Spring Fever

Corley5 · February 13, 2002, 09:39:45 PM

The days are getting longer. Spring's coming!! 8) I drive past the mill on my to the woods most everyday. Except the last couple because of the high winds :( I stopped and went in the building yesterday to check things out. Everything is as it was left. I'm getting the urge to make some sawdust. I've made just about enough with the chainsaw and am looking forward to making some real sawdust. I've got more big tooth aspen than I probably need to build the new mill building and a pretty good pile of black cherry that plan to saw myself rather than sell with basswood and maple. There are also a few white ash logs and a couple American elms that we've got saved out for our own use. Probably replace some hay wagon racks with that material. If the weather guys are to be believed it might reach forty dgrees tomorrow and maybe mid forties the first part of next week 8). With our lower than normal snow depth it won't take many days like that and the snow will be about gone. Of course we can still get a lot of snow around here for the next couple months but every nice day is one less nasty day. This winter hasn't really amounted to much but spring fever is setting in.

Bud Man · February 13, 2002, 10:04:37 PM

" April 1" is about average for the frost free date in the Mid-South and that's on average the date I spot the first Humming Bird each year. "That's 45 day's and counting"

Jeff · February 13, 2002, 10:17:51 PM

Up here where C5 and I are the average frost free day is around August 1st.

JoeyLowe · February 14, 2002, 05:19:00 AM

Funy you mention that Jeff. A couple of years ago, the wife and I decided to vacation in Augusta, Maine and Boothbay Harbor, Maine in the the middle of August. It was cold enough in the evening to wear long sleeves and a jacket.

DanG · February 14, 2002, 11:29:57 AM

A couple of years ago, I went white-water rafting in northern Maine, with a bunch of old Army buddies. Our host strongly reccomended an August date, so we did it on Aug 14. It was a bright, sunny day, but it was quite nipply with the water splashing all over us. We didn't get a look at the river beforehand, but saw it from above, after it was all over. Everyone, to a man, said they wouldn't have gone if they had seen it first. Wow, that was some swift water.

swampwhiteoak · February 14, 2002, 01:00:44 PM

Where'd you go, DanG? I've done the Kennebec a couple of times. Lots of fun and a pretty area. Always like to hear about new places to try out.

woodmills1 · February 14, 2002, 01:40:42 PM

nice day today here in southern NH with tomorrow forecast for 50. and yes the sun is higher and the days are longer. have we broken the back of this mild winter? hope so as i spend next weeks winter vacation harvesting red oak. ;D

Ron Wenrich · February 14, 2002, 04:44:56 PM

We've had a real mild winter here in PA. They say it is due to a higher solar vortex, which means the sun is burning a little hotter. I' d rather have a warm winter than a hot summer.

Yesterday, the governor has declared a drought emergency. Last year we were 15 inches below norm and have been dry all throught the winter. Rain and snow has been scant.

Corley5 · February 14, 2002, 07:53:31 PM

With the lack of snow here we've got a dry spring and summer shaping up too I fear. A good part of our soil moisture comes from our snow cover. This is the 4th winter in a row that we've been lacking. Hopefully we'll get some spring rain for a quick green up to cut the fire danger and make the hay grow.

Don P · February 15, 2002, 05:05:37 AM

Got a call last night, the postings are up in N IL...pretty early, time to start packing the camper :'( :D.

DanG · February 15, 2002, 09:36:23 AM

SWO, we did the West Branch of the Pnobscot(sp). The rafting outfit is located at Millinocket. After that, we all trooped up to my buddy's cabin on Lake Caucmongomic. We were 50 miles from the nearest power line, or phone line. Fortunately, we were able to bring enough ice to keep the beer cold.

Jeff · February 15, 2002, 09:44:07 AM

Don P, we gotta meet this summer then. If we meet in the middle it's probably only a couple three hours drive or so

Don P · February 15, 2002, 03:01:55 PM

I'll bring the peas :D

Frank_Pender · February 15, 2002, 08:16:42 PM

Speaking of peas. It was 62 degrees here today in my neck of the woods. I consumed over a gallon of water for the day. I more than likely gave off a lot more. :D :D 8) 8) 8)
The rains begin again tomorrow, after 8 days of Spring like weather. :'( :'( I will have to search for the rian gear again, I suppose. :-/

psychotic1 · February 15, 2002, 08:51:17 PM

Send some of that good weather up here Frank.
I've got a patch of alder I'm trying to thin out. What with saw trouble I couldn't get to it when we had sun, now it's been raining for a week.
I don't even need sunshine, (it would blind me anyway) just make it stop raining for a couple of days.

Bruce

Steve · February 16, 2002, 08:42:07 PM

Here is my first attempt at posting a picture.

This is of a big mango forked butt log. It was about 5' across one way and 8' the other. I had to slide the mill over 2' from where it is in the picture to finish sawing this log. Actually the logs further up were better. There was about 2,000 bf in this tree.

Tom · February 16, 2002, 09:09:01 PM

Good attempt...don't do any better or you may show the rest of us up. :D

I'm confused by the term Mango forked log. Mango to me was a tropical fruit in S. Florida. I've never seen a tree that would produce that amount of lumber. If we are talking about the same trees, what is Mango lumber like?

Jeff · February 16, 2002, 10:04:24 PM

I want to step off topic for a second here.

Hey Corley5, I was just looking at your user pic. I think you need to see somebody about that.

Steve · February 16, 2002, 10:18:37 PM

This is Mango the fruit tree. I don't kow what the trees were like in Florida but here they can get huge. This tree was probably close to 100 years old. There were square nails in the heartwood. The wood is soft- for a hardwood. Some of the older trees has whats called "chocolate heart" which adds a lot of character and color to the wood.
By forked log I meant that this log is two logs on one end and one log at the butt. You can actually do a pretty good job of sawing something like this with the Mobile Dimension.
Here is a little picture of some lumber.

These are a particularly nice example, showing a lot of color as well as stong curly figure.

Steve

Tom · February 17, 2002, 05:15:04 PM

LIke I said, we have nothing that size in Fla. but what you show is beautiful. It reminds me of the figure I have found in Magnolia here where the heart is dark and the grain wavy and ornamental. The influx of out-of-staters into fla. has cause us to lose a great number of the fruit trees that once lined every street and covered every yard. The "new" population cuts everything down because the fruit makes a mess or the leaves need raking or there is too much shade or something.

My last trip back home was a real downer. The whole town used ot be covered with guava, mango (several different varieties), flowering trees, flowering hedges, something to eat where ever you turned and flowering beauty every where.

I never dreamed that Mango wood was that pretty, of course I would rather have a fruiting tree. I wonder what Poincianna wood looks like? (might not be any of them left either.)

Corley5 · February 18, 2002, 10:09:53 AM

Jeff,
It's O.K My better half is employed in the mental health field. I'm feeling much better now. ;D

Frank_Pender · February 19, 2002, 07:22:19 PM

I needed my Tree Farm walk today. I went to a site that one of my sons want for his house after his stint in Haiti as a Missionary, to help the people to learn to help themselves. I did whole bunches of thinking about his work with teaching them how to grow seedlings in a greenhouse setting, then take and plant them for a future forest. It has been difficult for me to have him so far from home and in a country that is much less than stble most of the time. While I was walking the site and shofeling some of the very moist duff with my sixe 13 Danners, I noticed one of my favorite understory plant form beginning to show its green for the comeing season.
The Wild Orchards were beginning to show their green leaves by pushing through the duff. I guess we both need that day of moving duff around. I felt much better in a very short moment of time. I will have to get my flags out to mark their location so I can see the coming of the bloom. I recokon I am done sharing now. Thank you, Jeff, for the opportunity to share. ;) 8) 8) 8) 8)8) 8) 8)