# Rain and snow !



## Gologit (Nov 3, 2008)

It's raining hard here, finally, and the snow level is supposed to come down to 5000 feet tonight.   

My BIL and I have a falling job that was supposed to start in January but if we get enough snow on the ground maybe we can get started sooner. We can't skid unless there's at least 18" of snow...ecologically fragile terrain, erosion issues, all that stuff.

But man, is it good to finally see some rain and snow! All of our local resevoirs are at minimum capacity and maybe now we won't have to worry about a drought next year.


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## forestryworks (Nov 3, 2008)

good to hear

we won't see snow for another month or two... if it even snows at all

post some pics of the snow if you get the chance
but mostly, we want pics of the falling job if it goes through


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## Dok (Nov 3, 2008)

My weekend was rained out, stayed in the garage all weekend puttering around. Didn't mind it a bit! We got 5"+ and more coming tonight and the land is still soaking it up. Not much runoff at all. Not much snow in the mountains until tonight, hope more is coming. 

Good luck on the 18" of snowpack, hopefully we will have a good winter.
Dok


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## Gologit (Nov 3, 2008)

Dok said:


> My weekend was rained out, stayed in the garage all weekend puttering around. Didn't mind it a bit! We got 5"+ and more coming tonight and the land is still soaking it up. Not much runoff at all. Not much snow in the mountains until tonight, hope more is coming.
> 
> Good luck on the 18" of snowpack, hopefully we will have a good winter.
> Dok



I hope you're right, we need all the wet stuff we can get . Lake Oroville and Bullards Bar are lower than I've seen them in a long time.


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## Dok (Nov 3, 2008)

Same with Jenkinson (Sly Park Lake), you don't realize how tall those dams are until the water is this low.
Dok


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## Jacob J. (Nov 3, 2008)

Dok said:


> Same with Jenkinson (Sly Park Lake), you don't realize how tall those dams are until the water is this low.
> Dok



Did you guys not get a whole lot of snow and rain last winter? We got more snow here (coastal Oregon) last winter than we did in the previous seven winters.


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## mile9socounty (Nov 3, 2008)

Jacob J. said:


> Did you guys not get a whole lot of snow and rain last winter? We got more snow here (coastal Oregon) last winter than we did in the previous seven winters.



Boy howdy did we get a lot of snow last winter. Made tree planting really difficult and drawn out. Also shut down our thinning projects. Was sure fun to go out and play in though.


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## slowp (Nov 3, 2008)

The fog cleared long enough to show white up on the peaks around here. It is supposed to drop, and they mentioned heavy rain and wind later in the week. In other words, it is November. I better get Twinkle sharpened up!


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## forestryworks (Nov 3, 2008)

anyone else agree that november came awful fast this year?


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## Gologit (Nov 3, 2008)

forestryworks said:


> anyone else agree that november came awful fast this year?



Yup...one day we were having a beautiful indian summer...the next day winter slammed in.


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## A. Stanton (Nov 3, 2008)

Go, invest in some rain barrels and you can put that rain water to good use. That's if it doesn't get below 32.


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## Cedarkerf (Nov 3, 2008)

Yesterday morning was 60 degrees at 4 am today 40 at same time. 6-10" predicted above 2500 ft tonight.


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## Gologit (Nov 3, 2008)

Jacob J. said:


> Did you guys not get a whole lot of snow and rain last winter? We got more snow here (coastal Oregon) last winter than we did in the previous seven winters.



No, winter didn't amount to much last year....at least in the part of the Sierras I spend the most time in. Unless we get a real good snowpack there are likely to be water cutbacks next summer.


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## slowp (Nov 4, 2008)

Summer was short. I was actually stuck in the snow in July. But digging out when it is 70 degrees is much more pleasant than when it is 20 degrees. The flood announcement has changed to probably not.


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## Gologit (Nov 4, 2008)

slowp said:


> Summer was short. I was actually stuck in the snow in July. But digging out when it is 70 degrees is much more pleasant than when it is 20 degrees. The flood announcement has changed to probably not.



Might still be a good idea to make an outboard motor out of your weed-whacker, though.


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## Bushler (Nov 4, 2008)

We're getting hammered. Thunderstorm as I type. Rain predicted through the forecast period.

Oct. went out like a lamb, and Nov. came in like a lion.


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## ak4195 (Nov 4, 2008)

*working on the tan....*

Much like last winter here,brilliant sunny most days,course it rarely gets above 25 degs during the day.Just enough snow here in the valley to insulate the ground some from deep frost.
Jet stream has swung way south which is why the PNW gets the storms that could have buried us in snow.

ak


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## mile9socounty (Nov 4, 2008)

Well from what our thinning crew said. There's about a foot of snow up by Whiskey Camp. Couldn't get to the job site in the vans.


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## slowp (Nov 4, 2008)

When I left the sale where the sun only shines for 10 minutes on a clear day, the temp was dropping and the snow getting smaller and sticking. It was a fine and miserable day. Wind, rain, snow, sun etc.


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## slowp (Nov 6, 2008)

The TV said we have a flood watch for our county. It is dark, but not much rain and the grapple cats were not rutting things yet. I checked them this morning.


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## Cedarkerf (Nov 6, 2008)

We must be gettin all the rain from Lacey north. Went to Cabelas pouring down could see bright area SE must of been in your area.


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## slowp (Nov 6, 2008)

I'm ready.


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## RPM (Nov 7, 2008)

*Winter is here too!*

The first real snow of the year has shown up here as well...will probably melt back this weekend as freezing levels go up and it rains. Then it will freeze hard on Monday.....first logging truck in Monday morning won't chain up and will buff the the road all shiney like as he struggles up to the landing just to say he made without chains ---" ha, ha boys.....made her up barefoot....I mighta buffed her up a little for ya ....guess I shouda chained up".

Took the skidoos yesterday - just in case. Company manager likes Chevs....so basically 8" of snow and you are dragging bottom with the diff and plowing with that front bumper and all the stupid plastic that hangs down off it.

One positive......ski season is pretty much here.


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## mile9socounty (Nov 7, 2008)

slowp said:


> I'm ready.



Slowp, I would rep you if I could. I'm digging the pink duct tape. Rock on!!!


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## hammerlogging (Nov 7, 2008)

RPM, thats a very fine operation you showed in those pics. One day should I be so fortunate. Now how am I gonna pull this off?


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## slowp (Nov 8, 2008)

We've all been wondering about the plowing capabilities of the big Chevy Bumper. I've been doing road blading with the undercarriage a little.  
I wore the newly waxed tin pants yesterday and roasted. We warmed up. The snow melted. We didn't get the heavy rain either. Just a warming.


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## Burvol (Nov 8, 2008)

Been cutting in a constant down pour for the last week and a half. Some days have been so bad I can hardly look up. Yesterday the rain stopped and I was in a T-shirt all day....SO NICE. I got knocked out by a green limb damn near the size of a tennis ball and 12 feet long two days ago. Look out! Talk about a wake up call. I was off the stump 15-20 feet and I saw the limb shower out in front of me, but apparently one had came back over my head, and came down right on top of me. I was under a big, safe tree as well. Sometimes stuff happens. But, I will take this as a blessing in disguise, I have always cut safely, but we can always improve. I woke up with my head down hill, hat dented to crap and knocked off my head with a bloody nose. I was slow for the next day and runnin' like hell off that stump.


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## slowp (Nov 8, 2008)

Burvol said:


> Been cutting in a constant down pour for the last week and a half. Some days have been so bad I can hardly look up. Yesterday the rain stopped and I was in a T-shirt all day....SO NICE. I got knocked out by a green limb damn near the size of a tennis ball and 12 feet long two days ago. Look out! Talk about a wake up call. I was off the stump 15-20 feet and I saw the limb shower out in front of me, but apparently one had came back over my head, and came down right on top of me. I was under a big, safe tree as well. Sometimes stuff happens. But, I will take this as a blessing in disguise, I have always cut safely, but we can always improve. I woke up with my head down hill, hat dented to crap and knocked off my head with a bloody nose. I was slow for the next day and runnin' like hell off that stump.



Are you OK? Concussions take a while to get over properly. My mom had problems for a while afterwards. If so, sounds like you are needed on the Busted Up Loggers thread. 

Seriously, lately I've heard of more injuries and a death. I wonder if it is the pressure of the low prices, and need to cut corners? Scary times.


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## Burvol (Nov 8, 2008)

slowp said:


> Are you OK? Concussions take a while to get over properly. My mom had problems for a while afterwards. If so, sounds like you are needed on the Busted Up Loggers thread.
> 
> Seriously, lately I've heard of more injuries and a death. I wonder if it is the pressure of the low prices, and need to cut corners? Scary times.



No, never, ever cut corners!!! (Unless your talking about the Dutchman or Suicide Swing) It was just one of those things. Cutting timber can be a dangerous job, like every damn day. I am a firm believer in cutting safely. Yes, there are a lot of times that cutters have to do things that are not fun, but they have to be done. Sometimes there are situations that are no one but nature's fault. Proceed with caution and one foot out the door. I just found out that a chaser on the west side I knew got killed last year. I'm cutting some nice export timber that is actually worth money at the moment, so every log that is made pretty is more money. The opposite of what the other guys could be doing. You still have to cut and produce wood, but it makes the logger more money when you really take care of the wood instead of just slamming it. We call it log beautification. No pig ears, but a tiny collar with limbs sawed flush without gowing into the bark, flush & square butts, no pull, double sweep, hook, rot, windshake, snowbreak, spike knots, and a few other defects.


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## Bushler (Nov 9, 2008)

Burvol, stay safe my friend. Those limbs come out of nowhere! God's arrows.

Got your message, will try to remember to call back. Cutting up a 4 pt. and working around the shop.

Elk season starts soon.


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## Tzed250 (Nov 9, 2008)

Burvol said:


> No, never, ever cut corners!!! (Unless your talking about the Dutchman or Suicide Swing) It was just one of those things. Cutting timber can be a dangerous job, like every damn day. I am a firm believer in cutting safely. Yes, there are a lot of times that cutters have to do things that are not fun, but they have to be done. Sometimes there are situations that are no one but nature's fault. Proceed with caution and one foot out the door. I just found out that a chaser on the west side I knew got killed last year. I'm cutting some nice export timber that is actually worth money at the moment, so every log that is made pretty is more money. The opposite of what the other guys could be doing. You still have to cut and produce wood, but it makes the logger more money when you really take care of the wood instead of just slamming it. We call it log beautification. No pig ears, but a tiny collar with limbs sawed flush without gowing into the bark, flush & square butts, no pull, double sweep, hook, rot, windshake, snowbreak, spike knots, and a few other defects.




Glad to hear you are ok...


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## forestryworks (Nov 9, 2008)

Tzed250 said:


> Glad to hear you are ok...



+1


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## Jacob J. (Nov 10, 2008)

Burvol said:


> Been cutting in a constant down pour for the last week and a half. Some days have been so bad I can hardly look up. Yesterday the rain stopped and I was in a T-shirt all day....SO NICE. I got knocked out by a green limb damn near the size of a tennis ball and 12 feet long two days ago. Look out! Talk about a wake up call. I was off the stump 15-20 feet and I saw the limb shower out in front of me, but apparently one had came back over my head, and came down right on top of me. I was under a big, safe tree as well. Sometimes stuff happens. But, I will take this as a blessing in disguise, I have always cut safely, but we can always improve. I woke up with my head down hill, hat dented to crap and knocked off my head with a bloody nose. I was slow for the next day and runnin' like hell off that stump.



I'm glad to hear you only got a bloody nose, limb wash can be a real crap shoot.


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## Jacob J. (Nov 10, 2008)

mile9socounty said:


> Well from what our thinning crew said. There's about a foot of snow up by Whiskey Camp. Couldn't get to the job site in the vans.



I didn't know there snow that low yet, I tried to get up on top of Thunder Mtn. the other day to pick up some Madrone pumpkins left over from BLM thinning but there was already 10" of snow in the road.


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## slowp (Nov 11, 2008)

I'm winding down after going to see the blockbuster movie, Beverly Hills Chihuahau. Or however you spell the rat dog's name. I am seeing that the westside of the state is on a Flood Watch for tomorrow night and Wednesday. Better get the weedwhacker back at this place. Elk season is over so they should not be a problem.


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## Burvol (Nov 11, 2008)

I Know Slowp, we are running trucks up stuff that I have never seen trucks do. After this flood deal, I hope we're still runnin'. Everyone is about done now, that last batch really tore things up. We're still finding a way to send trucks, it's crazy.


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## slowp (Nov 11, 2008)

Yesterday morning, I bladed the road with the new Chevy undercarriage. Because of that, the faller was able to make it up the first attempt with his Ford. It had taken him two attempts earlier. Then, in the afternoon, after more trucks had gone on it, I couldn't make it up the road. Got out and walked. The logger suggested that I needed to "Use that Vortec." So, I better read up and learn how to Vortec.


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## forestryworks (Nov 11, 2008)

slowp said:


> Yesterday morning, I bladed the road with the new Chevy undercarriage. Because of that, the faller was able to make it up the first attempt with his Ford. It had taken him two attempts earlier. Then, in the afternoon, after more trucks had gone on it, I couldn't make it up the road. Got out and walked. The logger suggested that I needed to "Use that Vortec." So, I better read up and learn how to Vortec.



looks like i better get 4 wheel drive before i move west


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## mile9socounty (Nov 11, 2008)

Jacob J. said:


> I didn't know there snow that low yet, I tried to get up on top of Thunder Mtn. the other day to pick up some Madrone pumpkins left over from BLM thinning but there was already 10" of snow in the road.



I don't believe that Whiskey Camp is actually that low. If I remember right, it's up there about the 3000ft mark. But I could be wrong.


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## slowp (Nov 11, 2008)

forestryworks said:


> looks like i better get 4 wheel drive before i move west


 
One of the road building guys has an old two wheel drive. He pulls it up to his work with the D-7 when it won't make it. He puts chains on it and gets around pretty good by keeping the RPMs up.


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## slowp (Nov 12, 2008)

I'm charging up the cell phone, and trying to think of a good book to carry. We're now in a flood warning. So, it is carry extra provisions and see if I can get any marking paint to even stick to a tree today.


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## Burvol (Nov 12, 2008)

I'm not even sure why I'm showing up today, suppossed to blow 50 mph to even 70!!!! But....it's payday. I'll always show up for that.


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## slowp (Nov 12, 2008)

Yeah, sounds like we're going to be cut off from the rest of the world again. I am carrying trailmix, soup, fire starter and a tooth brush in case I do go out. Better throw in some coffee too. I dread the thought of being stuck out in the woods with caffeine and nicotine deprived loggers. So I'll caffeine everybody but won't provide the chew! I have an unopened box of MREs in the truck too. I'll pack up a care package for my dog, in case I don't get back tonight. Floods are not fun.


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## Bushler (Nov 12, 2008)

Looks like 'drying out' weather on the horizon. If we make it throgh the next couple of days. Our first elk season starts Sat., and the forecast looks good for that.


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## RPM (Nov 12, 2008)

slowp said:


> We've all been wondering about the plowing capabilities of the big Chevy Bumper. I've been doing road blading with the undercarriage a little.
> I wore the newly waxed tin pants yesterday and roasted. We warmed up. The snow melted. We didn't get the heavy rain either. Just a warming.



That big Chev bumper plows like a dead mule....especially with the bottom dragging and hitting everything in the road. The skid plate and frame look like they been beat with a hoe bucket. Using the Vortec will get you out of trouble sometimes but when it comes to snow (esp. when it starts to warm up) it just seems to get you high centered faster:censored: 

I prefer a Ford or Dodge over a Chev any day for the bush!


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## slowp (Nov 12, 2008)

A wet wet wet day. Still raining hard. The skidder loggers all were good and shut themselves down. This was the main problem. 






The road was "fixed" here last summer. They just dumped rock in and didn't put a culvert in. Since that would require NEPA work, I told the guys to just leave it, if it washed out, we'd dump more rock in. 

We spent the day on flood patrol--driving roads and making sure the pipes were not clogged. Then they called us in about 1:30 because the river here was coming up. I don't think it will be anything near what happened in 2006.
There wasn't as much snow to melt this time. I believe our river should crest early in the morning. 

The log jam that was threatening to flood a housing development split so water could go through. Debris was coming down from up above and they have equipment on call if it jams against the bridges on highway 12. We're not getting any wind here, but I heard it was not raining but extremely windy south of here. Power's on, fires going, things are ok. No rowdy elk hunters to deal with.


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## Cedarkerf (Nov 12, 2008)

Hard as its been raining all day glad to see ya home safe and sound. Rivers and creeks are really goin right now.


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## slowp (Nov 13, 2008)

SOUNDS like the Cowlitz went over the highway. Traffic is going by my house, in fact it woke me up. I live on what becomes a detour, except last time we were an island. I don't know whether we are islandic or not yet. Getting to the woods will be a problem. They'll be able to work because they live on the other side. I can only envision anarchy in the woods!!!


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## Cedarkerf (Nov 13, 2008)

They closed Cayuse yesterday guessing because of Cowlitz


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## Cedarkerf (Nov 13, 2008)

Went to snoqualmie falls this morning pretty good water flow compared to earlier this year. 270 feet tall.


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## Cedarkerf (Nov 13, 2008)

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## slowp (Nov 13, 2008)

The Cowlitz is going down, I was able to drive the Subaru across the downtown bridge, though I did go through some water. The highway is still going right by my house. I made it to the woods just fine and stopped the anarchy. Later I noticed a tree leaning over the road, there was one to buck out of the road, but I didn't want to work under the leaner. So I called for assistance and was asked, "How did you get there?" I had to explain the locally known way to get to the woods. I led a hunter out that way. It just added a half hour or 45 minutes to the commute.


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## RandyMac (Nov 14, 2008)

Today we had a day borrowed from summer, well someone elses summer. Warm sunny, very nice, it had rained every day since Oct 29th.


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## Zodiac45 (Nov 16, 2008)

Nothing but rain here too in Northeast. I've measured 5" in the last 3 days and it's howling this morning and raining sideways. Warmer than normal though I have too say in high 50s. This is like our springtime normally is. Mud season 
PS: Nice pix Cedarkerf!


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## 2dogs (Nov 17, 2008)

It has been 85o the last few days. That is a record high. Bring me some cooler weather and lower humidity please.


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## Gologit (Nov 17, 2008)

2dogs said:


> It has been 85o the last few days. That is a record high. Bring me some cooler weather and lower humidity please.



If they send you too much I'll take some over here. What happened to winter? It looked really promising for a while.

We had water trucks running in the woods today...very unusual for November.


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## slowp (Nov 17, 2008)

I believe winter shall return tonight. I pushed hard today to get things done in the summery weather today and the knees are sore along with other parts of the legs. Said two bad words in front of the same faller. There now seems to be The Curse Of The Fallers as there are no hooktenders around. Last week, the little voice told me to stop, and I did in time to see a tree hit where I had planned to go. Today, we were walking out to confer with the other fallers, and I heard from behind, Look OUT, so I looked up, saw nothing then heard "log rolling," and I scampered behind a tree. He had knocked a log loose. That caused a four letter word to spew out, as did the tripping and hitting my knee on something quite hard. So, I have a session with the hot tub planned. Tomorrow we're supposed to be back to a drizzle with rain later. Back to the tin pants and rubber calks.  I checked the skid trail that had a little creek running down it last week, and the creek was no more. I had visions of it showing on the cover of some enviro magazine. OK, whining over, time for cheese.


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## ak4195 (Nov 17, 2008)

7 degrees right now,but hey we were up to a balmy 20 and blazing sun,humidity definitely not a problem here.Small clearing project tomorrow,with temps like this,most of the birch trees will be frozen which can make for brittle hinge wood action,but the terrain is very easy to work,plus theres an excavator and a D4 handy.
If I move fast enough,I should be able to lay claim to enough wood for most of a winter and maybe some dozer work.Course with temps like this,moving will not be a problem.

ak4195


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## Gologit (Nov 18, 2008)

slowp said:


> I believe winter shall return tonight. I pushed hard today to get things done in the summery weather today and the knees are sore along with other parts of the legs. Said two bad words in front of the same faller. There now seems to be The Curse Of The Fallers as there are no hooktenders around. Last week, the little voice told me to stop, and I did in time to see a tree hit where I had planned to go. Today, we were walking out to confer with the other fallers, and I heard from behind, Look OUT, so I looked up, saw nothing then heard "log rolling," and I scampered behind a tree. He had knocked a log loose. That caused a four letter word to spew out, as did the tripping and hitting my knee on something quite hard. So, I have a session with the hot tub planned. Tomorrow we're supposed to be back to a drizzle with rain later. Back to the tin pants and rubber calks.  I checked the skid trail that had a little creek running down it last week, and the creek was no more. I had visions of it showing on the cover of some enviro magazine. OK, whining over, time for cheese.




LOL...You weren't whining you were being, uh, descriptive. Yeah, that's it...descriptive. Good word, I do it a lot. And truck drivers don't gossip, either. Everybody knows that.

Maybe you should start Ibuprofen by the case.

I'm back to running loader for awhile...gotta go.


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## hammerlogging (Nov 18, 2008)

Inch of snow last night accumulated, pretty good and pretty early for SW VA


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## Bushler (Nov 18, 2008)

We've had another shot of Indian summer, perfect weather for elk hunting, but I haven't even seen a fresh track. Todays the last day of the first season, so its back to work.

Scarifying. I love that word. Makes GreenPeople cringe.


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## slowp (Nov 18, 2008)

It was great to be tin pantsless yesterday. I felt like I'd lost 50 pounds!


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