couple pics... post what your currently cutting

[Bandmill Bandit]

As far as I know that is part of the problem in Pincher Creek along with an engineering over site on the Rotor blades. Apparently the constant average wind pressure in the Pincher area is 25 to 30% greater than what most other regions experience and that is above what the safety shut down will allow the rotors to operate at so the computers shut them down.

I don't have data to support it but was told same by an investor in the project.

[BargeMonkey]

Hey Barge, isn't that the landing where I visited you? Are you cutting the adjacent parcel now? I thought you were saving those til prices recover? There was some really bangin' wood in there as I recall. If that is the same landing, that driver is gonna have a tough time backing out through that 90° bend.
It's a shame that guy is jerking you around. I read some of the details 'elsewhere'. Don't get yourself in trouble man, let somebody else do that. Get his ticket pulled if you can, but don't let him drag you down. Put the law on him. Get a lawyer in the mix and let him do the dirty work.
Now that things are loosening up I was hoping to make a visit and pick up some log scraps :D, but you are way overloaded at this point and getting on the boat in a few days. How long is that hitch, 2 weeks? More? Did the Seattle trip fall through?

I just haven't pushed the boat till I'm ready, if it happens it happens. 99% sure I'm going to work for the evil empire, no one else wants to work their after the problems earlier this yr but the money is banging.
I should be done up on that job by thursday, just slow going and forester had me shutdown for a while. I'm sitting on the job next door, let wood prices come back a bit, probably 250k ft there counting the softwood but it will be fast. Yeah never had an issue with this buyer in 2+yrs, always paid and was fair, if you've got problems just tell me but they wont, rather screw someone on scale. I've got 3-4ld of decent logs sitting on the header I'm holding hostage, I will get paid. 🤣  I've got some wood I set aside for you, would like to get it moved, give me a call.

[BargeMonkey]

Done. Finally. New bearing, rebuilt swing box, new gear, new 4 wire hose, 99% buttoned up. 


 

[nativewolf]

All the coal/oil/gas folks are also subsidized, more than solar and wind.  That's a red herring out there.  When an energy auction comes up to bid nowadays (where you commit to supply a certain amount of power at a certain price, lower the better) wind is king if they can do these offshore.  The new ones are doing 12-14MW each.  Wind is so cheap in TX that in many evenings spot power pricing is negative.  

Europe wind is of course a huge business, solar too- all subsidized but so was EU biofuel stuff, Germany does not have the best wind sources like Denmark Norway and England but it is ok.  In Germany everything is subsidized including coal, they pretty much burn lignite which is the worst of all types of coal and the subsidies there are crazy.  So, this is why they are happy to hook up another gas pipeline to Russia and who subsidizes the green party in germany to the extent the green party was able to have fracking banned.  It's complicated overseas...can't just say they subsidize and draw the line.  Speaking of subsidies...just look at the tar sands projects ..huge R&D investments, development tax breaks, etc (my cousin was a big honcho in one, went back to Houston 5 years ago and is just retired).  All energy sources are subsidized, even the US oil & gas folks-big and small.  

Warren Buffet owns a few power companies and even his companies are closing down plants on coal mines.  Gas plants will be next and already that's happening in TX.  

There is a whole industry afoot on recycling solar panels, really really smart money and people.  That one I'm not worried about.  ROI on solar panels varies by state but pretty soon it is going to be a no brainer, say 10 years or so (long to us but not for the US) for anyone in all but the most northern states.  

Wind turbine blade recycling though...that is a whole other ball of wax and some smart cookie is going to make some money figuring it out.  That's a good business opportunity.

[nativewolf]

Done. Finally. New bearing, rebuilt swing box, new gear, new 4 wire hose, 99% buttoned up.

I would love to have a crane!  and that cement pad while we are at it.

[BargeMonkey]

Its handy, has an odd Cummins engine that got expensive. She has a sad history, picked boats its whole life in Rye NY, owner of the marina was killed in 9/11, the place was sold and one of our customers turned us on to it.  

[Riwaka]

A few 'puff' pieces in the media have been written on recycling wind turbine blades - potential for decking, piping and pallets. & children's playgrounds
another wood product competitor.....

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-51325101

Wind Energy Has A Waste Problem: Disposing Of The Turbines : NPR

Old wind turbine blades might be fairly minor in their overall impact/ lifetime costs compared to fully decommissioning a serious nuclear power plant  or few. (Belgium?) France's leaky reactor near switzerland etc. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Oh gosh, sorry man! I just figured you were so busy and with the repairs on top of that, overloaded. Plus you are wrapping up to hit the water next week, so.
 Yeah, I will give you a ring today and see if I can get through my lousy cell connection to your lousy cell connection. :D I just have to make sure the dump trailer matches up with my truck before I come up or I can take the other trailer.

[teakwood]

I have decided not to sell to the hindu buyer anymore, at least for now. the price is pretty bad right now. Last year i sawed lots of 2x6s, some i have sold and some are still in storage. several customers asked for 1, 1.25, 2" boards for wood working, so i started to thin small areas in my plantations and saw those logs into timber. i have sold various orders and try to have the most timber stocked, running out of storage space.
Foreigners really like using teak for their decks, swimming pools and patio furniture's, and they're willing to pay the teak price, which is higher than anything else.

15year old teak tree, they're getting into impressive sizes now, i'm very happy with my plantations


Storage almost full



we did some burning to clear a area


Nice log


diam tape. 36cm diam (14.5")


0.75x4"


beautiful grain


a deck order i sold last week, planned 1.25x6", this order was 1250$

[doc henderson]

went and got some mulberry from my buddy Dallas.  he is the one where we butched a couple hogs together.  do not ever say "hey we should..."  to Dallas.  He asked if I wanted a mulberry tree that was dying.  I said "yes if you ever cut it down".  next day he says "I am cutting it down, come get it... " :D



 


 
the one on the left was long, but I only had 2 miles back roads to go, so  we dropped a "little blue pill" in the gas tank so it would not drag the ground!


 
;)


 
my old 76 ford state dump truck, next to Dallas's manure spreader!


 
his tractor and a little pine tree.  most of the mulberry will be firewood, maybe one log on the mill.  in all different stages of dead and dry.

[John Mc]

SOLAR is not dissimilar! Different? Yes! BUT way more deadly! The deterioration of palladium is about as safe as spent plutonium rods. Life span of the best panels is projected at 25+/- years.

Not sure where you are getting your information, but the warranty on good solar panels is 20-25 years. The expected life span is considerably greater.

[Bandmill Bandit]

Yes you are correct and a few even venture up to 30 but there is new data just starting to emerge on the actual decline/deterioration of the panels over time and the resulting environmental impact. The data is so new and sparse at this point but there are emerging trends that are very concerning.

Do a little research on how Paladium and other elements in the panels deteriorate and the resulting heavy metal contamination it can cause and even this is emeging science at this point. Not definitive yet. BUT still a concern!

Estimate modeling suggests TOTAL soil sterilization (all life forms) under the panels could be up to 500 plus years.

So far the data is sparse and too limited to be more than theoretical but it is nasty! Very nasty. The panels haven't been in commercial use long enough to give us those kinds of results yet. And many of us won't be here when the data proves or disproves the theory. But it will come and we can only hope that some how we can figure it out early enough to mitigate the catastrophe that woud be. 

THINK in terms of DDT effect X100!      

[nativewolf]

@Bandmill Bandit obviously you don't like solar and I do if you'd like to discuss perhaps we make a different thread as I fear further conversation would derail our harvesting thread and there is so much good information here keep this a bit focused. 

Topics of conversation could be is there any palladium in a solar panel?  How much is in the catalytic converter of a car?  What compounds exist in a solar panel that degrade?  Who is recycling?  When will efficiency hit 40%?  What does this mean for biomass producers?  What does this mean for kilns/sawmills/pulpmills?  

[John Mc]

I agree with nativewolf. If you want to discuss this in detail, lets take it to another thread.  I suspect the source of your information to be lacking a factual basis. If you do start a thread on this (perhaps in the "Alternative methods and solutions" section), I will save further comment for there.

[Bandmill Bandit]

   First off, I DO LIKE solar a LOT. In my opinion it is head and shoulders above anything else so far and, like Hydro, is indeed a renewable form of energy harvesting tech. I been using it on my RV s for 20 plus years instead of the generator mounted on the back bumper. I have a 200 watt system with built in inverter to keep my 4 batteries charged and it works well. This is my 3rd system since 1998 and the most effective so far. A bit of over kill for an RV but it works very well.

I will ask the individual that has shown me preliminary data and has taken me along to assist on his sample gathering trips for the research project he has been appointed to work on with 2 other scientists. My task is an operator for a mechanical sampling unit.

When he first told me what they were begining to find and suspecting as a result I was like "YEA right"! Not likely! BUT the trace contamination is undeniable in a small number of the samples even though it is not consistant across the entire installations being monitored at this point. (2 of them so far with 2 others coming on stream this year) The project is a 10 year project that went into season 3 on June 1st. So it is very preliminary. I understand that there are 3 other universities in the project. 1 in England and 1 in Australia. 

Texas A&M is involved at a different level with U of A working on mitigating what they are finding, through different and more efficient tecnics and technology to build the panels.

There has been a significant development spawned by the project already that was published earlier this year that provided viable proof of concept on a much improved system that actually raised the photo voltaic convession factor into an operational range that can be as high as 80% +/- range which is a game changer. It also potentially mitigates an estimated 90% +/- of the contamination issues. Time to market is currently estimated at 3 to 5 years. 

Much of the material being used is still under development and perfecting as well. The early results are very positive and there will be a trail installations very soon as they have been put on a fast track for approval. I have NOT been told this is happening but I know there have been discussions for possible trails in space. 

Projected life span is in the range of 50 years with replaceable "lens" components that could push that to double that time. These panels actually would get us with in range of a mobile charging system that could fit on a regular pickup as the footprint is smaller and they charge sufficiently to extend range by 150 to 200 KM during operation of a the truck, above a straight battery systems and they are flexible enough to build body panals with. That means in the range of 4 to 6 plus hours of driving time with a attractive weight reduction in the battery pack.

So far ALL of this is VERY early stage research info and nothing I have given here is proprietary. There are still a couple of significant hurdles to knock down but there is no lack of brains being applied to do just that and it will be accomplished. 1 of them involves transmission heat buildup at peak conversion that is partially a result of the heat of the sun on the panels. There are semiconductor material tests completed for materials that would mitigate this issue but the cost of them is beyond prohibitive at this point    

I am very hopeful and encouraged by the results thus far and the funding has had a significant bump as of yesterday with the promise of more to come.

I actually expect a public offering to be in the cards as soon as the material approvals and patents get through the bureaucracy.            

I will check and see if I can get permission to divulge more info and what I can divulge over what I have put down here.

I did try to start a new thread but couldn't figure out how to do it. If a mod wants to do that and move this OR tell me how I will fully cooperate.       

[John Mc]

I did try to start a new thread but couldn't figure out how to do it. If a mod wants to do that and move this OR tell me how I will fully cooperate.

Go to the Alternative methods and solutions section of the forum (assuming that is where you want the post to appear). Do not go into an individual thread. Near the top of the page, about 1/3 of the way in from the right edge, click on the button named "New Topic". Should be obvious from there.

[Skeans1]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Some of the home place that's around 30 years old. We're getting a piece of export, some domestic, and then some pulp or just straight pulp like the piece up top.

[BargeMonkey]

Getting close to being done, skidder back and forth and 1 guy bunching, I'm just topping and hooking, covering quite a bit of ground a day. 
 

 

 
 It's not a fun ride out of here, you blow thru a turn it over, couple spots drop off 30' plus. 
 

 
 Drag cable down, hook, repeat. Trees dont even grow straight being on the ledges. 
 

 
 

 gotta have a hot saw 🤣 grab it and walk down off the ledges backwards with it, throw it and repeat. 
 

 
 The blonde RN was up there last night, got a picture of the skidder and I being intimate changing a steering hose. 🤣 


 
 ☝️☝️☝️.... the minute the log buyers realized I wont ever sell them another stick of wood their attitude changed. I came back to the job, 10ld left to cut shipped 5 and said pay me, yeah no... now its lawyers, the end of this week is going to be really fun... 🤣 for yrs never had any trouble with them, I guess I'm not the only one getting scammed the last few months. 

[mike_belben]

How bad are you guys getting ticks?

  Its fully bushed in summer time down here.  Snakes ticks and chiggers all over.  I pull 5 a day atleast and thats just in the garden. 

[saskatchewanman]

How bad are you guys getting ticks?

 Its fully bushed in summer time down here.  Snakes ticks and chiggers all over.  I pull 5 a day atleast and thats just in the garden.

Have the number of ticks changed over the years?
I live in farmland country just north of the Montana border. In 1987, I was 23 and just graduated from university and was hiking with a friend when I got the second tick of my life. A couple of years ago I was getting nearly 40 a day over a 4 month period!! Not sure what happened. 
I have some land a couple of hundred miles north of where I live, in the late 80's people had never even seen a tick in that area, now they are crazy.
Luckily our ticks don't carry Lyme's Disease.

[mike_belben]

Im 40.  Never had them as a kid in Mass.  Never had one in SC bootcamp at 20.  Now in TN i have seed ticks crawling up my bed.  If you pause on a tick bomb theyll cover your leg.  Run for the ether cuz you cant pick em all. 

[snowstorm]

a few yrs ago the ticks showed up here. i was in germany last year they have then also

[Nebraska]

Just don't ever accidently sit on a nest of seed ticks when Turkey hunting. 

[BargeMonkey]

I've seen Plum Island.... not somewhere where you want to visit or get close enough to, kind of a weird coincidence that it showed up in Lyme CT, which happens to be just across the sound. 

[John Mc]

Im 40.  Never had them as a kid in Mass.  Never had one in SC bootcamp at 20.  Now in TN i have seed ticks crawling up my bed.  If you pause on a tick bomb theyll cover your leg.  Run for the ether cuz you cant pick em all.

Mass is basically tick central these days. My sister outside of Boston, MA had Lyme disease, my cousin in Worcester, MA was wheelchair bound for more than a year with Lyme disease (went undiagnosed for several years, despite testing several times), My brother in western MA has been treated for Lyme twice and hospitalized for Anaplasmosis for 8 days (another nasty tick-borne disease).
When we first moved to Vermont in 2001, Lyme disease was rare enough here that Doctors never bothered to test for it, and many were unaware of it or had little familiarity with the symptoms. Now everyone knows about it.
I've had really good luck wearing clothing treated with Permethrin. The factory treated stuff is supposed to last through up to 70 washes. You can also buy the stuff in 1/2% concentration and spray your own clothing (it's supposed to last through 5 or 6 washes. I just spray my "woods clothes" once a month during tick season.)
I can provide links to some good pre-treated clothing options, if anyone is interested.