Making it through another year '21-'23

[WDH]

OGH, you are getting a lot of help.  

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, I am. Sometimes I can barely figure out what to do with it all. ;D :D

[samandothers]

OGH, you are getting a lot of help.  

Help us one word for it! :laugh:

[Old Greenhorn]

Yesterday we woke up to an inch or two of the white crap, so I had to get that cleared off before it froze again. I also took the time to do some trim work I didn't do in the last dump and tired to plow out the front of my trailer in case I needed it for a delivery. It's pretty well froze in, but I think I can yank it out when needed.
 After lunch I headed to Lowes as suggested above and found a 18Ga. brad nailer on sale for 50 bucks that seemed to fit the bill. Whilst I waited and looked for sales help (?) to find where they had hidden them I ran into my 'boss' from Grey Fox and we had a nice time catching up on new babies, his kids and family and plans for this years coming Festival. Was good to see him.

 When he went on his way and I got tired of waiting for somebody to show up, I finally spied the secret storage location down at the far end of the aisle about 3 levels up on a pallet rack and as luck would have it a rolling ladder/stairs was close by (it has a chain across with a sign that says "Employee use only", but I managed to defeat the security device, a clever snap clip), so I fetched the one I wanted and as I was coming down and employee shows up and says "Sir, I have to get that down for you!" "OH, OK" says I, "Let me get down first" and I came down with the box and handed it to him. "I need one of these". He asks "Oh, you want another one?" "Nope, this one will do just fine, Thanks!" I took the box from his hands, grabbed a box of nails, thanked him again and left him standing there trying to figure out how that went wrong. ;D There was another customer who had been looking at other tools in the same aisle for a while and he got a real good laugh out of the whole thing.

 I arrived home and found the breaker on my compressor had popped, no air, so I reset that and off she went, but it takes a long time to fill. I figure the sub-zero temps were a bit too much for that motor earlier in the week. The nailer worked just fine and I cut up a big mess of these small short strips to put around the edges of the shelves. I glued and nailed them all on and it was very tedious. I hate repetitive work. I did all of them on build number 2, about 35 pieces. Now I have to go back and do build number 1 which is tipped up against the wall. Not sure how I can get that down and horizontal to work on by myself today, but I'll figure it out. Once that is done, I may mess around with some extended feed ramps to get the drilling station further away from the rail section. The client didn't like the way the drilling chips got thrown all over where folks would be trying to inoculate logs. He felt carrying them to the rails would be fine, but I would like to see if I can make up some rails to eliminate that need. I am running out of working room though.

 The workmanship on this thing isn't pretty, but it is a dedicated work bench that gets used 2 hours per month, about 9 months a year, and it is made out of pine. So there is a limit to how much time (and cost) I want to put into something that will be banged up after a couple of runs. I already have about 3-4 days in build time and I want to keep the cost as low as I can. I'll try to get a couple of updated photos today. Never thought of it yesterday.

 I am stressing a little about this snow coming in. If we get a foot, that may kill my log harvest. The one thing we don't have yet is a snow machine. I should probably get on it (the harvest), but I keep hesitating. I am not sure why but it's been fairly cold and I have other stuff to do. I don't want to start and then get shut out with half the order done. I should focus on how to handle that today. I think, subliminally, I am concerned about being alone and getting stuck out there and trying to figure out how to get the machine, logs, and gear out. It's an unknown for me and I am thinking too much probably.

 Well, time to get something moving along.

[aigheadish]

I don't think our weather matches up exactly OGH, but it does seem that you guys get a lot of the same systems we do just a day later (or a bit less). Regardless, look at the weather mid to late next week, we're calling for 40's, maybe even 50's for a few days. I imagine if you get substantial snow, then warmth, it causes other issues, but that may be the break you need to get out there.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, your weather migrates this way, then mixes with whatever comes up the coast, mix that all around and add a twist, then send it on up to the Cfarm and Swampdonkey. I have no idea what happens to it after that. ;D

 I don't have a good source for any kind of a long range forecast here (suggestions?), but the weather service goes out to next Tuesday and it might get near 40 here if we are lucky. So maybe I will get lucky but there is only one way to find out.

 I feel like the weather demon is standing in the middle of the road in front of me and asking "Do ya feel lucky punk? Well, do ya?" 

[beenthere]

https://www.wunderground.com/forecast/us/ny/hurley

[aigheadish]

Yup, I've got the Wunderground app on my phone and it's pretty dang good. I can watch storms roll in, via it's radar, and sitting on the front porch looking west. 

[gspren]

Yeah, your weather migrates this way, then mixes with whatever comes up the coast, mix that all around and add a twist, then send it on up to the Cfarm and Swampdonkey. I have no idea what happens to it after that. ;D

A friend that spent some time in Newfoundland said that that is where hurricanes and such go to die.

[Nebraska]

Ditto on the Wunderground thing. Plenty of ads but I like the nexrad radar feature.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah well DUH! You know, idiot that I am, I never thought of checking that. In fact I always have it up in another browser window to monitor and have several stations saved around the area. I have it on my phone too. BUT I never thought of using the forecast features in it. Never even looked at them until you guys made me. ;D Not bad and I'll be using that more often. They go out a bit further then the NWS. Right in front of my face all the time. Thanks guys.
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Well today I finished up all the detail trim work on the other unit. The only remaining things now are coming up with a bridge ramp from the drilling station to the main rack and painting. Painting will have to wait. I need to let that wood dry out some more. Gotta get the client back to work out the length of those extra rails because there is some jointing involved I don't wanna do twice. I am also out of 2x4's or I might have taken a good guess and just made them.

 It was cold today, but clear and sunny and I decided to grab the snowshoes and go for a walk to check the trees down below. We had some heavy winds the last couple of weeks and I haven't been down there in a month so I figured I'd check for new firewood. No joy on that, but it was a nice walk, very crisp out even for a short loop. Might get below zero again tonight. Not sure what I'll do tomorrow. Kind of cold for mill work.
 I'll figure it out when I get there.

[Nebraska]

Yeah well DUH! You know, idiot that I am, I never thought of checking that. In fact I always have it up in another browser window to monitor and have several stations saved around the area. I have it on my phone too. BUT I never thought of using the forecast features in it. Never even looked at them until you guys made me. ;D Not bad and I'll be using that more often. They go out a bit further then the NWS. Right in front of my face all the time. Thanks guys.
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Well we aim to please......   ;D

[aigheadish]

How's walking in snowshoes? Do you have to walk like you just got off a 10 hour horse ride, since they seem to keep your feet farther apart than normal? Granted, I have no idea what a modern pair of snowshoes looks like, but I assume still tennis rackets...

[thecfarm]

No phone here, but I have that weather link on this desk top. 
I know "desk top", let me look that word up to know what it means.  :D
Just like now temp is in the double digits minus but by noon 10°

[Old Greenhorn]

One foot (nearly) in front of the other. :D

Actually I had to think about that for a minute. I've been using 'shoes since I was a kid and don't really think about it much. They are just another tool, like good boots. I have 4 different pairs, Tubbs Adirondacks (that are older than dirt, probably 1940's or earlier), Tubbs modified Bearpaws, (both of these are leather and wood), a pair of less expensive Yukon Charlies (aluminum and plastic), and a pair of camp snowshoes (all plastic, no hinge).
 I used the Charlies yesterday because the snow wasn't very deep, but it was ice underneath and those shoes have big claw crampons on the bottom which kept me upright on the steep downhills. They are only about 10" wide and would be good beginner shoes because you don't have to think too much about what you are doing. A slighter wider gait is all you need. Of course if you are climbing or turning and you get a tail of one shoe over the tip of the other, you will go down. I was reminded of this last point only once during my walk. ;D Usually once is enough, some folks need more 'encouragement'
 It wasn't long ago I could easily jog along in them, but those days are over, I just don't want to risk breaking my face anymore or something important. They are very easy to walk with and it's only when the snow gets very deep that you have to develop better skills. That's when I switch to the Adirondack's with better floatation, but they are much longer and heavier, and have bindings that allow the foot to twist a little, so your form has to be quite good and turning requires a 'plan'.

 It was just a very nice day for a walk and I spent more time looking at critter tracks than anything else, which was likely the real reason I went on down there in the first place, checking the traffic. I can report that it is way down right now. I did put a little bit of a 'burn' into my thighs when climbing back up the hill, which I suppose is good too.

 Thecafrm, the temp here wasn't bad overnight, just -2° and it has already popped up to 0.5°, so we are going the right way. :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Catching up here. Last Friday I went down to Bill's shop to work a little. It was a cold day and they were changing out tires and rims for the logging truck in the morning. I ran the chipper blade sharpener and did a couple of sets before lunch. The we went out for a leisurely lunch plowing out a couple of air B&B driveways along the way for the weekend visitors. After lunch they headed up the line to do the finish work on a new well and water line installation they had dug in the day before. I stopped to check my shop stove on the way back and never got back to Bill's, I succumbed to a nap and household chores.

 Saturday we had that snow and it was right cold with the wind. So I cleaned it (the snow) up and spent a bunch of time reading here on the FF and doing some chores. I also worked on my notes for the radio gig this week. In the evening I went out to tend the shop stove and found the last load I put in never 'took' ad I had a stove full of cold wood. It was 38° in the shop. SO I re-started it, and it burned as it should through the night and burned out. I stayed up way too late that night following up on all the advice I was offered on another thread.

 Sunday morning I slept through until 9am! That's rare, but being so cold I guess my body was in no hurry to get up and I probably needed the sleep anyway. It was a pretty day, still breezy and a healthy wind chill. More reading and thinking. We need to go fetch Bill's resaw from WM in Hannibal at 'some point' (between now and April) and with my interest in purchasing some calks and learning there are 2 logging suppliers just a few minutes off the route between here and Hannibal, I started laying out the trip to see what the driving time was. Looks like between 8 and 9 hours driving but the logging shops are only 2 hours from here. SO either we leave late (6am) so we can hit those shops when they open, or we leave earlier (4am) and hope we can hit them before they close on the way back. Wednesday and Thursday it is supposed to hit low 40's and steady rain on Thursday (so far). That would mean a good day for the drive. No snow to plow, and water and septic system emergencies are likely to be a low risk (two things that jerk Bill in different directions through the winter). With the rain, doing outside work won't be very appealing. Bill just has to set his guys up with a load of shop work. We'll just watch the weather and workload and see if we can pull it off. Last night I took the wife out for dinner and my son and his wolf pack joined us. :D

 Another thing on my mind is getting these mushroom logs started. 40 logs I could likely do in a day, but 100 would take two or maybe 3 days, given conditions. We dodged a bullet with this last storm and are holding with about 10-12" of snow pack in the woods, but it's still fairly cold for an old guy. So I am pushing myself to start today and see if I can get lucky. It's 5° right now, but should hit almost mid 20's by this afternoon. That would give me today, tomorrow, and part of Wednesday. I have to quit early on Wednesday to change into street clothes and make the hour drive out for the radio gig at 5pm, then another 20 minute drive to the studio with the crew. I guess I will just throw some extra clothes in the machine today so I can change off until I find what works best and see how it goes. Gotta start somewhere, right? Besides the late week rain, we have no real weather coming in but we will got back to near or below zero temps on the weekend followed by some slight moderation next week Monday- Wednesday. So I am figuring that for my backup window if I flop this week. First order of the year and I want to see how the trees are and if I can find all the ones we had flagged. That would be helpful. ;D

 Time to get my butt in gear here.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

 I am glad you took the extra time to change out of your work clothes into your casual attire before doing your radio gig. I am sure all your listeners noted and appreciated it too. :D

 My wife is forever chastising me for wearing a pair of old patched jeans or ragged shirt to the local hardware store to get a bolt or spare part so I have to come in and change clothes, run down and get the part then come back and change clothes again to go put it on or make the repairs.

 (Actually the guys at the radio station might not have been too thrilled if they'd had to sweep and mop up a bunch of sawdust and mud after you left.)

[Old Greenhorn]

Well Howard, it's not the appearance of the clothes that is the issue, it is the quantity. This morning when I left for the woods I was wearing:
Wool blend socks, Military cold weather boots with quilted booties, carhartt flannel lined carpenters jeans, carhartt quilted lined bib overalls, a thermal undershirt, heavy flannel shirt, a hooded sweatshirt, and a quilted glow in the dark winter work jacket. On my head I had a stretch cap under my hard hat. I wore wool fallers gloves under my gauntlet leather work gloves.
It was about 7 degrees when I left and 12 by the time I stepped into the snow to cut my first tree. The jacket came off first followed by the stretch cap a little later. The gloves got changed out as they became soaking wet with snowmelt. High for the day while I was out there hit about 22°.
 Sitting in a heated studio dressed like that would be extremely uncomfortable. The other fellas will likely be wearing whatever work clothes they have on that day and that's fine. It's not a fashion thing, it's a comfort thing. Right now both sets of carhartt's are drying out as they are soaked through 10" up from the cuffs, as are a few pairs of gloves and my boots.

 If it weren't for patched jeans I wouldn't have anything to wear, my wife patches everything and I have jeans older than my kids, some are pretty bad. I recently took hold of my own destiny (DO NOT tell my wife) and ordered two pairs of double front loggers jeans which each currently have only 1 wearing so are brand new. She thinks this is specialty clothing and I can take care of it. The truth is, I am just tired of these cheap jeans that last less than a year before they require reconstructive surgery(the crotches wear out in the same place on ALL of them and it's an embarrassing place to have a patch, especially round ones). The loggers jeans don't fit like nice Levi's boot cut jeans, but they don't cost 60 bucks and they last a lot longer. They just make my butt look big, is all. ;D They have no sap stains, glue remnants, or anything else so they look like new and should be suitable for church. They just aren't lined.

Anyway, that's my story and I am sticking to it.

[doc henderson]

i love those jeans and have a few pair of the thin knee pads to integrate into them.  i have one pair with the suspender buttons, and a great pair of suspenders from the great logger @Skeans1 

[Old Greenhorn]

OH, I get buttons on all mine. If I can't, I put them on when they get here, I have a bag full. :D I have a mess of clip suspenders but only two pair of button types and one of those is on the short side, I made extensions. I will be building that collection to build out the wardrobe. I am not looking for the 'celebrity' collector series you seem to have started, but I would like some options.
 I don't wear suspenders for everyday, but I need them when I am working because pants seem to be overly affected by gravity when I work and that's how I rip crotches or hurt myself. Although I must admit, those Woodmizer suspenders I won at The Pig Roast are particularly snazzy, very useful while milling, and seem to attract the fairer sex. Or perhaps that's just my imagination? Anyway, the clips on those do NOT slip like some others do and I am extremely pleased with them because they are a heavier elastic material which only 'gives' when it really needs to. Some others slip off too easy and are flimsy to where I am constantly adjusting them. I hate that.

[newoodguy78]

OG just a thought on those mushroom bolts. Have you ever used a jet sled (think ice fishing)? Might be easier to move a bunch around versus carrying them?
I've used them multiple times for some real oddball heavy stuff with great success. 
The weak point on them is where the rope handle passes through and knots on itself. A piece of scrap wood on the under side with the rope going through it and the sled solves that. 
If you pull that out you're getting way to much traction with those soon to be new caulkers. 

[doc henderson]

got a pic of a jet sled?  might need one in a few days.  

[newoodguy78]

Unfortunately I do not. I'd post a link but have not figured that one out yet, strictly my own shortcomings not the forums fault at all. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, that jet sled is nice and were I back in my Scouting days I might have grabbed one. I see they come in several sizes. We just made sledges for dragging gear using two old skis and rough cut lumber.. In fact I just broke up the rotten wood on the last two I built this past fall, but I saved the skis. HERE is the Jet sled link you asked for.
 In this case though its more than I need. I think the reality of the one 'long carry' I had today was more like 60' which is really nothing. I could have dropped it and come back later with the winch to yank it to the track, but really just easier to do it and be done, then move on. See if you can figure how long it was, but really not bad at all.



 

It was fairly cold today (5° at 7am and roughly 12-15° by 10am) but not really bad when you are working. A little problem with my right foot, but I was a happy guy making some headway.



 

 I will say it was dicey getting in and out, even with the studded snows. If I got out of the track I was in trouble, never got stuck, but had some close ones going sideways. Running up the speed increased the hazard, so I just poked along taking my time and even then I slipped out of the track from time to time and had to think fast. Not a bad little machine though.



 

 I did two trips in and out and pulled 35 logs, but some will go as 'extras' because the quality isn't quite there. I thought we had a lot more trees marked, but finding them is tough or I have already cut them all? I think I only have 2 left and need a bunch more. This is not a good time to mark trees and it will go very slow if I have to. Much faster when the leaves are out. The criteria is too picky for winter work.

 Anyhow, A pretty good day out in the bright crisp air and sunshine. I did manage to rock the chain slightly on my new 562, glad I had the 450 to switch over to and finish up. Apparently I have to clear more snow away from where I am cutting, but it's everywhere. :D Call it a brain fart.
I had a nice lunch out in the woods, but I was tired when I quit. I staged the logs where I can load them on the trailer and grabbed a load of slabs at the mill to bring up to the OWB (why waste a trip?). Tonight I am trying to dry out all my clothes either from snow or sweat, and I did my first pass on sharpening that XCut chain. Lets see how that works tomorrow.
 I am sure we marked more trees, I will have to walk some other areas tomorrow where I think they may be. For those we might need to run a cable and winch them out. I think there will be minimal damage with the snow and ice and the bark is holding really tight right now. ;D
 Tomorrow is another day, right?

[Nebraska]

That Tool Cat looks like it's the  cats "meow".
At least for mushroom logging.