Did something dumb today.

[Old Greenhorn]

I don't think you had a bad day at all, but I wasn't there.  ;D Sounds like you had a typical day for somebody just working their way into the learning curve. Welcome to the crowd! :D There are many many folks here that had the same day as you did in the past. It's just part of the game. Nothing broke, nobody got hurt, and you got some milling done while learning a whole lot about your setup. I call that a winner.
 Don't get down on yourself. This IS the game, learn and move on. Next Sunday I bet is different.

[WV Sawmiller]

D87,
  
 Well done! You've already hit the side supports. That is a rite of passage all of us go through (or at least the ones who will admit it). Next you need to roll a log up with the side supports down and completely over to the other side.

   It does bring up the topic of turning logs. A couple of the common methods when working alone is to chock one end and spin the other end which will move that end closer the direction rolled. You may have to do this a couple of times to get it lined up where you want it. 

    Another technique is to roll the log up on a 2X4 or handy limb or such near the center of balance on the log so that both ends are off the ground. Then you can just spin the log on the pivot point in the direction you want it to go. 

   As long as nobody was hurt and no serious damage to equipment just chalk it up as a learning experience. There will be more and some will be harsher lessons.

[Ljohnsaw]

Well, at least you didn't hit yourself in the forehead with the winch handle like someone did on the Forum...

[SawyerTed]

You might feel like you did something dumb but I'd say you got an education by trying.  Days like that are instructive if we can see the lessons to be learned.  You didn't go anywhere most of the rest of us haven't been.  

Some days around the mill are just harder than others.  Knowing when to quit and go do something else will come with experience.

[Foragefarmer]

Sooo, how does anybody put 5 g's in the door pocket and forget about it? Inquiring minds need to know!

I have done the same with $500 in the center console. Put it in there to look at something to maybe buy. I don't keep it on me when looking at stuff cause you never know. Didn't end up buying it and forgot about it till I was cleaning the vehicle. 
I had a tenant who worked at the local recycler; at the time they took more than construction debris, and someone had tossed some old junk that contained $15 or 20k. How did they forget that? 

[firefighter ontheside]

I'm with these guys, Daburner.  The dumb thing would have been not to try.  Big logs are tough for anyone.  A great big log caused me to do $650 damage to my tractor a few years ago.  You can be sure I posted about that here on this thread.  I've never used a winch like you do to get logs on the mill.  Do your ramps that you're using have little traction spikes to keep the log from sliding?  If not, I would add that.

[Old Greenhorn]

@Daburner87 , are you using a single or double cable for parbuckling your logs up? I always use a double and that helps to keep the log straighter and minimize slipping. just make a half loop, pull it up under the log, then attach your winch to the center of the loop. That might help.

 Where are you in NY? I didn't see it in the profile. I'm in Ulster county.

[WDH]

Daburner,

Go ahead, now, and order the Logrite 78" mega hook.  It is an essential tool to turn the big logs without hurting yourself  .  You will not believe how much more you can do alone with it versus just the 60" logrite.  

[chet]

Had my moment yesterday. Needed to push snow with my dozer, so decided to bust out and replace the old battery in it to the tune of a couple hundred bucks. After pushing snow I removed the new battery, as I didn't want to take the chance of it freezing as it sat out the rest of winter. I sat it on the front rack of my 4 wheeler and drove back to my shop holding it with my left hand. Arriving at the shop I removed my hand. The battery promptly slid off the rack, hit the frozen ground, and busted the case wide open.  DANG  :'( 

[sawguy21]

That sounds like something I might have done.  :

[Hilltop366]

Dang! I guess you won't have to worry about the battery freezing. :-\

If you paid with a credit card some have purchase warranty that may apply.

[aigheadish]

Boo to that chet! 

That reminds me of something I did a million years ago. My grandmother had passed away a few weeks earlier and she had found a perfume that was just the right mix for her (I've come to find it's likely a pretty popular grandma perfume). I loved giving her a hug and getting just a tiny whiff of that perfume (I've got a weird dog nose that's pretty sensitive). That smell was my grandma. Well, one of my aunts was sweet enough to think of me upon finding a tiny little bottle of her perfume, which she gave me, so I could smell it whenever I wanted to think of my grandma. I took it home and sat it on my bathroom sink, where it sat for weeks. One day I realized that that was a likely spot to get knocked over, so I go to stick it up in the medicine cabinet where it was much less likely to be knocked around. Wouldn't you know it, when I went to pick it up it slipped out of my hand and shattered into the sink? 

I've done stuff like that more times than I can count and it's to the point now where if I have a feeling of "oh, that'd be better over here" I'm very wary of actually moving it. 

[rusticretreater]

Yep Physics is a cruel mistress.  I sprang a leak on my Kubota and after fixing it I was refilling the oil.  I wedged the funnel in the area and poured in oil from my 5 gal container.  Sure enough, just past halfway of filling the funnel it fell spilling oil on my boot and the gravel.  Now I have to lube up the right boot to keep them looking the same.  And I have a dark patch in the gravel reminding me I did something dumb on a day not so long ago.

[chet]

 I take it you never dumped in all new oil, only to discover you had not replaced the drain plug yet.  :  On a 453  Detroit no less, that takes just a tad more than 5 quarts.  :-\

[firefighter ontheside]

I take it you never dumped in all new oil, only to discover you had not replaced the drain plug yet.  :  On a 453  Detroit no less, that takes just a tad more than 5 quarts.  :-\

quarts or gallons?

[sawguy21]

I did that with dad's mower, he wasn't happy.

[rusticretreater]

Nope, never done that kind of oil spill.  I did get distracted one day at work while making a new batch of coffee.  After pouring the water into the machine, its best to put the pot on the hot plate under the coffee drain instead of back in the sink.

[sawguy21]

 :D

[chet]

I take it you never dumped in all new oil, only to discover you had not replaced the drain plug yet.  :  On a 453  Detroit no less, that takes just a tad more than 5 quarts.  :-\

quarts or gallons?

Many, many, many, many quarts.  
Got a fire call during the oil change. Came back hours later, still rattled from the fatality connected with the call, and started dumping oil. Literally   :(

[firefighter ontheside]

I take it you never dumped in all new oil, only to discover you had not replaced the drain plug yet.  :  On a 453  Detroit no less, that takes just a tad more than 5 quarts.  :-\

quarts or gallons?

Many, many, many, many quarts.  
Got a fire call during the oil change. Came back hours later, still rattled from the fatality connected with the call, and started dumping oil. Literally   :(

I changed the oil in one of my trucks years ago and did not check for the old filter gasket.  Filled the truck with the 15 quarts of oil it held.  Most of those quarts ended up on my driveway and came out under pressure.

[wisconsitom]

Heh firefighter, I recounted doing much the same up above.  In my case, it was quite a lot of hydraulic oil on my new shop floor.

Note to self... don't do that!

[Don P]

The man with waterproof boots says nothing  

On long canthooks and unbounded testosterone. One of my rotator tears was a 60" canthook on a 3' or so oak. I hit a branch stub down on the carriage when I was way up. It rebounded, I failed to make the turn and as the log rolled back I realized I was on the cracking end of the whip. An inch of rotation of the log is now a foot of travel at the far end of the handle where I was trying to bravely back up at a trot and get out from under the handle. When you go into the football pass position, hand getting behind you, with a heavy "football" you're gonna pop. Don't let that long handle get you up too high, chock and rechuck.

[Old Greenhorn]

Man this thread is getting a lot of traffic lately. Must be the 'winter thing'.

 Saturday after the ice storm, I wanted to warm up and defrost the truck. Tried the drovers door...frozen shut, went to the rear door, same thing, then the other 2 doors, all frozen and would not budge. I was pretty ticked off. Went back to the drivers doors and put a little more effort into it. The truck was covered in 1/4" of ice, but still I can usually slowly work at least one door open. Then it dawned on me....
 Yup, works better if you unlock the doors. I never lock the truck at home, must have sat on the button or something. No photos, so it really didn't happen anyway or else I would feel really dumb.

[rusticretreater]

Yeah but oil coming out under pressure is a far sight worse than it just running out a drain hole.  Either you steam clean the truck or pick up about 10 pounds of grit on the underside.

[Daburner87]

I really do appreciate all the kind words because I've been bummed out about it the last day or two.  I live in Suffolk County, NY.  

I was thinking to order that mega hook, but I'm hoping my winch can do all the hard work for me going forward.  Had a bit of time to play with it today, I just mounted it to my former "hand crank" winch post, and figured out the wiring.  Gonna skip the quick disconnects I mentioned in another thread and just use some heavy gauge jumper cables instead.  

I will be back at it this weekend if I can and hopefully with better results.