Making it through another year '21-'23

[Old Greenhorn]

Thats not a bad idea either. I have a folding pruning saw I keep in the Mule for quick trims. First I will try out the stick and see how that works. Then maybe the saw. Thanks!

[Old Greenhorn]

Well in fact today did turn out to be a much better day. Just a little ice coming down and once in a while it would land squarely on the hard hat and ring out pretty good, but very workable. I managed to get 49 logs out of that tree, by far a new record for a single tree for me. I just need a few more to put me in the comfort zone and I have the top branch that came down and clobbered my drying rack which should cover it. I feel a lot better tonight. At least the customer will get the pick up date they wanted and I can move on. I still have a lot of firewood and maybe a couple of saw logs to cut out of that tree which turned out to be 20" DBH and about 70' high (well, now it's 70' long  ;D). I have the logs cued up where I was cutting and tomorrow I have to move them over to the trailer. Most are covered with a lot of ice yet. I'd also like to drag those saw logs out while the ground is still rock hard.

 That measuring stick idea is a winner. Worked like a charm! I will have to draw up plans to build a proper one because I just cut one off of a branch to length and I was constantly trying to find it in the slash all around my feet. I need to make it out of some milled material and put some other markings on it for shorter lengths. I had planned to try all 3 suggested methods, but the stick worked so good that I just stuck with it. By the way, I did learn that you can mark lines on ice with a lumber crayon. Who knew? :D

 I did most of the cutting with my 450, but then switched over to the new 562 later in the day when I started on the main trunk and parted off the stump from the root ball. It didn't fall back, I think 5 days was enough to freeze it in place. I bet it settles back over time though. That 562 works nicely though and I think I am dialing in the sharpening on that XCut chain too. Much faster than my 450 for sure.  I don't cut much in ice, but I think it is pretty rough on a chain. I'll have to hit the chain on the 450 in the morning.
 I also got a better look at the garage roof after I got all the branches off but the one that is frozen in place. I may have some shingle damage, but the rafters are all intact with no cracks and I see no penetrations. There is still 4" of frozen stuff on top I can't pull off with the roof rake. I'll just have to wait for a full melt, today was a good start on that.

 Pretty pooped tonight, but a productive day which felt good.

Tomorrow is another day and I'll stay at it.

[Ljohnsaw]

parted off the stump from the root ball. It didn't fall back,

Please be sure to keep the grand kids out of that area until it falls back down!

[aigheadish]

The strength of roofing is pretty amazing. At my old house I had a horse chestnut tree (or buckeye?) that was between the road and sidewalk, which was about 10 feet from the front of my house. The tree had died and filled with honeybees, there was a pretty big hole in the side and who knows how deep, up and down, into the tree the hole was. Well, after I'd moved out, into my current house, and while I was attempting to sell the old house that tree, which was probably in the 30" range, fell over, more or less straight onto the house. A branch poked through the roof in a place or two, through the shingles, but otherwise didn't damage anything more than my wallet, for 900 bucks to have it removed.

Glad to hear your damage isn't bad Tom. And it's pretty sweet you are breaking records on your mushroom logs. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Yes, absolutely LJohn, that root ball is a clear hazard. That's why I did not cut it free until I had somebody here to watch, because they can do funky things. Fortunately it is located in an odd section of the back lot that gets little traffic. (It's a tangle in that area) The boys will heed the warnings. Stuff like that I usually take them over and show it to them and explain the hazard in detail. Most kids just want to 'see it', so I get that out of the way and make it clear what will happen when it comes down. We can make a game out of it and put a marker to watch it's progress coming down. I try to make learning experiences from things like that.

Aigheadish, that one tree was a fluke. I just got lucky it had a lot of leaders because it grew in an overly tight area and had to branch out to survive. I never made note of how many logs per tree, but this I thought exceptional. I did take top wood off of two big RO's that Barge had hand cut last June and I got a lot of logs from them too, but I didn't count them. Those were big trees with lots of clear stem and maybe a few veneer logs, which was why he hand cut them. Maybe 30" DBH? But they shot up and flowered out on top, so not a lot of extra leaders. I was actually surprised at how few logs I pulled from those because the leaders were mostly around 12" diameter (too big).

Yeah, rooves bounce when they can. I was mostly worried about penetrations, but I can see none from the inside. Now it's just a question of if the shingles are damaged, but perhaps the 6" of frozen snow and ice provided a buffer? In total that one tree brought 3 other trees with it (2 EWP's and a Cherry) and there was a lot of topwood on the roof carrying a lot of weight. 6" diameter stuff.

I must have worked harder than I thought yesterday, I slept until 8am and am groggy, achy, and slow starting today. It's 34° now and headed for mid 40's today, so that will help. Time to get at it.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Wow - that's a lot of mushroom logs from one tree! Well done.

   Those root balls can do funny things. We had a derecho 8-9 years ago and a neighbor had a big pine that laid over his drive. I bet that root ball was 12-14 ft across. I started bucking the tree from the top in 8-10 ft lengths and about 10' from the base when I cut the log free the last log still attached just stood right back up.

   One time I was bucking some big wild cherry trees that had uprooted in a windstorm. I'd cut one about 3' above the ground level. About 30 minutes later while I was talking to the customer, it just stood back up. I have no idea why it took that long to do so.

   I had a big basswood fall on the side of the mountain above my shooting house in November 3 years ago. The ground froze hard in February so I started at the top and bucked the tree mostly into 8' logs I could pull out with my ATV. When I got to the butt log there was one more 8' log on the root ball about 36" in diameter or so at the base. I looked at it from every angle and could not figure any likely way to survive bucking that one. The log or the the root ball would almost certainly roll over me and for good measure probably would take out the shooting house which I would no long need anyway since I'd be a greasy spot on the hillside by then. It is still just where it fell and will remain so.

   I can see Tom with the grandkids - "Tommy Junior, hold on tight right here while I buck this log off just above you." Wooosh, as the log stands back up with Tom L III hanging on for dear life. "Wow, Grandpa, that was the greatest ride ever. Can we do it again?" "Yes, but don't tell your mom or grandma." :D

[doc henderson]

so the mushroom logs are 40 inches by your standard?  is that how long you made the measuring stick?  do you lay it on or just use it near for an educated guess?  can you hold it in your l hand while also holding the handle bar and cutting?  do you hold it in the middle or on the end near where you will cut?  I must know the answers to these questions!   8) 8) 8)  I use some big box store 1/4 inch fiberglass marking sticks, would that work well?



 

[Old Greenhorn]

Gee Bryan I can't answer all those questions. I didn't have the money to conduct a full study. Maybe I should start a GoFundMe to raise the funds and hire some researchers? :D

 I prefer a plain old stick and if I hit it with the saw, who cares? Today was a tape and crayon day and the stick is still standing up in the snow someplace. ;D I got about 9 logs off the leader that clobbered my drying rack and another 8 or 9 from 'roadkill'. A red oak that dropped across the road and a couple of passers by cut it up and tossed it to the side. I'll take what I can get where I can get it. ;D

 I finished the day with 83 logs (or so) on the trailer, so I have the 60 log order done. As requested I will let them know by COB of Friday if they can pick them up on Tuesday. ;D I hope they have a good truck and this gal is in good shape. I am tired of lifting these things.

That rootball I cut off yesterday has risen up about 3' and beginning to close up the hole more. It will just take time, and thawing.

 Another day pooped out. Tomorrow I will do other stuff. I have to get back to the mill, but I can see my shop chimney needs mid-winter cleaning, so I will likely let it burn out tonight and do that tomorrow on our last warm day in this stretch. It won't break freezing again until next Wednesday. Entering the middle of February I am hopeful for the spring, but know we have had some ripping snow storms storms and blizzards at the end of this month and the beginning of March. So I know we aren't out of the woods yet, but I remain hopeful.

 Howard, I don't 'experiment' with my grandsons, but that would be kind of fun. Maybe when they are a bit older.

[doc henderson]

so how long was the measuring stick?

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

   If you don't think they have enough strength to hold on now, maybe you can fabricate a seat belt or such from an old tree service safety harness or such. You may never have another climate event like this when they are older so you have to strike while the iron is hot - or root balls are cold, as appropriate. :D The hard part will be keeping them from telling Mom or Granny about how cool it is to spend time with Grandpa in the woods. ;) It has been my experience the ladies just don't understand how to really help the kids have fun especially outdoors. : ;D

[Old Greenhorn]

Doc, 40", but I cut some logs 36" as I go because I have a regular customer that will take them that length if they are larger diameter. So when I actually 'make' a stick I will cut it at 40" and put lines on it for 36" and 18" (my firewood) and 16" (other peoples firewood).

 Howard, not gonna happen, forget it, let it go. I won't deal with the hassles of explaining to a female why 'the kid' got splattered on a tree, no matter how much fun he had. Besides I just checked that stump again and it came up about another foot, so this is doing a very slow return. Not terribly exciting unless you have a time lapse camera on it. I have cut several of these and have yet to see one pop right back, but I remain hopeful. ;D

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

  Okay but you're forgetting those kids are from good Norway stock and I doubt they have been "watered down" enough yet that they'd have any problems riding a stump back upright. :D

  I remember walking through a local park in Kristiansand Norway down by the river/inlet where the marina was located and there was a big elm tree that had fallen in the edge of the park. The trunk was about 5' in diameter. The park maintenance people had trimmed the small limbs out of it but left the limbs on the top down to about 12" or so which probably had the top a good 15'-20' above ground. They left it laying there in that condition for the kids to play on and it was one of their favorite park features. You'd see 3-4 y/o kids scampering up to the top and having a blast. They would never have left such in a park in the USA for fear some kid would slip and get a bruise and the parents would sue but the Noggies figured it was good exercise and training.

  I think it was one of my secretaries who told me along about what would be our middle school age the school had a program where they would take the kids outside and teach them survival techniques such as building a survival shelter by stacking a row of stones to make the sides to a bed, covering it with branches and peat moss to make an insulated survival shelter. People over there were pretty diligent about keeping a shovel, blanket, portable charcoal grill and some food and water in their cars in case they got stuck in the snow somewhere so they could survive till help found them.

  Don't ever forget your roots. ;) :D

[Old Greenhorn]

Well Howard, you are right of course (did I just say that out loud?). I too noticed things over there were 'different' in subtle but important ways. I also noticed children weren't coddled and protected from themselves either. I recall seeing a few little kids, maybe 4 years old, having a ball getting soaked under a public fountain on a street in Bergen just up the hill from the Quay. There were bare assed necked and having a blast. The closest adult was of of earshot. NO CPS was called and life went on.
 Yeah the boys would be all for a 'rocket ride' but it just isn't worth the risk, call me an old fuddy duddy. There will be other ways though. Time is my ally. ;D
___________________________

Today was not a good day at all for me. I am not whining, it is what it is and we all get these days. Just not pleased with what went down and how I dealt with it.
 Because of the warm temps I decided today was a good day to do the midwinter cleaning job on the shop chimney so last night I put a light load in the stove I knew would be pretty much gone in the morning, then went out early and opened the door to let it burn out.
 Taking some sections out, cleaning and putting it back together should have been an hour job, tops. Not today. First I noticed my brush and rods were gone, my son has them, so a snarky text message off to him. Then I take the lower chimney sections out and find that I can see daylight through the seams. That ain't safe and I can't put that back in. SO I call the local supplier I use. He's expensive but local, so I use him. I get a guy on the phone that 'don't know nothin" according to him and can't check stock, says he'll call me back. That was 11:30. At 2:30 I call again, get a different guy. He says "yeah, I know what you need but we got nobody in the warehouse, they are all out on installations. Just give me the descriptions without the part numbers and let me see if I can get something to get you going. I'll call you back." They close at 5, so I called again at 4:50 and get the guy that knows, sort of. He says he can't check the warehouse until the morning, everybody is shot for the day, but he "should' have something to get me running, just come down in the morning, but not when they open, wait a little bit. I explain I spent the whole day waiting for a call back and now lost a day, and he wants me to risk losing tomorrow and Sunday too? He promises we can find something. I hope he's right, but I remain a little ticked off. I get it, their warehouse is 2 miles from their store/office. It's a poor setup but it's a local business with more work than they can handle and now after the ice storm they are clobbered with stupid requests. I have a feeling this is going to be one of those "just open your checkbook" type things, but I want to get it fixed (right) and get back to work. The whole thing threw me off enough that I didn't get anything else accomplished today waiting for return calls I didn't want to miss. I hope tomorrow has a better (if expensive) result. Cold weather comes back Sunday/Monday.

On the other hand I got a call out of the blue from a gal that met me when we were loading the Schooner with logs last summer. She wants logs for a workshop in April, probably about 50. She needs to work out details with her group, but it looks like another order. 3rd one so far without looking for any of them. Maybe I did something right?

 I also got word early this morning that they have finally finished the editing on that video they shot last summer. They broke it into a number of videos so that there are separate videos for each stage of the project with an overall summary video heading it off. It is still not released officially to the public, but if they don't answer my question about "when" shortly, I will let you guys get an early view if you have an interest. They write my name as 'Tim' here and there, but whatever. It's not like they said I use a board smoother or something wild like that. :D

 I let the current client know their logs are ready for pickup and somehow they just realized a 1/2 ton pickup is not rated to carry 2,700 pounds. :D :D :D Yeah, well that's why I mentioned it a few days ago. ;D So now they may do it in 2 trips. It's a 2.5 hour drive each way, on a good day with no traffic. I know it well. I told them we can load until the truck is 'loaded' then decide. (I was tempted to tell them "drive fast, take chances, it always works for me". )  Trucks loads are not my problem, they have to decide on that. I don't care either, they can do another run to pick up the rest anytime. I just cut 'em and stack 'em. ;D Learning pains (for them). I routinely deliver 40-50 logs in my half ton without issue, a dozen more wouldn't hurt, right? ;D

Oh, and that stump is now up at about 5 feet from where I cut it and the hole is nearly closed up. Just doing a very slow roll.

 Tomorrow is another day, let's see if I can turn it around.

[firefighter ontheside]

Thats a bummer Tom.  It happens to me all the time at the firehouse.  I call vendors about parts and equpmment we need and they say I"ll call you back in a bit.  I wait all day for a bit and then call back at the end of the day and then am told, "tomorrow".  It's very frustrating, especially when the Chief is waiting on me to get something taken care of.  I arranged for a construction dumpster to be delivered to our house number 3 so they could clean out a building we bought behind the station.  Chief texts me to confirm that it was arranged.  I say yes it is taken care of.  The next day I find out that the dumpster never was delivered.  This week I had re-arranged for the dumpster.  I set an alarm on my phone to remind me to call the company on my day off to make sure they delivered.  They actually did this time.

[Hilltop366]

When I installed my wood boiler I needed a 4 feet of 8" stove pipe and a tee for the clean out so I asked the stove shop if they had any thing that won't rust out in a few years, he replied that he had stainless chimney liner but it is expensive compared to regular stove pipe. Never asked how much either one was just sell me the stainless. 20+ years later and still going strong so I bet it turns out it was cheaper, how many times would I have changed the pipe? I'm guessing 3 or 4 by now.

[WV Sawmiller]

Tom,

 I feel some of your pain. We had problems with smoke from the wood heater yesterday but I wrote it off as high winds. Evidently it was more. I got up and the stove was smoking enough to hang meat down in the basement. And the wood and coals in it from last night had not burned up either.

 I got the long ladder to get up on the roof, the short ladder to get up to the chimney, the brushes which I noticed had gotten rust on the threads and were hard to connect.

 I climbed up and the cap and mesh were completely stopped up so I pulled it off and tossed it down to clean. I ran the brush down and wife cleaned out the ashes, I thought. We have a stainless liner so it cleans out pretty good. I went  down and removed the pipe from the heater to the wall/flue and took it out and cleaned it. I'd put a plate from an unused flue upstairs in the back of the heater which reduced but did not stop the smoke from leaking. I put it all back together and it was worse. I checked again and found a big plug had fallen. I finally got it out and the brush came apart in the flue but fortunately I could reach it from below and it and the section of rod were flexible to pull out. I put it back together and it draws great and working like a charm for now. Had to air out the house good to vent the excess smoke. I took a wire brush on the grinder and cleaned out and WD 40'd the male ends of the brushes so hopefully they will screw together better next time.

 I had called my local hardware owner and he helped with suggestions. He should be a full time consultant as he is pretty near an expert on almost any home maintenance project from electrical, heating, plumbing, carpentry, tile work, masonry, etc. Guys like that are worth their weight in gold. While I was overseas he put together a list of parts for my wife for our plumber to fix a bad foot valve on a Sunday afternoon. He told her bring back what she did not need and then they'd run a price on it an d gave her his home phone number and said it they encountered anything else to call and he'd come open the store and get it for her. Did I mention people like him are worth their weight in gold?

 Good luck on getting your parts and getting the heat back on again.

 Your customer reminds me of the guy who ordered a bunch of 3/4" X 6" X 16' boards to take 90 miles away for a project. I asked and he said he was going to get them in a pick up. I reminded him they would drag and he did at least stop and rent a 12' U-haul trailer on the way down.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well, I get it, I am dealing with a small local outfit that has been hammered by all the second homeowners for a year and a half now and they can't hire the help and you folks all know the song. Let's hum a few bars together... BUT when your warehouse is 2 miles from your shop, perhaps you could find a way to keep a list of what is in your stock back at the shop and, I dunno, TRAIN the guy that is answering the phone to look at the stock list? Just spitballing here. Yes, being overloaded sucks, I get that. But there are things you can do to mitigate it. This happens every time I call them for parts, it winds up being a full day or more to buy a single piece of chimney pipe. Forget about driving down there, it's a wasted trip and there is nobody at the warehouse that can help me either.
 Yeah Bill I used to get that all the time when I was working. It sucks when people can't do their jobs and sloppy work is something I have no tolerance for. I always wanted to know the truth from vendors, even if it was not good news. Tell me what IS going to happen, not what you HOPE will happen. If it is NOT going to happen, tell me that and I will deal with it. I think that is a fire service mentality. Nobody expects it to go perfect or even right, but everyone demands to know what it really happening, anything else can get somebody hurt. When vendors lied to me, I would tell them (whether it was true or not) that I had a boss screaming at me and I was taking a lot of heat because they didn't tell me the truth. Therefore if my boss was yelling at me, in a few minutes their boss would be yelling at them, then I would call their boss and lay it out what the cost was to us, and therefore them. I usually only had to do that once.

 But now I am the boss of me, so I have to be a bit more patient and try to use reason. ;D I can also decide to let it go and just take my business elsewhere, but I'd rather stay local if I can. We need these local businesses badly. When this internet crap blows it's load there will be a time when things change and we will all look around and wonder where these small businesses went. I want to be the guy with some connections with those folks that are left.

 And yes, if I can buy stainless for even part of it, I will. I've had this online for a season and a half now and the creosote oils had rotted out 2 45° elbows, 1 4' section, 1 telescoping section, and 2 12" sections. There has to be a better way. I don't want to add up what that costs, but I have never had this kind of experience with chimney pipe. I have to re-think it all. It stainless is the magic bullet, then I will bite that bullet and buy it. I can say I am not happy at all with Dura-Black pipe. But it doesn't interface with other pipes, so I will need to re-purchase another style pipe and re-do the inside single wall sections completely.

 Some days it sucks to be me. Other days ain't so bad. :D

Howard, my nightmare is to have the rods come apart inside the chimney. It has never happened, but I go to great lengths to make sure it never does. Wood heat takes work. You are very fortunate to have an advisor you can call. Did you know those folks are worth their weight in gold?

 On the truck loading issue, yeah, this is never a surprise. With the last guy that picked up, I went through the same thing, 100 logs, estimated weight around 3,000 pounds. He was gonna come get 'em with his tacoma pickup until I mentioned the weight. He ran the numbers and re-thought then showed up with a 3/4 ton van and the pickup and split the load. When they had loaded the 100 logs I said "OK, now throw in about 6 extras in case you find some you don't like when you are working with them". They took 3 and were happy. They were concerned about the load. But of course then they bought a drilling rig and threw that in too. :D I don't care, they looked fine when they left here and were both smiling. They proudly sent me a photo of the stickered and stacked logs in their barn later that night. I love happy customers, makes me feel good.

[WV Sawmiller]

  Yeah, I lucked out on the brush being accessible and flexible enough to pull it out from below.

   FWIW - We put that Stainless liner in our flue about 25 years ago and it still looks to be in good shape.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah I have a stainless liner in the house stove, one piece from the stove on up to the cap. Very happy with it. The shop is a different issue.

On the customer pickup issue I am beginning to notice something interesting (to me). I had been charging $1.00/mile each way. Customers seem to think a bit more about picking up. I realized after to doing some rough numbers and talking to other locals that I was undercutting myself on that cost. SO with today's order I upped it to $1.25/mile, she thought that was one way, but I explained I needed both the fuel and time to get back home and it was round trip. ;D OK, sounds good she said, and wants me to deliver (about 20 miles each way).

What I have noticed is that more folks, facing and considering that cost, opt to pick up. This works in my favor. First I don't loose all that time, second I get them on my turf, they get a 'free' tour of my shop and other services and it opens the door to other possibilities. I have sold some additional stuff on the whim of the moment, planer chips, drilling rigs, and also drawn interest to some furniture pieces that may bring follow up calls down the road. Maybe I should raise my delivery costs to $3.00/mile? :D

[WV Sawmiller]

  Yeah, I am still undercharging on mileage. I used to charge $1/mile, one way, one time even if I ended up sawing several days so I was eating the extra trips. What I'd find was the logs would not be particularly well organized and at the end of the day I'd have 2-3 logs left and the customer, who was providing the labor for stacking or such, would say "I'm tired. Let's just finish those in the morning." It didn't cost him any more but it did me for the extra trip. Now I charge mileage every trip and I double to mileage for anything over 50 miles. I should charge more but at least the customer knows not being ready or not wanting to dig in at the end of the day is going to cost him more. It's too early to tell but I'm betting it makes a big difference in my bottom line by the end of the year.

[Old Greenhorn]

We al need t think about the productive time we loose in driving, whether it's a delivery or just getting to the job. For me, if I do a 100 mile delivery its a day shot and gone by the time I get home, plus bought lunch on the road. Even if I just do a 20 mile loop it's a half day shot with unloading, etc. I do hae one customer I do not charge for delivery and it is a 40 mile loop, but he buys every month, I have total flexibility  on delivery times/days and usually can tie it into other errands and tasks. He is the only guy that gets a break because he is not only buying logs regularly, but also other stuff. I keep him happy, and predictable business is hard to come by in this game.

[beenthere]

the brushes which I noticed had gotten rust on the threads and were hard to connect.

42 years wood boiler in the lower level (basement) and used Blue Creeper the last 17 years on the threads of the brush rods to keep them usable. Just another plus for Blue Creeper (formerly Rust Reaper).

In those 40 years, on the third set of 6" stove pipe. Used the heavy 24 gauge black pipe.

[Old Greenhorn]

Are you sure that is 24 gauge? That's what I am using, but it's only .023" thick. Do you recall where you got that pipe?

[WV Sawmiller]

  This discussion get me thinking too that I don't think the pipe from my stove to the flue with the 2 - 90*s has ever been replaced in the 30+ years we have been here and it is just regular stove pipe - not stainless like the flue liner. I can see some wear but only at the ends where it does not affect the performance but you guys are getting me worried about whether I should fab up a spare to keep on hand.

[beenthere]

Yes, 24ga, and bought at local farm supply store that sold wood stoves. No seam to snap it together like the 28ga.

22ga shows up on this site
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