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Making it through another year '21-'23

Started by Old Greenhorn, May 17, 2021, 08:06:34 AM

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Old Greenhorn

Thanks for the details Danny. I had guessed you glued and screwed, but then I wondered if you migh have had a mortise hidden under there. Turned out I guessed right both times, sort of. ;D Nicely executed! I too spend a lot (too much?) time on finishes soemtimes sanding it all off and starting over. What's the point in a pretty piece if the finish is crap? I envy Bill's skill at applying what I call 'fancy stuff in fancy ways' and it always comes out perfect on the first go. If I were a lesser man, I would be jealous. :D
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 Well, I got down to the mill today and 'whipped out' some 2x12x14's. Only got 6 out of the log, not much of a 'daily tally' but those were so heavy I couldn't lift them and the forklift as a half mile away. SO I left them all on the loader arms. Those slabs were dang heavy too and even after I cut them into 3 pieces I had trouble moving them to the pile. No matter I was out of logs and leaving them where I did makes an easy lift to get them up to the shop. No more logs on the deck so I was done anyway. That worked out fine. I had to get home for lunch and a shower.
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I tried to get a nap in but no-go on that. Wasn't tired. I am not used to going out at night and was stressed about the radio show a little. I left the house before 4pm to make it to the CFA office by 5:15. Even though I hit some slow drivers that mad me a little nuts, I still arrived 25 minutes early, so I cooled my heels in the museum parking lot across the road then pulled in on time. I should have just showed up early because they (2 guys) were just waiting for me. I had a good feeling when I saw a LogRite ATV arch in the parking lot. SO Ryan, the host and his co-host Zane and I piled into Ryan's truck and headed another 20 minutes up the line to the station and did the show. I was a little nervous, but I don't think it came off too poorly. I will have to listen to the show to hear what I said. I do know my cell phone text message beep went off several times before I could get the dang thing turned off AS I was trying to answer a question. I don't want to say what that was all about but the offending text message senders have names that rhyme with Bill and Bryan, as I found out when I finally got home and looked. :D :D Thanks guys!
 The show should be posted a week from tomorrow and I am anxious to hear how it went. I could have relaxed more and it would have come off better, I know that for sure. I did get some music plugs in for local music and I am happy for that anyway but I didn't include all the discography I wanted to because there just wasn't time. Oh well, it is what it is (was). Done with that, it was fun, tomorrow is another day.
 I have to load mushroom logs and get them delivered by 1pm, then I might be stopping to look at a simple tree job on the way home that could yield some firewood and a few bucks besides, but we shall see. So another light day, then Friday back to milling, I am sure there will be a list to be cut for the guys to get nailed up over the weekend. Hopefully there is a deck of logs loaded to support that list. ;D Friday afternoon and sometimes Saturday milling means I have a good chance of having a good tailgunner and whacking stuff out.
 I'm just gonna have a couple of 'pops' and hit the rack and start again tomorrow.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Old Greenhorn

Happy Birthday @doc henderson ! 8) 8) smiley_clapping smiley_bouncing_pinky smiley_bounce dancing-jack smiley_hillbilly_tub_base smile_banjoman smiley_fiddler
I hope you have a great day Bryan! (I figured if I put this here you would see it for sure.)
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

doc henderson

Thanks Tom.  up since 5 am yesterday, long night last pm with meetings this am.  having a blue moon after work so I can sleep.  I feel all of 61 this am.  I was born at about 7 am about 23 miles from here.  God bless all.  Doc
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

aigheadish

I'm excited to listen to the show, Tom, it's become one of my regular podcasts to listen to now. It's relaxing, informative (even several hundred miles away), and funny. I forgot to listen live but I'll catch it soon enough. 
New Holland LB75b, Husqvarna 455 Rancher, Husqvarna GTH52XLS, Hammerhead 250, Honda VTX1300 for now and probably for sale (let me know if you are interested!)

Old Greenhorn

It should be up by this time next week. They post the previous weeks show just before they record the new show and it takes overnight for it to trickle through the system. There is a new show up this morning from last week wherein I got a little plug from the grower that was on who is also one of my clients. In fact I am leaving to deliver another 65 logs to him in a few minutes.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Old Greenhorn

Well, with a couple of days messing around with other stuff I got the feeling I needed to catch up on things at the mill. So i headed down this morning and as I expected, there were some logs cued up for a customer order and more shop framing. the 5/4 x12x12 were pretty easy and I got exactly what the customer needed out of one log, but it took some fancy footwork. The 2x12x10'6"s for the shop were pretty easy too but I came up 1 short on the log for what we needed. The slabs were pretty heavy (lots of taper) even after I hacked them into 5' lengths and by the time I was done on that I was pretty pooped. The milling was fine, the tailgunning was wearing me out. I was running out of room for all the slabs from the last 3 or 4 sessions. Then I blew up a blade, ran it too long, a problem for me on this fancy machine, I continue to work on that. I figured I would at least start on the 14 footers but my back was screaming. I got it canted up fine, but geez louise those slabs weighed a ton, even cut to 5 footers I couldn't lift them and had to 'walk' them to the pile, which was out of control. I gave up on any 'neatness' at that point, standing upright was hard enough. But what the heck, I milled up 7 2x12x14's and slid them over onto the loading arms. No way could I move them. I was done, no more logs, and as far as I could tell I was caught up on the orders. I only needed 4 of those 14 footers but got 7, so that will more than make up for the deficit on the 10+ footers.
 I cleaned up and parked the mill, but it was only 2 and although my back was screaming I decided if I wanted to give my back a break going forward I should get a little more practice on that skidsteer.  So I drove up to the shop and parked my truck and jumped in the skidsteer, played with the controls a bit to remember, then headed back to the mill.
 Funny thing abut running equipment, it really helps to have somebody whispering in your ear which button does what, how to do things gently, where the throttle should be etc. On the other hand, if you are like me, it also helps to have time alone with no distractions to figure it out and get it parsed out in your head so it makes sense to you. The problem arises when you can't quite figure it out and there is nobody to touch base with when you need that one piece of information. That would be me today. ;D
 It took a while to get down to the mill and I was in no hurry, trying to get used to the limited sight profile in a skidsteer, watching where the grapple is out in front of me and negotiating curves in the road in some fashion without looking like a spastic. It just takes time, i know this and am in no rush. I ain't getting paid by the hour anyway. ;D So I got to the mill and it took a lot of spastic grapple motions to get the load picked up off the loader arms without making contact with the mill. I am SO glad nobody was watching and there are no video cameras. It wasn't pretty, but I was gonna do this, so I just tried again until it was pretty much right. I did munge up he bottom 2x12 just a bit, but I got the load up and got it out and clear. The I just had to bring the load of 14' boards up a 10' wide road, so I twisted the load a little and wound my way on up. It took a while, but I made it and managed to lay it down as gently as anyone could have wanted. It would have been nice if the pile didn't fall over, but I couldn't help that. It's up there and saved them a trip (which could have been done in less than half the time by anybody else. But I am learning, this is all brand new to me. It just takes time.
 I parked the skidsteer where I found it, jumped in the truck, headed home, had lunch at 2:30, ran to town for fuel and beer (low on both), then came home and mowed the back lawn, which took 2 passes and still looks terrible. There is something whacking in the mower deck I have to fix, so I didn't do the front lawn.  Then I went back down to Bill's because we were going to walk the woods and flag trees. Well he had a salesman there (I have no idea which job he was quoting) and I apparently arrived at beer-thirty, so that's what we did for an hour or two and talked about 'stuff'. I finally had to get home for dinner time, so I took 5 dozen eggs  and drove back then re-stocked Bill's egg stand across the road from my house for the weekend and took a dozen home for us.
 Man, my back is hurting worse tonight than it has in a year or more. I keep looking at the clock and waiting until I can take some more advil. I overdid it, apparently. This may be gone in the morning, but we shall see. Sleep might be tough tonight. Tomorrow is gonna have to be a lighter day for sure. Bill thinks it will be a rain out day to do office work, I am thinking it will be a good working day until late afternoon. Either way, tomorrow is another day. Lets just see what it brings.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Old Greenhorn

Well I slept OK Friday night but as soon as I got out of bed yesterday I knew it (my back) was still an 'issue'. Hurting pretty good and I had no choice but to lay off for the day. Thought it was going to be a rainout anyway, but the radar showed we had at least 8 hours before the front would hit. I texted Bill to see if we could get out and flag some trees, but he didn't respond and I assumed he was doing family stuff or up on the roof nailing rafters in. I lazed around for the day and took a pretty good nap, which in itself is unusual for me, so I guess I needed it. By mid-afternoon I was going a little stir crazy so I got in the truck and drove down to Bill's. Nobody was home and the dog didn't even bark at me, so I assume she was asleep in the house. I dropped off some jugs of blade lube by the mill and stopped by the pond to watch the birds for a little bit. There are some kind of fish in there and I made a note to check that out sometime. I headed home and the wife had gotten back from her craft show. She did OK for a small show. We made an easy dinner and that was the day. I finally heard back from Bill around 8:30 last night, they were out picking pumpkins with their little girl and doing other family stuff, and it was a good day for that. We made tentative plans to go out and flag today. My back is still sore, but a little better than yesterday. If it's not better by tomorrow I will call in to get a quick fix done, but that costs me another day in lost time. I need my last (I think) 40 logs by the end of the week and I think there is yet more milling to do. I am at around 3,000 BF so far this month. (Interesting note, this will be the 3rd time my 'mushroom log season' has ended this year. Every other time, somebody would call and I found myself at it again. I don't think that will happen this time because I should really wait until late December to cut anymore when the sap is way down. I am hoping the snow gives us a break so that I can cut in January and February and stock up a bit. Those winter cut logs can sit for a couple of months because of the low sap content. Hopefully I can mark some of those trees today.
 Time to get a move on.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

HemlockKing

OG, the back/spine is the Achilles heel of humans, while also being so important obviously, the human body is so resilient, but good lord how easy it is to get permanent back pain. I’ve been so careful since my first injury 8 years ago(lumbar bulging disc) and just to injure my spine around the shoulder blade area(I believe this injury came from the incident I posted in did something dumb today thread, small tree fell on my head), now when I hover my head to look down I get a pain, at least at it seems to go away with activity as my lower back pain does, sciatica down the left leg usually stays though.
A1

Old Greenhorn

HK I am aware of that as clearly as could be. ;D :D You need to find a good Chiropractor, mine changed my life. After he fixed my intial injuries 3 years ago he started to find other issues and asked me about prior injuries, sometimes it took a day or two for me to recall an incident from decades prior related to that injury, but sure enough he was right every time and he did some adjustments to put stuff back where it belonged. I am at a point now where 'dumb things' that used to take me out for 2 weeks of recovery are now gone by the next morning. My body and bones are more aligned and the load is absorbed better by all the various parts. It's pretty amazing. Friday's dumb move was picking up a couple of 150 pound slabs and carrying them to the pile, not once, but a dozen times. Stupid. Today wasn't so bad, just a little tweaky as we picked our way through the woods marking trees. I might get in Monday fora tune-up, but maybe not. We will see what the rest of today brings. I am going to attack that stove repair job, which should be 'light duty' once I get the screws broken off and drilled out.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Nebraska

I thought you'd taught yourself how to run that skid steer thingy he's got up there. ;)  last time I really kinda jacked up my back it was slab wood as well...

Old Greenhorn

Quote from: Nebraska on October 17, 2021, 06:36:28 PM
I thought you'd taught yourself how to run that skid steer thingy he's got up there. ;)  last time I really kinda jacked up my back it was slab wood as well...
Yeah, [hangs head and kicks at the dirt] I kinda did. Call me an 'entry level operator', but I didn't feel like climbing the hill to go fetch it and usually when I cut the slabs into 5' chunks, they are easy, but not this log. My bad. I also need to learn how to change implements. The forks would have been easier than the grapple. Bottom line I have to get over is time. Everything takes time and time is money, so I went for the quickest solution and that's what done me in. I wanted to get the lumber done and get onto other things. My tasks at my own shop are mounting. I thought I would have it light this week and might get a little caught up, but today he gave me another order for about 100  4/4x12x10's. At least those are shorter. But yeah, next run I will get a machine down there with something on the front of it.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Old Greenhorn

So just summarizing the day, because it was a fairly good one for me, I got out and found another 3 gallon jug I forgot about, so I filled that with rain water and threw it in the truck. Got down to Bill's around 10am and dropped the jug off by the mill then went up to the house and nobody answered the door, so after the normal search (check the shop, etc.) I decided to wander the part of his property I had not yet walked. I only got part way through when I heard his voice through the trees and then little Inga's voice (4 years old and cute as a button with no fear) We marked some trees where I was, then headed to the shop and pulled out the gator. He has had a problem with it we think might be vapor lock, not sure yet. He had this idea to put a primer bulb in the line to push fuel in when it shuts off after running a while. I guess today was the day to do that. 15 minutes later the 3 of us piled in and started cruising for trees. We were also on a mission to see if we could find his property markers. We'd drive 100' then park and wander and mark some trees, drive a little further and find some more. Inga had a good time climbing all over and asking questions and giving directions. :) At some points we spent more time wandering looking for property markers than we did for trees. All told we drove around for a few hours and I counted 28 trees marked. I believe we had a bunch more, maybe 35, but I didn't hit the clicker on more than a few of them and lost count. I think that would give about 200 mushroom logs and maybe up to 250. Most of these will hopefully be cut in the January/February timeframe assuming I can get to them and find them and get them out. I may use Bill's gator instead of my mule, that thing goes everywhere. On our run back the gator finally quit with that pesky problem and the primer bulb worked like a charm. So there is that.
 We got back to the house and they had a visitor whom I knew, so I went in and visited a while, then headed home and made lunch around 2pm.  I heade out to the shop and started in on the woodstove which I have put off too long. Those stainless screws are a bear to drill out and I wnet through 4 HSS bits but got the top hat off the stove. Set the chimney aside and started chipping and wire brushing, then grinding the residual gasket material off. I still have the studs in the holes to deal with, but by the time I got that much done, I called it a day. Getting the studs out will take a fresh mindset. Then I may open those holes up to 1/4-20 instead of the 10-24's they are now. I also need to make a new gasket, set the new combustor in, and resetting the gasket and sealing it all up. I figure that will take the better part of a day, but I might need to order gasket material somewhere in there, I haven't checked my 'stock' yet.
 Anyway, my back felt fairly good bopping around in the woods even though it remains tweaky and spending a few hours with a 4 year old finding all kinds of neat things is always fun. I did enjoy that a lot. Plus I did actually get some things done. Tomorrow I will focus on that stove and stay around the house and shop. The weather is changing and I need to get things ready for heating quickly. I am still worried about getting the rest of the firewood put up, but I saw some nice dead standing ash at Bill's we might make a trade deal on. That will help a bit.
 Tomorrow is another day.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Nebraska

Sorry for busting your chops a little but  Changing the implements on the skid steer is very simple if they are quick attach Bob Cat type latches. Two latches to undo (plus quick attach hydraulic  couplers....don't get in  hurry and forget them.  ::) just saying for a friend) and you are good to go. Other systems are probably  about as easy just only kind I have. Takes five minutes max to switch including walking across the place to get the machine.  You can handle it easy..  If you can make  the skid steer go it will make you  more productive and save your body for important stuff like hiking in the woods with a four year old.🙂
 Sounds like a good day. I had help home yesterday, we got a bunch of odds and ends done stove is ready to go. May actually  mill some cedar this evening if all goes well. 

Old Greenhorn

Quote from: Nebraska on October 18, 2021, 08:21:37 AM
Sorry for busting your chops a little but  Changing the implements on the skid steer is very simple if they are quick attach Bob Cat type latches. Two latches to undo (plus quick attach hydraulic  couplers....don't get in  hurry and forget them.  ::) just saying for a friend) and you are good to go. Other systems are probably  about as easy just only kind I have. Takes five minutes max to switch including walking across the place to get the machine.  You can handle it easy..  If you can make  the skid steer go it will make you  more productive and save your body for important stuff like hiking in the woods with a four year old.🙂
Sounds like a good day. I had help home yesterday, we got a bunch of odds and ends done stove is ready to go. May actually  mill some cedar this evening if all goes well.
Well, one of the mental challenges for me is that he has 4 or maybe 5 skid steers (I have never seen them all in the same place at once) plus a tool cat with 4 wheel steering. Each seems to have somewhat different controls. Some you have to latch and unlatch the locking levers manually, and some have hydraulic releases. Operating controls are also in at least 2 different schemes and with the short periods of time I am in them, it's hard to keep it all straight, so I shy away from it.
 Cool here last night, maybe that will help get me moving on the stove today.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

WDH

OGH, if you were in my will, I would bequeath you a paragraph spacer  ;D.  
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

doc henderson

you will have to latch on to one, maybe that stays at the shop or near the mill.  My cat has a control selector to do cat or case controls.  the electric over hydrolic pilot joy stick controls can be configured for each with a flip of a switch.  with one you steer with your L hand, and control the bucket with your right.  in the case # 2, you steer with both hands front and back like the old manual type, and the bucket with both, moving side to side the control pistol.
Timber king 2000, 277c track loader, PJ 32 foot gooseneck, 1976 F700 state dump truck, JD 850 tractor.  2007 Chevy 3500HD dually, home built log splitter 18 horse 28 gpm with 5 inch cylinder and 32 inch split range with conveyor powered by a 12 volt tarp motor

Old Greenhorn

Quote from: WDH on October 18, 2021, 09:59:04 AM
OGH, if you were in my will, I would bequeath you a paragraph spacer  ;D.  
Sorry. I wasn't aware, until now, that this was an issue. I will endeavor to do better henceforth.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

WV Sawmiller

Tom,

   Don't let that Dawg bite you in the butt. Just tell him you have too much to cover and too little time to be wasting it on punctuation and grammar and such. Spelling ain't real high on the requirements list either. Remember when Johnny Inkslinger of Paul Bunyan fame quit dotting his i's and crossing his t's he saved several barrels of ink each week. (What - you don't remember Johnny Inkslinger. Shame on your HS history and English teachers for not properly imparting the needed knowledge to you as a student!)
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

aigheadish

New Holland LB75b, Husqvarna 455 Rancher, Husqvarna GTH52XLS, Hammerhead 250, Honda VTX1300 for now and probably for sale (let me know if you are interested!)

Old Greenhorn

Howard, I had forgotten about Mr. Inkslinger, but I went back and did some remedial study to get me back up to speed. We didn't cover that in High School, I think we did Paul in elementary school. Doc, I'll be enhancing my equipment usage if I am to stay at this sawing gig much longer. I just have to.
------------------------------------[break]

Well Yesterday I jumped back on the stove and stayed at it all day. Those little 10-24 stainless screws were a bear to drill though but after a handful of bits and some re-sharps I got the holes opened up. Some of the holes had 'moved' when the drill slid off my chosen path, so I opened all the holes up to a tapped 1/4-20 and then spent some time with a file adjusting the holes in the top hat to match. I found some steel 1/4-20 black socket head caps screws and stainless washers to use this time. maybe they will be easier to get out, if there is a next time. Rest assured I will be much more careful loading wood so I don't hit that dang combustor. 

I got all the parts cleaned up best I could, cut new gasket parts, installed the combustor and had it ready to go back together by 2:30 or so. I was a little short on gasket sealer, so I let the wife know I was going out for a tube at the local store and should be back shortly. Well, the local stove shop is closed on Mondays and rather than lose the momentum I drove to home despot, where I found plenty of plastic Christmas trees on display all over but when I asked about woodstove supplies was told, 'Oh we don't have those out yet, they didn't come in'. I noted loudly how they have a fine display of things nobody wants yet but lack any of the stuff needed now and walked out. I went to Lowes and although they had their woodstove stuff out (but well hidden) they didn't have the stove gasket sealer I wanted, just some silicon garbage rated for 600°. Not what I wanted and I don't compromise on some things. Again, I left in disgust and headed to Tractor supply. They had 2 tubes of the right stuff left and I bought both.

By the time I got home it was almost 5:30 and dinner was cooking. So we did that and the after dinner chores, then I went back out and did the re-assembly without much trouble. Not even sure what time I came back in the house. Just as I sat down with a beer my phone rang with a surprise call from a fellow FF member and we had a nice 'catch up chat' for about an hour which was a nice way to close out the day. I was in bed by 9 and pretty tired.
----------------------------------[another break]

Yesterday while I was having SO much fun with the stove, I entertained a series of emails from a new customer wanting mushroom logs. He just got in under the wire because I was calling it quits after this final order this week. He has very specific requirements, but nothing out of the ordinary, just picky on sizes. He's new, he'll learn. :D Only wants 20 logs but that means I have to get on it if I want it all done this week. SO the plan for today is to get that chimney finished and I may move the stove a little in the process, then once that is done I hope to head down and start cutting some to get a jump on this. Seems like things keep popping up to keep me from finishing firewood. Today is just another day, but with the backlog I have I will have to start driving harder to get this stuff done before the weather gets unpleasant and that could happen any week now. I figure I got 3 weeks tops before it gets cold.
Time to get at it.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Nebraska

I didn't realize the bounty of machines at your  disposal. I would negotiate a dedicated "yard" machine that you can grab and become comfortable with.  Subtle differences in machine controls can cause a little heartburn at times.



-----------------------break.  
:D :D :D

Glad you got the stove done those 1/4 inch bolts should be better if you need to deal with the catalytic  burner again.





WDH

Nice breaks.  Much easier on the reader, Sir.  
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

WV Sawmiller

Tom,

  OK, maybe Paul Bunyan was grade school and not high school. I am glad you guys covered him. BTW - the US Post office did a tribute to American folk heroes including Paul Bunyan, Pecos Bill, The Mighty Casey and John Henry. Please note of these only one was a real life character - John Henry. He helped dig the railroad tunnel at Big Bend here in Summer's County at Talcott, WV and we have a John Henry park with a statue and history of him. When you come visit we'll take you to it. His wife, Polly, is buried in a local cemetery here.

  Okay, back on track. I am glad you got that spacing thing figured out so our hound dog (OK - Bulldoggie) fan can keep up better. It takes so little to get them confused and bewildered and you have to take special care to accommodate them. Sort of like herding cats or teaching kindergarden. :D

  Glad you found your sealant and got you stove fixed.
Howard Green
WM LT35HDG25(2015) , 2011 4WD F150 Ford Lariat PU, Kawasaki 650 ATV, Stihl 440 Chainsaw, homemade logging arch (w/custom built rear log dolly), JD 750 w/4' wide Bushhog brand FEL

Dad always said "You can shear a sheep a bunch of times but you can only skin him once

Old Greenhorn

Early post today, I am fading fast. ;D

Hit the rack early last night and got up at 4:30, so I was out in the shop early and attacked the chimney issue. I put in a new 45° elbow, decided not to move the stove because it would just make things harder and got the chimney all screwed back together. Working on the ladder wasn't fun or easy and put a load on my back, but I got it all done. Removed all the temp supports and started a little fire which I finally got burning well by 9:30 and let it gro for a while until it was ripping a little and put a load of dry junk stuff in it. By 10 I had a decent running fire and finally got it up to temp and burned off all the Blue Creeper and such I had used for tapping and drilling fluid as well as when I foolishly thought I could get the screws loose at all. The shop filled with smoke and I opened some doors for a bit and then got the temp in the shop up to about 62° and that was good enough. I throttled it down to a normal burn, came in an had an early lunch around 11.

The extra Mushroom log order had me feeling a little pressure to 'get it all done' so I can move on. I wasn't sure how much I could fit this 'picky new buyer's' needs into the trees I had marked combined with the other order I had left or how much I could get done today. So I headed to the woods to get started. I went way back up and in, thinking it might be the harder area to get to when the snow is deep. I wasn't really finding trees that fit his 'requirements'. Trees are funny and I don't get to pick the best trees, they stay and grow. My trees are the ones with 'issues' old scrub mark, lightening strike, bad tops, heavy twisted leaners. Funky stems that will never grow well, that's why I get them. Too big, too small, I get 'em all. I leave some butt logs for landowner firewood and stuff like that so the yield is a lot less than I'd like sometimes. Sometimes I get 90% of the tree, but not often.

 SO I started with 3 trees and got them down and bucked up, some for each order. Then I was pooped, and took a short breather. My back was giving up on me. Back to work, cut some more, another break. I got a text from my ongoing buyer and he reduced his order just a little bit because he still has logs from the last order. That worked out fine, I got his text, did a quick count and realized I was about to cut my last 2 trees. :) SO I got everything down, bucked and stacked by the trail. Then I just had to load and keep them separate (different lengths and size limits). That pretty much finished off my back.

 I crawled on out (such is my habit, too much to look at) and when I got back to the area of the mill and the {ahem} 'main road', I had to sneak back between the firewood log piles (zero clearance) and turned onto the road I looked and saw that 'somebody' had removed the roadblock logs to get through. Those logs were in place when I went in, but they were pulled aside and NOT replaced. I figured it was the amazon guys again, but the fact that they snuck through only bothered me a little, that they didn't put them back really set me off. Kind of that thing about leaving farm gate the way you found them, I was brought up to put things back the way they were and THAT really set me off. I got out and reset them and before I cleared the property I ran into Bill coming home and told him what I found. He figured, as I did, it was the Amazon drivers again.  SO later tonight a bigger log will be planted just a little further down the road. Last Friday he found 2 Amazon drivers, one on each side of the roadblock, exchanging packages. At that point, he called the cops, not that they would respond that far out, but the complaint is on file, then he called the Amazon dispatch office and told them they could deal with the police from here on. Then this today, seems like we have a war brewing up pretty well now. When I get back to milling I will have to start writing down license plates and taking names. ;D Maybe I should dig out my old badge.

 So I got a good days work in, actually got more than I hoped for completed, but my back is wrecked again. I didn't give it enough time to really recover since Friday and with the stove works yesterday, the ladder work this morning, then the logs, I just plain overdid it. Tomorrow I plan a true shop day of cleaning up and straightening things out. I have made a mess of it in the last 5 months and I can't do much before getting things mostly straight. I'll worry about that tomorrow, for tonight I will just moan a bit and go to bed early. Tomorrow will take care of itself. 
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

Tacotodd

Thanks for the continuing saga of life for you Tom. It's good to know just exactly how your constant work at being retired and trying to make a buck to stay that way are. It was truly good to talk to you last night. More for later, I have more FF to catch up on pc_smiley
Trying harder everyday.

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