Making it thrugh another year, '24-'25

[Old Greenhorn]

Volunteerism is definitely in sharp decline, we don't teach it in schools or most households for one thing. Second, everybody is working just to get by these days. Employers that will allow their employees to leave for for emergency responses are rare, and the employee has to sacrifice his pay for that time 'off' or make it up, which means somebody who leaves work for a major event may put in 8-12 hours on scene doing exhaustive work, then figure out how to squeeze in those extra hours at work to make up the time during the same week. I often left fire scenes at 6am after being out all night so that I could get to work on time. Many bosses had no idea what was involved or any sympathy for those answering the call. I had one boss refer to it as my "hobby" that I did 'for fun'.
In my last position, I was salaried and could leave work for major jobs where my delayed response was still of value, but still I got a lot of grief for it no matter what. It is largely thankless and I was OK with that, just didn't like getting hassled for it besides.

You are right, few young people can find the time, but some MAKE the time. My daughter has been giving blood since high school, she is 40 now and still gives as well as helps at church organizing certain events and other things, she works full time besides.

As far as age goes, I have nothing against older folks, I even are one, but there is little risk of dying when donating blood. Frighting wildland or structure fires is another matter. Studies have shown that 45 minutes of active structural firefighting takes the same toll on a human body as 8 hours of hard manual labor. Common sense should apply here, but seldom does.

 Regarding those tanks, they are still investigating. There was propane and acetylene involved. I talked to a fella who was on scene for the duration yesterday and he isn't sure which went first nor did he get a look at either tank. The investigation resumed before 9am this morning. Most of our guys didn't get home until l after 10pm last night, they had hours of cleaning and repacking equipment to do after they were released.

[aigheadish]

I have a shed that would easily hold all my tanks of explodables, it's not terribly convenient to go out there when I'd need something, but the safety aspect should make it worth while. I'll have to move the splitter to the barn to make room. Sounds like a decent project for the weekend if it keeps from raining. I'll even recap my tanks before moving them. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Quick follow up on that fire because I know some of you started looking around your own situations. Final investigation is completed and it was determined that a minor propane leak built up a quantity of propane in the residence over a long period until it reached the explosive limit (gas/air combination) and a simple spark must have triggered the explosion. Both occupants had known issues with smell so they did not detect it as soon as they should have. There are other minor details I got from the immediate family but I won't share those here and there is nothing that changes the actual facts.
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SO today for me, the hits just kept on a comin'. I went up to knock down a few more trees before the winds returned. Timing was good but I had to wedge over 2 out of the 3 trees I took because the lean was all wrong.  The good news is they all hit the ground as intended. But on the second tree, the biggest one which was hallow and needed a bunch of driving over, for some weird reason the trigger lock lever on my saw just broke off. Just laying there in the duff. Of course my notch was in and I was halfway through my back cut at the time. So I fiddle farted for a few seconds and could still make it work and run the saw with just the spring sticking out. As I drove the wedges I snapped one clean in half. Never did that before! I only had 2 in my pocket so I used the broken half of the one and re-located the other. Eventually I hammered the tree down and bucked it up, then I had enough confidence to just take the third tree, with the saw working OK as long as I was careful with that spring. I bucked up that ne and diced up all the brush from the 3 trees and I was out of breath. I figured I broke enough stuff and got lucky to finish out the morning, so I called it. The wind was back up to 20 at that point anyway.
 I still can't believe I snapped that wedge. Late in the afternoon I was finished doing a lot of little 'fix-its' in the shop and I grabbed that snapped wedge and made a shorty on the belt sander.


 These are Madsen's Blue Ox 8" wedges and I have a bunch of them and never had an issue. I use them in 8's and 12's . In the photo at the top is a full 8" wedge, in the middle on the left is my new 'shorty' with the broken piece on the right. The rest is just tool bag fodder. I am thinking I might be able to use it for that extra lift I need sometimes. I am going to call in my annual clothing and tool order to Madsen's on Monday and I'll ask them if they have any warranty on these things.  I have two on my order list anyway, they are a handy size for mushroom log sized trees.
 Tomorrow is anther day and I'll go collect some logs. We have some overnight rain coming in, then clear again tomorrow.

[SwampDonkey]

I'd almost be willing to make mine out of ironwood, dense closed grain wood. However, I never use them. Never had a need out in the deep woods, 9/10 land on the ground. The odd hang up gets sawed up where it leans. Those are usually the aspen trees, they are the worst tree to hang onto another on the way down. Maple or softwood limbs fold in as they fall.  I'm not in old growth wood, most is 30ísh years old.

[Nebraska]

Sounds like a pain to try and saw like that.  Glad you got some inventory down. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Swamp, I don't wedge them to get them on the ground, I can deal with hangers. But this is as much TSI work as it is harvesting the logs. So I have to pick falling lanes or paths that don't rip branches off of keeper trees or worse, crush the smaller saplings coming up.  I also try to drop them where I can get them out without dragging, which damages bark now that the snow is gone. If I could get my hands on some ironwood I would give it a try, but it's not common here. Plastic wedges are cheap and I use up one or two a season by hitting with the saw or lots of driving. They are just a perishable and I don't use them a lot, only when I have to. But on a back leaner there is little choice and it's always a kick to fall a tree in the exact opposite direction from where it wants to go.

 Yes Pat, it was a little distracting in the beginning, but I figured it out and just had to be careful not to get that spring hung up on anything and ripped out. I have to 450 on the truck now with a longer (20") bar and will just have to get used to the extra length. I cut a lot right on the ground and knowing the exact location of that tip is critical to avoid cutting dirt or rock.

It was 25° this morning, kind of cold, so waiting for a while before I go out to collect yesterday's work.

[SwampDonkey]

Tom, I already understood why you use the wedges. I do directional felling however. But, where I am cutting it makes no difference because the trees aren't high value. Very rare do I rub bark off a standing tree. If a tree top of a smaller one breaks for some reason, it comes down to. It will usually be a weak one anyway. I get a lot of hardwood coming up through fir, they are week and suppressed. Some will stand if I thin some fir around them, but they are nothing to brag about. I work with what I've got, trying to get more hardwood into the mix.

[Resonator]

Never tried wooden wedges, but I do know how to make them on my mill.  

Wedges are a product that will wear out, I think cold weather makes them more brittle and prone to break also. I carry a bucket with a few in it at all times when I'm logging. Cheap insurance to keep the saw from getting pinched both felling and bucking logs on the ground. I save the broken ones for doubling up, or to open up a cut enough to reposition a "good" wedge and finish felling a leaner.

[thecfarm]

I always try to put a wedge in every tree, if the tree is big enough.
Just never know.

[Old Greenhorn]

SD, I know you knew that. There are lots of reasons we use the various methods we have. About 4 years ago I was cutting in a large overgrown thicket of pecker poles and the leaves were full out. If I just cut and pushed a tree over it would only go about 10° before it hung. So I would wedge a lot of them to help it go over faster and maybe actually fall. I got good at bucking it from the bottom up and dropping the tree 40" at a time.
Every tree is different.
Res, I just never had time or good enough wood to try to make my own wedges, I may still try it some day.
Ray, on bigger trees I do also. But these trees are small and most times I just do 3 quick cuts and hand push them over. It goes fast. It's also why I use those small 8" wedges. But when I need to alter the forces of gravity, wedges are mighty handy.

[SwampDonkey]

Mines bucked 20" leaning or flat or the ground.   I'm actually pretty good at cutting on the right side of them leaners, a block or two off the end, and watching them fall to ground anyway. Ones I hate are the double top fir, one will go down with the main stem the other fork might be up in the crotch of an ash 20 feet up.  That doesn't happen very often, rare actually, but I left of fir top in a crotch last fall. Still up there today and we've had lots of wind, windy today to. The broke end is in the crotch and the tip is  pointed downward.  The ash it is in is no prime specimen. I had cut off a low limb a couple years ago and it has a big dog leg in the but log. Just there for seed, but it really is nothing but a firewood tree.

A spare bar and chain works wonders on a pinched bar. :D I had one pinch last fall, all it took to free it was my splitting maul. Gave it just enough relief to pull the bar out. I've never actually been around anyone felling trees who used wedges at all. I could see arborist and such around town that would use them, but when they cut my maple by the road next to the line none were used. The tree had a good lean toward to direction of fall. Only thing you had to watch out for there was the bounce. The road was higher than the stump, and that brute had a mighty big crown to bounce with. :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Weird day today. It was 28° this morning and hit 45 for a high at noon, then started to drop right off again. It's 37 now (5:30pm). I got up on top of the hill where I am cutting at around 10:30 and there wasn't a whisper of wind, it was really nice... for a while. I am at the point of spending as much time on trail clearing and cleanup as I am on cutting logs. The goal in this section is to re-open up an old trail that has a lot of deadfall, leaners, junk, and branches all over. Cleanup is more work than my logs, but that's my deal.
I took 3 trees today for logs and 3 more as cleanup work. The first two I dropped were both challenges. I wanted them to land on or across the trail to make loading easier. This meant I has to drive them over against their lean at an odd angle, like 130° or so from where they wanted to go. Really it was a long shot, It didn't matter where they fell, but my chosen path would mean less work on my back and legs. Besides, I love a challenge. How else does one improve unless one pushes his limits of experience? Besides, I had no witnesses, so if and when I screwed up I could just laugh at myself. At least this time I had 3 wedges in my pocket, nut just the two.
Long story short I dropped both of those trees exactly where I wanted them and nobody could be more surprised than I was. I guess accidents do happen. I did need all three wedges on one of them. The third tree was a pecker pole, cut and drop right on the money in 45 seconds. The other trees were dead and I just hacked them down and diced them up. Some might go in the boiler, most will just put nutrients in the soil .

Weird thing: When I was on that first tree it started snowing and got pretty intense for a bit, lasted as long as I was falling and bucking, then died off as I was loading but at points got pretty intense. Every few minutes after that it would flurry a little. For my last three trips up that hill I have taken about 25 logs/trip and dragged a butt log down behind the toolcat leaving them near the road for later transport. 2 will be firewood, one I will saw out (WO). I had the truck loaded and when I got home and was unloading the heavy snow squall came back for about 20 minutes. Weird. Anyway, I got that done and did my chores, then quit around 4pm

Noam Pikelny and his band are playing at the Bearsville Theater in Woodstock tonight. I can't afford the $70+ ticket, but Noam put my name and a friends on his guest list, so it will be a fun night. I don't get out much anymore, so I am looking forward to it. I haven't seen Noam since COVID came around.
Tomorrow is another day, but today ain't over yet.

[SwampDonkey]

Same here, only with the firewood cut'n. There's thinning involved as well and opening trails, so the firewood adds up slower.   
Been cutting another 4 cords this week. 

Got a first aid course end of April (2 day), boss notified me about.

Keep on plug'n at it. 

[Resonator]

I remember hearing Noam Pikelny on bluegrass satellite radio years ago when I drove truck. He had one of the best bluegrass album titles: "Noam Pikelny Plays Kenny Baker Plays Bill Monroe". Which may sound odd, but if you know bluegrass music, makes perfect sense.

[Old Greenhorn]

That is a killer album! Noam is a really funny guy with a quirky sense of humor. There's a promo video he did years back, I'll have to see if I can find it for you. But I gotta get ready and go right now.

EDIT: I found it! This was the promo for that album. I still love watching it.

[beenthere]

I take it that he is still with the Punch Bros. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Yes he is, but this wasn't a PB gig. The PB is an odd bunch of guys, all great players, but as a band, an odd bunch.  Hard to explain, you'd have to be there.

 Tonight's gig was great, Noam had never played with any of them. He put the group together and they spent the last 3 days in a local air B&B working out their tunes. This was the first of the 4 nights on this short tour. I had a blast and we stayed until the band was loading out and they were shutting off the lights. It was great to catch up with Noam after such a long time now. 

[Nebraska]

That was funny. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Noam is really a very humble and personable guy  full of self depreciating humor. He does those promo videos rarely, they take a lot of work and people. That last one one for "Universal Favorite". This is one of the first if I recall for" Beat the devil and carry a rail". There is one other he did which is hysterical if you recognize the people he is 'coaching' through video lessons and know their musical prowess and proclivities. I am just really glad to see Noam's ongoing success both in music and in life. Living in VT now with his 2 small children and his wife, he nearly has it all. OH, and it should be noted that Noam really can sing quite nicely.

[Old Greenhorn]

Been kind of quiet here these last few days. Prior to today we had at lest 3 days of grey, damp, overcast, snotty weather. Combined with my my raging dermatitis issues, I took those off and did little but read and piddle around. Last week I placed my annual fashion order to Madsen's and yesterday my order arrived with some new loggers jeans and hickory shirts. I also got a couple of replacement wedges, new wool blend socks, and a 20" rafting axe handle.
 Also yesterday I began fitting the ax to the handle and did some cleanup work on the head. I have been continuing my search for the perfect ax to carry when falling trees. It's been going on for years and I have tried short, long, light, heavy, and all kinds. I may never find the perfect ax. Mostly it gets used for driving wedges, but sometimes limbing and cutting my way out of a problem. Lately I have been looking at the Fiskars 17" ax as a possible candidate splitting the difference between short and long as well as heavy and light weight. But I didn't feel like spending over $40. on just a test ax. I already have more axes than anybody I know, why get another one? So I looked through my pile of axe heads and found a pretty heavy one. I wanted to try a heavy head on a medium handle. This head is old, but not trashed. There is mushrooming on the pall but the eye is not swollen. I did some cleanup work on the head and painted it. The 20" rafting handle arrived in the afternoon and I fitted that up and waited for the paint to dry.
 This morning I hung the handle and drove the wood wedge and trimmed it. Now waiting for the steel wedges I ordered to arrive. I made a couple of test cuts and it works ok. Then I tried it in the belt scabbard I have for it and dang, it doesn't fit. In my haste I had not ground completely away the mushrooming on the pall and those hangers are keeping it from sliding into the Grizzly Peak scabbard. You can just see them in this photo.


 Anyway, the ax looks fairly good and is nice and tight. Swings with good weight for driving wedges and I am anxious to get it out in the woods. But first I'll have to do more grinding on the head.. This head has got to be over 100 years old but still in fair shape. I can't find a name on it though. Given how much mushrooming is on the pall with no opening up of the eye tells me it is well made with good steel selection. Certainly worth putting some time into and 14 bucks for a new hickory handle. 20" is an oddball length, this just may finally fit the bill because I am an oddball guy.

 I mentioned a while back that a woman called and wanted to interview me for an article. Well she showed up today right after I finished messing with that ax. She picked up the stool I donated to her auction which goes live today. (Auction found HERE.) Then she started asking questions. Lots of questions. She thinks I am an interesting guy.  Still, I enjoyed talking with her and gave her a short tour of the shop, stuff in the trailer, and we took a ride down to Bill's so she could see the quarry bit where the mill is. She has an interest in the bluestone mining that took place here in the mid 1800's. I also showed her some of the areas I cut over and how the place is getting cleaned up. She was here about 3 hours I think and was happy with what she got, although I have no idea what that might be.
 
 I was planning on heading back to the woods, but instead got involved cleaning out my truck seat bag that holds my sawmill and mushroom logging do-dads. I threw out a bunch of worn out holey gloves and wound up with a lot more room. It was like an old lady's pocket book full of junk and I couldn't find anything in there. Then I collected all my falling wedges and sharpened and sanded off the rough spots on the belt sander. They get pretty banged up and apparently somebody keeps hitting them with the saw chain.
 It's a beautiful day, so I think I'll head back out and do some more grinding on that ax head.

[LeftFinger]

somebody keeps hitting them with the saw chain.

That guy sure gets around

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, he does, you'd think he'd learned better by now.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well today was one of those days I was working toward, I finished all my log orders.  Glad that's done, now I wish folks would just pick up what they ordered. I will likely still cut a few more for myself to inoculate and sell, but first I want to see what's left when all the logs are picked up. But the pressure is off and now I switch to milling made. I have two orders waiting for me to get to ASAP. Tomorrow should be a total rainout according to the forecast.
 I just had to drop and buck 2 trees to finish up, but I had a bunch of storm downed brush and tops to dice up and clean a bit. So as much time working on the ground as I was on the logs.  It was a pretty day even when the wind was blowing, and of course, it blew up to 20mph every time I was dropping a tree, in the wrong direction of course.   I really wanted to try out that new ax, but these were small trees and I needed to drive them in a direction they didn't want to go. But I cut them too well and when I drove the wedge, it only took one  hit on each tree and it went over. Dang.
 After stacking the logs at home I did some other chores enjoying the nice weather, put some stuff away in the trailer, and other odds and ends. It was the nicest day of the week with some sun for a change and it hit 65 or so. I'm just glad the logs are finally done.
Tomorrow is another (rainy) day.

[WV Sawmiller]

I will likely still cut a few more for myself to inoculate and sell, but first I want to see what's left when all the logs are picked up. 

Tom,

   If you don't mind me asking, what does an inoculated log sell for vs a plain log? Is there a pretty good market for them already inoculated? If they don't sell do you just grow and use/sell the mushrooms from an unsold log?

    Do you plan on inoculating and keeping a log or two for your own use every year?

[SwampDonkey]

A man has to enjoy as many good days as he can, puttering around or otherwise working.