Staying Busy and out of trouble, 2020-21?.

[Old Greenhorn]

John, normally I would have my shields up against something like that as I am well aware of the threat. ;D However, in this case, if it is the right machine, a trade-in, and the financing is available, that might actually be a better fit at a lower price. The key is to not rush into anything without thinking it through. :D
 Brandon I like that grapple/root rake. There are a lot of options and I think this is gonna take a while.

 10 minutes ago I just picked up another log order. It is small but it is local and I like those. Easy peasey. For the local YMCA community farm project. I may have stumbled into something here. ;D The network appears to be growing as word travels.

[Old Greenhorn]

This is getting a little crazy. I just got another order up to 400 logs. I have enough orders now that if I had 6,000 logs in my yard right now, they are all sold. (provided 5,000 are White Oak. ;D) Realistically I need to cut about 500 logs to make folks minimally happy. But if I could manage it those same folks would take that big number. Almost all of these are working into 'relationships' where folks would like a call as I find sources so they can place orders. Sort of like a standing order deal and my supply can't feed the demand.   I am now connecting with commercial growers who know the game, know what they want, and are willing to wait for the right stuff.
I think I created a monster.

[nybhh]

You better hope it doesn't get out that you don't like mushrooms! 🤣😉🤣 

[Andries]

. . . This is getting a little crazy. I just got  a standing order deal and my supply can't feed . . I think I created a monster.

Or, you had a great idea and created a 'whopper-tunity' ?
Could you team up with someone you know you can work with - or has the drive to get after this and also someone that has the equipment and space to handle the volume?
Could you set this up as a business where you're more the manager and owner, and the others are happy to get paid to do the doing? 
That puts you in the management chair, you decide how much retirement you can tolerate. 😆
The SAS in Britain have a motto: "Who Dares, Wins".

[Old Greenhorn]

Andries, this is a complicated dance. I have the landowners to keep happy just as much or more than the buyers. Then there is the logger working the job, he has crews and equipment to keep busy making the payments, productivity, as you know, comes first. So there are a bunch of folks in this supply chain you have to treat with respect and keep happy and also work around their needs.
 This is why I identified this as a possible opportunity. The loggers cannot afford the amount of time and handling it takes to handle these logs, let alone get them to buyers. It is chump change for them. Likewise few landowners have the contacts to make sales, nor are they interested in spending the time. 
 On the buyers side they have little idea where to go to cultivate relationships to get logs. On the internet they read "Oh, you can just find a landowner and many are happy to have you come and cut their thinning trees" then they find out that no landowner in his right mind is going to do that. Most mushroom growers don't even own a chainsaw, let alone have the required skills. The loggers I work with know me, and know I have the skills and take the care to respect where I am working and that there is a landowner involved. I am trading on my reputation which is mine to keep until I blow it. ;D
 Yeah, if I found a landowner open to a bigger possibility I could maybe partner, but that will take time and I have to build trust and earn my way. As that trust builds, I am hoping I can do more, but for me good working relationships are more valuable than cash and I am wanting to invest in that part of the business first. 
 Taking on help, forming partnerships are down the road a ways. I am not looking to make a killing, just fill a niche and make some people happy while I pick up some cash to pay taxes and buy food.
 Of course the opportunity for decent money in a short timeframe is tempting, but I have to check myself and go easy while I keep in mind this is not all about money, its about relationships where everyone wins. I just left the corporate world where greed rules everything and I sure want to stay as far away from that as possible.

[Andries]

The way you've done the analysis on this opportunity, and your description of it is really clear. You're setting your own terms and sticking to them, based on a clear understanding of your own standards. 
The slow growth of a business, and easing into it is the best way forward and salutes to you for being a man of principal. 
Building trust and a reputation take time and I do believe you're a patient kinda guy! 👍

[Old Greenhorn]

Boy I had a great day today. In the woods all day doing property improvement work, took down a handful of trees, bucked up a bunch, working with the landowner, the piece we are working on is starting to look really nice. My goal this morning was to attack the big dead ash trees now that the wind has died, but we spent the day taking the stuff in front of the ashes out of the way, bucking it and either stacking it or loading firewood on my trailer. Only a couple of saw logs for the landowner in the whole bunch. Never got to the ash, but they will go on the next visit, I think. Still have a few EWP's to come down first. We also got distracted by this huge rock that was right smack in the middle of the landing and was a real pain to work around with the tractor. Like two little boys, we poked at it with the box blade, got the box blade hung on it, but realized we could move it. Game on! We rocked it back and forth but could not get it to roll. Finally disconnected the box blade and let it hang on the rock. We picked it off with the grapple, then worked on it some more and eventually got it out of the hole and slid it off to make a 'break room area table'. ;D Bladed over the hole to fill it in and now that landing is a whole lot nicer. Things are looking a lot better after 2 days of work. At the end of the session I marked the next trees to come down and the landowner added a few.   ;D Scope creep, it's inevitable. ;D
 We had a beer before I left and were just talking when my daughter called me, she was on her way home from work and somebody had a nice wet saw sitting on the side of the road with a "FREE" sign on it. all the doo dads were in a bag with it and it was relatively new and in great shape. She knew what it was and saw the value, but she had her VW and wondered if I could come bring it home in the truck. So I left my client and she waited 1/2 hour until I got there and dang if she wasn't right, it is a really nice machine with a full stand and all. So we managed to load it in my pickup even with the trailer full of logs tied on, and after a chat, we headed off in opposite directions. I got my tools unloaded when I got home (and the wet saw) and a few logs, but dinner was ready and I was pooped, still am. A good day of hard work, I'll be in bed early tonight, but no injuries or pulled anything. Just tired. I like that feeling along with having gotten something looking better than it did yesterday.
 Tomorrow is another day.

[thecfarm]

On the tractor, I have 2. Well I have one, the wife has one.  ;D I have a 40 hp, big tractor and she has the 30hp,small tractor, both NH. Hers is just used just for mowing and blowing the driveway out in the winter. No loader on hers. I have the 40hp with loader. This is the work horse of the farm. There is one brand of tractor that puts a 30 hp motor in a 40 hp frame, Mandra? That 30 hp NH will almost fit in the back of a pick up. Kinda of a small frame tractor. My big tractor there is no way that would fit in the back of a tractor. My big tractor has more weight than her small tractor. No way that small tractor could pick things up or pull like the big one can.
Yes you can make more trips or just not load as much. Just like my big tractor. A 70 hp could bring out more wood too. But a small tractor will not do what a big one can do. I have heard the woos of a 30 hp tractor more than once.

[samandothers]

As you probably will as you are pouring over the details on tractors or other equipment in your search toward a future piece of equipment note the lift capability.  This is lift should exceed your log/ lumber weight.  The weight of your device on the front of the loader will also take up some of that capability.   I use my grapple a bunch to move logs, load saw, clean brush etc.  However, it weighs about 450lbs.  That robs some of the log weight I can move. The forks or bucket are less weight and I could strap or chain log and move with them.   I normally use bush hog or backhoe as counter balance but another weighty device of home made item will work of course.  This is with a 42 hp tractor.  This is a good size for me to do the stuff I want in the woods, be able to move around the mill and do the other chores around the land.  Bigger would be stronger and more capable.   ;D  Enjoy your search!

[Old Greenhorn]

Today was another day.
As I have written here many times before, what I THINK I am going to do on any given day can vary wildly from what I actually do on that day because, well, life happens. My plans for the day were to tune up the 372 and get it to idle correctly, work some more on that damaged drying rack and prop it up better, and get some more finishing work done on the custom bench that is nearly done.
My son texted me they (his crew) were working in the area today and would be by to spruce our place up a little more than I can do with my equipment. They do in minutes what can take me hours or more. Anyway, when they came by I was just getting started on that 372 and my son mentioned a trailer his (our) buddy had told him about being for sale. As he described it, it was just what I had been looking for. Roughly a 12,000# trailer, dual axles, about 16'. My son was thinking of buying it, but he thought too long. ;D I called the guy and as I had to bring my wife up to get her car (tires, inspection) right where the trailer was I made arrangements to look at it. The owner wasn't around, so I didn't crawl all over it, but it is in very good shape, heavy duty, electric brakes on all 4 wheels, built in equipment ramps, a nice setup in good maintenance. The price is hard to pass up. I told my buddy I would call him back later in the day.
I have been looking for about a year now for the right deal, but I don't have all the cash on hand for this deal quite yet (in my little baby business). I talked it over with the wife, seemed like a no-brainer and I can borrow some out of our savings to fill the shortfall.
Then I called one of my FF friends that is really good at parsing out stuff like this in a more detached way than I can. We worked through the pros and cons and really objectively had a hard time finding a lot of downsides to the deal. Still taking a bunch of money out of my bank account and dropping my balance way low always makes me pause.. ...twice. It's very hard to do, but in this case, I see the rebound coming fairly soon from increased productivity. So I made the call to pull the trigger and will go make a formal visit to give it a real look over with the owner there and have the cash in my pocket, probably Wednesday. Tomorrow I am off cutting on another property improvement job and may barely have time to get to the bank. It is a little sooner than I had expected to take the plunge, but the timing is right for the work I have. I am better off doing it now to improve my productivity and use that through the summer, than to wait until I have the cash on hand and wind up paying a LOT more for the same thing or something that 'needs work'. Plus, if I can sell my current trailer for a grand, that pays my savings account back. 2 guys are my son's crew were thinking they might like to buy my trailer as we were talking about this.
In between thinking, discussions, and phone calls, I did manage to get the 372 running better and while the guys were here everyone grabbed a hand and lifted that drying rack up on some blocks, now I can put on new legs and re-enforce at my leisure. No work on the bench though and tomorrow ain't looking good for that either. Maybe Thursday.
This trailer is about at the max of what my truck will pull, but I have 3 majors stepping stones: A piece of versatile equipment to lift, push and move things, a trailer to haul it, and a truck to pull it properly. This trailer is the first of those 3 things. One step at a time. If I figured it right, the trailer should have paid for itself by July, which ain't bad. Now I just have to work on replacing the cash reserve, repaying my self-loan, and banking some more for the next step. This is beginning to get complicated. ;D
And it all started with a hobby saw mill.
In other news, since I looked at my game cam photos and saw the bear and deer that are finding their way into my fenced in yard, I have built a 3' diameter perimeter around the apple tree. That dang deer was not happy with just the buds and he/she is eating the branch tips off now and I just can't have that. Hopefully the fence will help. I reset the camera a little further back too, maybe I can figure where they are coming from. And I re-baited the trap with stuff for a coon because that's the guy that likes my termaters and other hard grown food. I had hoped to rototill this week, but right now I need to do paying work on the good weather days when the wind is down. ;D
Tomorrow is another day.

[Nebraska]

 8) sounds great.

[Old Greenhorn]

Too pooped to pop last night for an update, the field work is growing and I am pushing a little harder every day. I got out early to run to town and get a 2-5/16" hitch and ball for the new trailer (needed one anyway, tired of borrowing my son's). Then I headed to a property improvement job and dropped 5 trees or so and bucked about 8 into firewood length. I put 5  tank fulls through the saw ( a new personal best since I have been keeping track) but was walking funny at the end of the session. ;D Working on a side hill can really suck it out of you.
 I left that job, got to the bank, then went up and looked at that trailer. It looks like what I need and we made a deal. He has just registered it, so is waiting for the paperwork in the mail before we close the deal off, but we have an agreement. He is not in a rush for the cash, and I am not in a rush to pick it up. We both are busy old guys. ;D
 I got 2 more mushroom bolt inquiries yesterday and one cancellation for an order I never got (found another source).
 There is a chainsaw maintenance class on Friday that was on my radar but I didn't sign up, not knowing my schedule. It is also our 44th wedding anniversary and I wasn't sure how the wife would feel if I got home at 6pm that day. Anyway, I let it slip one day and she said, "we can go to dinner Saturday, go take the class". But I've been so busy I forgot to call (10 student limit) and this morning I called figuring it was either full or cancelled. Turns out they just got a cancellation this morning so I filled the last slot in the class. I could use some more pointers now that the saws are running more regularly and I really like this instructor, smart guy, funny (well sarcastic, which I speak fluently), and a great teacher. I have taken 3 other classes with him before (GOL 1,2,3) and am scheduled to take a Hazard Trees class with him is September. So that will be a nice relaxing day although its 2 hours of driving.
 Today I started back on that lumber rack parsing out savable wood from firewood and made a little more progress, but my legs and back complain when I push them, so I took a break from that and washed the truck because it is filthy. More rain coming tomorrow so I can refill the water tank. Warmer outside the shop today than inside, so I restarted the stove this morning to dry it out. Neighbor wants to bring up his 4 wheeler because it is backfiring. Apparently I am his free mechanic. I got it running for him when he bought it, needed a carb and I told him only run non ethanol gas through it, but now he is not sure if he did or not. >:( Guess I will work on that tonight after hours.
 Best get back at it. I have a bunch of little stuff to do today while my legs recover.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well yesterday I tried to let my legs recover (still) from the other days work, but in the afternoon after some choke adjustments I took that 4 wheeler out for a test drive and it died and would not re-start about 1/4 mile form the shop. So much for resting the legs, it was a long push back. I took some of the carb apart and did some cleaning and now it seems a lot better, might have been bad gas. Anyway, I took it for a short ride, but it needs a new air filter. Today it rained all day today and I didn't feel like mudding around. Yesterday I did get the truck washed, I figured the water tank would refill today, and it did.
Today I went through my gear again, sharpened saws and cleaned wood chips out of everything. ;D I think I have pretty much finished off that bench.


 

I just need to get the felt foot pads for it and cut them to fit. I might deliver it next week as the customers are both about 2-3 weeks post COVID are are still pretty weak and tired all the time.
The fence I put up around the apple tree seems to be working, no hits on the camera in the last couple of nights, but I am thinking it should be higher.


 

Off the usual FF topics, I had been searching for a reasonable price on a particular record album for 6 or 7 years now and I finally found it and it arrived yesterday. I am sure for most folks here this is way off the map but in the 'NewGrass' world it was nearly as ground breaking as the Mule Skinner album. My Friend Bill recorded a track on this album and the tune turned into being one of his signature tunes for the rest of his life. The actual tune was written by Dizzie Gilespie, and a fella named Paparelli in his band. Bill did an arrangement for the banjo on it that used some pretty advanced chord progressions for the day. Slim had heard Bill was working on this and asked him to record his stuff and send it along so they could mix it into the tune for the album. Bill perfected the arrangement in the following year and played it ever since. Also playing on this tune (and album) were Sam Bush (fiddle), Joe Carr (Mando) and of course Slim Richey on rhythm guitar. This whole idea of lending a bluegrass format to jazz tunes was very new at the time and most folks thought it was downright nuts or heresy. But the proof is in the pudding and I am really enjoying this no end. I have just one or two more albums that Bill either wrote or played a big hand in and my 'collection' will be complete. This one was/is important to me. YMMv, but who knows. I cued this (if I did it right) at Night In Tunsia, the last tune on the album, which I was referring to above.

Jazz Grass [1977] - Slim Richey - YouTube

Tomorrow is another day. I am taking a chainsaw maintenance class about an hour from here. I figure it's time I raised my skills a bit and this instructor is really good. I also want to pick his brain on some cutting techniques and other stuff I have been working on and need to fine tune. Knowledge is power.

[Old Greenhorn]

Spent all day yesterday in a chainsaw maintenance class, it was really windy all day, spitting snow when we started the class, and rain here and there, but managed to get home in time to clean up and take the wife out for our 44th wedding anniversary. As I climbed out of the truck I notice THIS peeking out from behind the shop. Uh Oh.




Apparently we had winds up to 50 MPH here at the house and a diseased Maple let go. It missed my shed, by 2'.



 

But it made quite a mess.


 

Great way to end the day, I thought. >:( Not a big tree, probably 14" diameter. As I picked through it with the saw I realized it had snapped two steel guy cables supporting the west side of my 70' antenna tower. Not good. It ripped down the overhead power feed to my shed, and clobbered my little garden trailer with the balloon turf tires blowing out one of the tires. I had a mess of slab wood there yet to be cleaned up and this just added to the mess. I got the heavy weight off the trailer and most of it limbed, but it lays as it fell. 



 


Yeah, I got lucky. It missed the shed on the left by two feet, and the mill bed on the right by 2 feet, clobbering that trailer square on (it's under there, you just can't see it), but somehow I didn't 'feel lucky'. ;D ;D In the process of lambing to see what I had I nicked one of the cables with the chainsaw and popped a strand. That just made the repair work more expensive. I still can't tell if the turnbuckle eyes opened up, or the anchor bolts broke, the cable ends are underwater in the creek still. I cut just enough to stabilize everything. Then I came in the house, got cleaned up, changed, and we went to dinner. 
 That was another fiasco. Every restaurant we went to had lines out the door with 20 minute waits. At the second place we took a wait number and they said they would call us on the phone (can't wait in the lobby), and with the wind, we sat in the truck. After 35 minutes we just left and went to our favorite diner and had a steak. Not what we wanted, but oh well.
 I got home, changed again, and went out to the shop to sharpen that chain because I knew it would take a lot of filing and at least one beer. Right on both counts. the chain is not perfect, but close and it was too late and too dark to drive it in a log for a test. I had to get it done because I am off cutting one of the property improvement jobs this morning. I do have a new chain in my bag, so if this chain is still bad I will just swap out and fix it later. I'll work that job today and unload logs tonight, then tomorrow get to fixing and cleaning up the mess. Its always something.
 Time to get at it, it's another day.

[doc henderson]

the bench looks great!

[Old Greenhorn]

Thanks Doc, I had to go back and look, feels like that was a month ago. :D
 Back to property improvement work today and finally we had enough stuff cleared out and cleaned up to start dropping the big dead ash. I dropped a nice sized EWP to start the day and it went right in the hole we picked. It was probably a 60' tree around 20" DBH. That was not a good tree and was in the way of the big Ash, so we cleaned that up. Then  the ash was next. 
 This one was a challenge for me. 26" DBH at least 70' tall with a lot of widow maker material up high, we had made a pretty clear path (assuming we judged the weighing and lean correctly), but there were two leaders that were concerning as they would clearly catch another tree on the way down. I wasn't concerned if they broke and fell straight, but if they flipped back it could get dicey. I made a few small errors, hinge too thick, which I could correct to  a degree, but I would not go on the bad side under that big widow maker, that would be really stupid. SO I kept whittling at it and wedging and driving. I wasn't in a hurry and we waited each time the wind picked up. Funny thing, in the middle of this cat and mouse game, a looky-loo showed up and as my client was spotting for me out on the road where I could see him and he could watch the top movement. The passer by wanted to know who was doing the work and were 'we available' to help them with their new property down the road. The client explained he was the landowner and what exactly we were doing and that I normally do not cut trees, mostly I am available for consulting and assistance work on smaller woodlots and properties. Apparently this is exactly what they were looking for. He hollered down to me asking if I had any cards with me and I told him they are under the visor in my truck, so he passed one on and finally they left. The whole time this is going on I am waiting until they leave but the conversation went long enough that I went back to pounding wedges when the wind was calm, watching the top, moving and stacking other wedges and pounding some more. After they left I thinned the hinge from the safe side as best as I could, then pounded some more and got more movement. Finally after all the little crackles and pops I heard/felt that one i was waiting for and all the wedges went loose about the same time the client hollered that it looked like it was going and of course, I boogied on out. I got well back to my planned safe spot and had plenty of time to turn and look it was still VERY slowly falling over, like in slow motion, but it kept going and then finally picked up steam and hit the ground HARD, BUT it didn't break and we got some really nice saw logs out of the stem. The top on the other hand kind of exploded. ;D It fell right in the hole we picked and the widow maker fell straight down as hoped. For once I got to watch it all instead of hearing it hit the ground as I was heading away.



 
That's a 28" bar on the saw.

Anyway, some nice logs, the next one coming down is pretty straight and just in the background of this photo. After I get another poor pine out of the way  which is just out of frame to the right in this photo. That next ash top will land about 15' behind where I took this photo from.



 

So we cleaned up this tree, loaded my trailer, then hooked up the butt log on his log dolly and picked up the front end with some fancy chain rigging to his box blade to get it off the ground (which was not easy) I followed him down the road as his safety crew. That poor dolly was overloaded, but we got it parked by his mill. ;D
 I headed home, chatted with the wife a little, then went out and unloaded the trailer, dragging off a log at a time. Then I put all my gear in the shop and started pulling off the small branches on that blamed tree out by the mill, but I knew I was out of steam. So I did some, put the mule away, tried starting the neighbor's 4 wheeler so I could work on that, but that was a no-go, so I came in the house and sat down...for a minute. I realized I could not keep my eyes open. I guess I can call that a day. *DanG I hate running out of energy when I have so much to do. I hope I can stay awake through dinner.
Tomorrow is another day.

[thecfarm]

That chain will cut like new after you sharpen it 5-6 more times.  : I know the feeling, my thing is hitting rocks.

[Old Greenhorn]

That chain will cut like new after you sharpen it 5-6 more times.  : I know the feeling, my thing is hitting rocks.

Absolutely right. I started the day with it yesterday on the pines we were clearing for the bigger trees to fall and it cut 'OK' but I put a new loop on before I started on the serious wood. I did not want to chance an iffy chain on big hardwood, I needed it to cut fast and easy. Today I am back on pines by the mill cleaning up the windblown mess and then some. More on that later.
 Lunch, then back at it.

[Old Greenhorn]

So yesterday being my 'day off' I needed to handle that blow down mess and fix the damage. That tree hit pretty hard and when I looked at my tower I could see the top 30' had a slight lean to the east and the other sets of guys were loose. That became a priority. I began with a lot of brush hauling so I could see where I was working. I found one guy end in the creek and it looked like the other cable busted. As long as I got the top guy up, it was safe. The bottom guys were a little bit of overdesign when I built the tower. The load of the tree opened up the eye on the turnbuckle.



 

There was one scraggly pine that needed gone and as long as all the overhead stuff was already down I rigged a safety rope to keep it from swinging the wrong way just because the risk was too high if it hit the shed. I didn't need more stuff to fix. I got that one down fine even though the hinge busted clean off, just snapped when it began to fall. Then I tried to get that top guy up, but there was still interference from another pine. I wanted that one down too, but didn't want to make more of a mess that day, it was a lot bigger with a lot of branches to clean up. OK< well as long as I was taking that down, there was a small one needed to come down first in the fall line. I safety lined the big one too because it has about 5' of back lean I had to hammer over and I was afraid if that hinge snapped I would have a REAL mess. By the time I was done I have 4 or 5 trees on the ground and a lot of cleanup to do.



 

You can see the stump in the foreground needed a lot of lift to get it to top over. The tree is only about 35' tall, but still. Anyway it dropped right on the line I wanted and I didn't need the rope at all. I fixed the eye on the turnbuckle and got the top guy back up. Then set to clearing branches and hacking stuff into sizes I could handle. A while into it and I found the other guy and turnbuckle down in the creek, fished it our and that eye had been straightened too, so back into the shop to put a little heat and fix that one, then dig out the come-a-long again and pull it in and hook that one up. All in ship shape now and the tower is straight again.

I cleared most of the branches but was running out of back strength. I re-hung the power line to the shed and that is working fine too. From the other end view you can see things have opened up quite a bit and it is VERY sunny there now, but no pine sap dripping on my work in progress anymore.



 

The mill is just out of site to the left in the photo behind that saw buck with slabs on it. If I put a culvert pipe in here and cover it I could drive a machine in to dump fill, perhaps even back a small dump truck in (there is a tight corner. This will put me a step closer to filling in that wet ground and making it usable space for more drying racks, a solar kiln maybe, and maneuvering room in general.
I still have those logs to pull out and do 'something' with but first I have to clean up all the cut slab wood laying in the way. My back was done in, so I changed gears. I managed to get air back in that blown out tire and it appears it has no lasting damage from the hit. Then I worked a little more on the neighbor's 4 wheeler and took it out for a long test run at highway speeds. It has smoothed out, no backfires, and I cruised his woodlot looking for more wind damage. Finding none, I put it back in the shop waiting for the new air cleaner so I can button it up and get it out of there.

Today is another day and even though I am still a bit back weary from the last 2 days, I am headed back to the clearing job I worked Saturday. There are a few more I can put on the ground, buck and cleanup without needing the landowners tractor. Now that we have done a lot of work to open it up, we have working room and I can put them on the ground and buck so that he can grab logs at his leisure. The weather is iffy with rain most of this week, the radar is clear right now and the wind should stay low until at least noon when the rain may start. I am hoping to be headed home by around 1 or 2.
Time to get at it.

[Nebraska]

Tom you've  gotten quite a bit done there, you will enjoy having  the space you opened up with those trees.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah it was overdue and eventually I will get it trimmed up more, but no time now except for the minimum. Today is the 3rd day in a row I am dropping trees, limbing,  and dragging brush. My legs are shot. Was kind of glad when the rain started.
 Time to get back to it.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, it's starting to add up. Tomorrow will be a shop day with other stuff thrown in around the rain. My legs need a break, they haven't recovered since Friday. 
 Today was a shorter one knowing the rain was coming around noon. The goal was to get at least 3 decent trees on the ground and bucked for moving. The first was an EWP just to get out of the way, easy drop, right in the pocket. bucked that up. Then onto a big dead ash, my notch was just a little off on the aiming part  ;D but I did drop it right between two little maple keepers and didn't hurt a leaf, however I did clobber the stump left from Saturday and broke the top just a little. :D But the top did land at the exact distance I thought, so that was good, because if that tree was longer it would have whacked my truck.



 

SO when I was bucking that one up I got an odd pinch because I read the loading wrong and the bar got squeezed pretty good. I got it out but the chain was jammed up tight. I tried getting the sprocket nose to turn but it was jammed tight. I work on it for a bit but was getting frustrated and time was burning and the rain was tinkling. So I swapped to an 18" spare bar and chain, got it all set and went to whacking off limbs but the second I touched the first piece of wood I realized the chain was on backwards. First time in my life I have done that (I swear). Anyway I am not getting any happier with myself, but I fixed it and bucked up the tree, ready for moving. Next was a simple straight dead ash that had to be threaded through a bunch of stuff. It had a back lean, but not a lot, and not many branches left up top to hurt me (it only takes one, right?). Anyway, routine notch and back cut, good even hinge. A few taps on the wedge and I overcame the lean pretty easy, headed right where I wanted. Another few taps and the wedge went loose. I stepped off knowing the tree was headed right through the hole, but then.....well. I had do do a little video to explain it.

Dead Ash Gone Wrong - YouTube

 I almost always know what I did wrong, but in this case i can't find anything wrong, the tree was even moving the right way and than all of a sudden the hinge just pulled out and it went sideways. I will look it over again (and again) when I go back and take the trees around it. But this enforces my attitude about never trusting what any given dead ash will do. These things just want to kill you.
 Packed it up after that and headed home, well then I remembered that bench needs floor pads to finish it, so I drove to town, grabbed that stuff and lunch and ate on the way home. Unloaded the gear and started working on that bar and finally got the nose sprocket running free. I hate those small radius noses but they bore good, until they don't. I sharpened two of the 18" chains that did not preform well enough for me. One is some kind of oddball chain from my 'learning the hard way' days that will remain on the bottom of the chain box. I put the 20" bar back on and sharpened two more chains, but I was pretty much 'filed out' and my hands were all cramped up. It was 6pm and I figured it was a full enough day. I came in, had dinner, took a shower, and called in an order to Madsen's. End of day, tomorrow is another one. I am fairly certain I will find stuff to do. I just want to give the legs a rest if i can.

[zippski]

Amen on that OGH.  I just dropped over 150 dead ash here on the farm between mid-January and April as a weekend warrior. Also a large number of canker-killed beech, a few ancillary maples and some cherries.  Gotta start collecting logs in advance of ordering a new higher production mill later this year  :D  I guess I will end up with about 300-400 saw logs of varying length from this winter's work, plus a lot of firewood.

Here in central Niagara I live in a unique area called "shorthills" right on a deep cut in the Niagara Escarpment.  The terrain here is steep (very steep) short hills of sandy glacial till covered with prime Carolinian hardwoods. When I say steep, it means a lot of time you are cutting the notch right on the ground on the uphill side and at head height on the back side. 

I agree that it's really a challenge to drop the dead ash, as many are decently sized 24'-40" on the butt ends and 60 feet to the first crotch in the deep ravines. Anyway, many of the ash should have been dropped a year or two ago before they got in such bad shape, but life intervenes  They are real pain to get dropped correctly without the now-dry hinges snap-crackle-popping and sending the tree off kilter. Lots of hung up trees without the weight of a full canopy remaining to drag them fully via gravity though the adjoining trees, and lots of big limbs falling everywhere from height in a large radius.

Anyway, I had some nightmares for weeks about the last ugly ash left in the bush.  A full 40" on the butt, with about 60 feet of stick split diagonally right to the pith from about the  10 foot mark to the 30 foot mark, and half the upper canopy sheared off this past winter.  A true widow-maker.

I knew this tree was going to hang up no matter which direction I dropped it due to the close proximity of other trees.  I also decided to chain the base log hard around its circumference to keep the split from firing all the way to the base.  To help direct the fall, I then put the full weight of my 125HP Mahindra on 150 feet of 1/2" line to bowstring tightness.  

As luck would have it, the day before, a $15.00 trip to the local Stihl dealer for a recoil handle  for my MS461 turned into a CAD$1,800.00 trip when the dealer's son asked if I would like to buy the last MS500i in captivity in Ontario from the three that arrived there that morning.  Wasn't too hard of decision even though I like my MS461.

This was the third tree I dropped using the new saw.  I cut a beautiful hinge and did bore cuts on both sides leaving about an 8" wide strap on the backside.  Perfectly. Flat. Cuts.  A few creaks and groans but no movement yet.  I then cut the strap and the tree dropped exactly where I wanted it to fall...to about a 15 degree angle from vertical where it promptly hung on a few small branches on an adjoining hard maple, refusing to fully break the hinge.

No problem, the hinge had mostly let loose so a jumped in the Mahindra thinking a hard tug would simply shear off the remaining brittle hinge.  No such luck.

Now comes the scary part.  I knew I needed to get that hinge cut just a little more... and I guess you probably know what happened next.  Cut only another inch into the hinge and that tree literally exploded off the stump with a huge crack as I was simultaneously running out my safety runout.  But not before it yanked the new saw out of my hands and sent it rolling it underneath the log as it fired straight back to the tractor at least 20 feet through the air.  That entire log split basically into thirds and associated shrapnel for about 30 feet, with the chain at least holding it mostly in one piece. Without the chain, I am pretty sure there would have been 30 feet of partial butt log lying at three points of the compass.

Fearing the worst, I recovered the saw and to my relief, despite the plastic kickback guard having a couple of scratches, the saw was absolutely untouched.  As was I, fortunately.

So, with that post, I guess it's finally a good time to say, "Hi, I'm new to the forum, and I am really liking the place so far!"  I hope I can add some valuable information, solicit a bunch of expert opinions, and maybe give some advice or even a few sawmilling or legal opinions of my own from time to time.  Kind of interrelated, I know.

I'll get some photos posted of the logs once I sort them into some neater stacks.  They are a mess of jack straws right now, and I wouldn't want the forum to get any wrong ideas about the quality of my work habits.  :D

Leigh
zippski


 

[Old Greenhorn]

Well Welcome to the forum Leigh! I'm tempted to say you got lucky on that tree, but it sounds to me like you knew what you were up against and had a good plan that kept you whole. OK, you DID get lucky with that saw. ;D
 I too have been 'collecting' bad Ash stories since a few years ago when I had a similar tree on steep slope come within about 2 seconds of taking me out. Since that day, I think 3 times on each tree and try to plan for all possibilities, even the ones that seem impossible such as above. In that case, it was just deciding which side of the tree was safer for my escape route and I chose wisely. I don't like wedging and driving the big dead ones if I can help it. Yes, I will tap in some safety wedges, but if I can avoid driving them I do. Split trunks would keep me up at night. The property I am working right now has a lot of big trees along the road frontage and I took a pass on those. The risk is too high if the hinge snaps or worse. The tops need trimming out with a bucket truck crew then the stems can come over easier with much less risk. Back from the road is safer, but as you know hangers, splits, misdirection, and other things can ruin your day without a good safe plan. After that tree yesterday, I decided to 'bag it' and as my Dad used to say when he was trying to teach me some thing important "Think about what just happened here and how you could have made it different". ;D Every tree (assuming I survive it) makes me smarter. The key is not to forget the lessons as they pile up. I find that the more I cut, the more cautious I get.
 Stay safe and keep looking up.  Looking forward to you photos!

[doc henderson]

sounds like you are both a couple of "bad ashes"! .  sorry been working all night.