few years back. At the time I thought it was oile paint, it was not. Here's an irony. When I opened the can, it looked like a pink/purple color. At first I thought 'ah, just say NO' but then I thought about the cost of paint and said 'ah who cares, it's just shelves nobody will see anyway and I need to get this done and move on'. SO I stirred and stirred, then stirred some more all the time hoping it might begin to look even a 'little bit brown'. I can hear Howard cackling in the back of my head the entire time and finally resolved to just slap it on and endure the diatribes of my peers.
 Well doggone it! It dried in a beautiful chocolate brown! Really nice stuff. Really nice stuff, too bad it's latex. But I digress. Just as I started painting the wife had come out to work on some of her stuff in the shop and about ten minutes later, the power went out again. She went back in the house, and I set up some battery LED lights and continued working to get a first coat on everything, even got both sides of the plywood before he power came back. With the shop lights back on, I could see my first cost wasn't very good, but I covered it at least...mostly.  (This is the point I started working on the battery, then a couple hours later I put on a second coat, with full lighting.)
 The weather continues to be lousy, but at least it stopped raining. Just some tiny snow flakes today and snotty conditions.
 I haven't got a clue what I am doing tomorrow, but I have lots of options. I can't 'install the shelves in the trailer until I re-paint the inside and put up the trim. I have to make that trim and need to do some milling for that, unless I figure another way. Much as I would like to use up this brown paint, I need the inside of the trailer to be white or close to it for lighting purposes. I also have wiring to think through and battery power and charging, etc, Then some other (more conventional) shelves to build and install high up for small stuff. And of course, there are more mushroom logs to get. 
 I got invited the other day to create and teach a module on harvesting and selling mushroom logs for an income stream up at one of the Cornell Cooperative extension educational facilities. This class is for loggers, so I have been thinking a lot about how to put this together and present it. I am also figuring out how to explain what I do, why I do it, and how, as well as how I found a way into the market that works for me. It's been a while since I did lesson plans and prepared slide shows, glad I have lots of time. I am hoping teaching loggers is a lot like teaching Firefighters, because that I can do (and have done) with success. Or at least, nobody hated me when i was done.  These are tough crowds, both of them.
 AH well, tomorrow is another day.

[doc henderson]

BROWN?  Will need to see pics.    Instruct the loggers to properly cut the small logs, handle them with care and drop them off at your house.  problem solved.     

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

   How tall is that shelf? Can you put it on the mill? If so we can stop that wobble.

[Old Greenhorn]

Ignoring the paint comment, that's not a bad idea Doc.
I have actually been thinking about what type of person this would be a good fit for and I think the for some young person, say 16-19 years old who comes from a working family, possibly in forestry type work or farming that is competent with a chainsaw this would be ideal. Compare it to the 'mowing lawns' jobs that many of us did for for spare money when we were kids or even the paper routes, and things of that sort. A sharp youngster from the right background could do very well with a little marketing help and they surely could produce more than I can in a day. How many lawns would one have to mow to pick up 6 grand in a few weeks? That's pretty good 'walking around money' for any kid in that age range.
Maybe there is a logger in this class that has teenagers. I know at that age I was swinging a saw, but I lived in a suburban area and had to travel a long ways to 'play' with it. No woodlots to cut down around me.

[doc henderson]

We have older teens that a hedge post guy will park a big semi-trailer along a hedge row, and they fill it up when they can.  he pays them by the stick.  more for the larger diameter corner posts.  You need to find you a few teens to help.  of course, they all think that 20 bucks and hour is min. wage.  and their mom will not be sure how they feel about them being around a chainsaw, let alone learning to run one.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah Doc, you're right. But I wasn't talking about somebody to help me. That ship sailed. They don't make kids like that anymore. I was thinking of who would be the ideal person to take this on for 'some' income.
 Howard, the shelves won't wobble (and I never said they did) but it will all square up when I screw the to the wall, except noting is square on this because it follows a curved wall.

[WV Sawmiller]

" The leg/frame system doesn't even stand square by itself.  "

Tom,

   Sorry if I misread the above quote.  I did not mean to impune the stability of said structure. 

   I make a lot of rough shelves for storage needs in my sheds and I like to take 12" long 2X12's and saw them into 2- 45's and attach them to a 1X12 with a 1X4 90 degrees to the shelf board. The 45's hold the weight and I can attach the shelf to the wall through the 1X4.

   Lots of times I attach the 1X12 to the top of my wall framing/crosspieces use short 2X4s as spacers and use the 45's for bracing. These make very strong shelves that hold a lot of weight.

   I agree on the help. I have a job now for a repeat customer where I have to stack the lumber so I have been looking and have a candidate I will try in a few weeks. We ill see if he pans out.

[Nebraska]

I agreed with Doc's comment about the actual color of the shelving unit he just beat me to it...