Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Cowboy254]

That is very interesting i never heard of that being used as fodder but when i cut the tree it had a large canopy that took most of a day to shred

I think @Conquistador3 is correct. The sap and foliage is fairly sweet and palatable for stock.

 

[Conquistador3]

That is very interesting i never heard of that being used as fodder but when i cut the tree it had a large canopy that took most of a day to shred

I think the reason Irish farmers became so interested in a non-native tree that could also supply fodder was due to Dutch Elm Disease, which killed off anything from two thirds to three quarters of the European elm population in the XX century. Elm was used as a source of fodder for centuries throughout Europe, especially in times of drought but as said has mostly disappeared these days.
Not to derail the thread again, but there has been a lot of interest in fodder from trees over the past couple of decades.
In the late 80's the UN promoted River tamarind as a "miracle tree" to produce fodder and firewood/charcoal around the world. It sounded like a great idea until a species of psyllid (Heteropsylla cubana) started killing off millions of trees and where the bug didn't arrive the tree quickly became highly invasive. Not the brightest idea...
I know these days there's a lot of interest in using Saltbush (Atriplex sp) as fodder because of its drought resistance, bio-engineering capabilities (read: soil erosion control) and high protein content but due to the experience with River tamarind people seem far more cautious...

 

[nighthunter]

Now you know why I jump on a deal if a tractor or logging winch pops up !
5 tractors , 5 trailers and 3 logging winches later I'm still on the watchout for the deals lol
You can never have too many scrounging tools

dancan with all that machinery you still use your minivan

 

[James Miller]

i have a 2 wheel drive David brown 885 but its in the sick bay receiving some tlc to the injecter pump, I'll just about pass out when ill receive that bill

My FIL has had the Kabota for 17 years only thing iv seen him do in the 12 years since I met my wife is change oil and fuel filters it just keeps chugging along. Hope you get your tractor back soon.

 

[Logger nate]

Just seeing you swing the axe and the upside-down saw, guess you get accustom to being abidextrious in areas you are well aquatinted with.
I thought it ran strong when I ran it. I'm wanting to give the 562 a try, I need to invite Brad over for a mini gtg.

Ya I guess I just got used to swinging an axe either way, I was trying to be a little gental with the wedging the top was pretty wobbly, should have had my hard hat on. As for power head down, I don’t really like to back bar unless I have to. I like the 372 and it runs well just seems like the benifits of a ported saw are more noticeable at higher elevation and the auto tune on the 562 is also nice with the changing conditions. Sure fun to try different saws.

 

[nomad_archer]

With Deer too, even though deer meat is very lean, the fat ruins it, as does the bone marrow (so I just butcher it with a knife).

I'll also give you guys a secret to removing the gameness from any venison steak. Marinate it (24 hours) in a concoction that includes sliced ginger root.

Interesting. I trim all the big chunks of fat before I grind and call it a day. Those big chunks of fat make it gamey. I grind everything but the backstraps and tenderloins.

 

[coryj]

Definitely have to trim all the fat, silver skin, and connective tissue. It's not like pork fat or beef fat, it will ruin the flavor of the meat.

Here is my 4 year old putting in some work. He's a fan of Steven Rinella's show Meat Eater and wants to help.

 

[MustangMike]

Interesting. I trim all the big chunks of fat before I grind and call it a day. Those big chunks of fat make it gamey. I grind everything but the backstraps and tenderloins.

I de-bone the hind quarter and separate the muscle groups and make what ever I can into steaks. The rest gets ground. With the shoulder, when I fillet that bone out, I also get a few steaks. They are extremely good & tender, worth the work. (May be even more tender than Back Strap!).

The burgers are good, but the steaks are great. Also, very healthy for you, one of the leanest meats out there.

I'm also very anal about removing all fat and as much gristle as I can before grinding. Ground gristle will still be gristle! It takes a while, but results in a quality product.

I cut the Back Strap into 4" lengths and grill it like Fillet Minot! It comes out great! Never over cook venison steaks, they are best rare. Lean meat gets tough fast if over cooked.

We also add a lot of diced onion, some honey, olive oil and eggs to the ground venison to help keep it moist when cooked and to help it stick together. Then, 60% venison and 40% (85% lean) ground beef. Came out VG. Had 9 lbs of venison and 7 lbs of chop meat and made 37 large burgers.

 

[nomad_archer]

I de-bone the hind quarter and separate the muscle groups and make what ever I can into steaks. The rest gets ground. With the shoulder, when I fillet that bone out, I also get a few steaks. They are extremely good & tender, worth the work. (May be even more tender than Back Strap!).

The burgers are good, but the steaks are great. Also, very healthy for you, one of the leanest meats out there.

I'm also very anal about removing all fat and as much gristle as I can before grinding. Ground gristle will still be gristle! It takes a while, but results in a quality product.

I cut the Back Strap into 4" lengths and grill it like Fillet Minot! It comes out great! Never over cook venison steaks, they are best rare. Lean meat gets tough fast if over cooked.

We also add a lot of diced onion, some honey, olive oil and eggs to the ground venison to help keep it moist when cooked and to help it stick together. Then, 60% venison and 40% (85% lean) ground beef. Came out VG. Had 9 lbs of venison and 7 lbs of chop meat and made 37 large burgers.

Mike I am still picky just not as much as I used to be with trimming. I get the gristle out but it used to take me 8 hours to trim before grinding. I now take less than 4. I dont get everything but I do get most of it. My wife and kids like the ground meat over everything else so everything gets ground. I do add bacon or beef fat to the meat when I grind it. It helps tremendously with keeping the meat together and moist when cooking it. I keep the backstraps and tender loins for myself. I cut backstrap sections of 8-10" and butterfly them and grill. I used to do steaks and roasts but I was the only one then ate them...

A little in process shot.

 

[chipper1]

Ya I guess I just got used to swinging an axe either way, I was trying to be a little gental with the wedging the top was pretty wobbly, should have had my hard hat on. As for power head down, I don’t really like to back bar unless I have to. I like the 372 and it runs well just seems like the benifits of a ported saw are more noticeable at higher elevation and the auto tune on the 562 is also nice with the changing conditions. Sure fun to try different saws.

I'm pretty ambidextrous myself, to the point folks often ask if I'm a lefty. I like to be able to be versatile so I practice with both hands when learning something new. That being said I still don't use a wrap handle often, but there are many occasions I will switch hands(yes to any safety police I know lol). I wouldn't have either, just would have tried to finish it off from the other side .
Yes it's nice not having to change the tune often. I will set them pretty fat anyway and then I don't worry about it much, but changing elevations and temps can make it a necessity I would guess.
I'm going to have to try running a few saws myself, be good to get an idea of them all .

 

[Logger nate]

I'm pretty ambidextrous myself, to the point folks often ask if I'm a lefty. I like to be able to be versatile so I practice with both hands when learning something new. That being said I still don't use a wrap handle often, but there are many occasions I will switch hands(yes to any safety police I know lol). I wouldn't have either, just would have tried to finish it off from the other side .
Yes it's nice not having to change the tune often. I will set them pretty fat anyway and then I don't worry about it much, but changing elevations and temps can make it a necessity I would guess.
I'm going to have to try running a few saws myself, be good to get an idea of them all .

Hard to tell in vid but tree had a little lean to the left and I learned a long time ago (the hard way) to finish on opposite side of any lean. I have a wrap handle for the 372 (that I much prefer) but haven’t installed yet because easier to ship to porter with half wrap.
Speaking of safety police........that was close! My buddy was winching this red fir off the hill and it started sliding, thankfully it turned a little going over the bank and missed the pickup, stay safe out there fellow scroungers.

 

[nighthunter]

Moments like that really make the hair on the back of your neck stand up

 

[MustangMike]

that was close! My buddy was winching this red fir off the hill and it started sliding

That is why I like my pulleys, I don't have to be in the line of fire!

 

[Logger nate]

Yes sir it does! He was going to jump out then it started going to drivers side, glad he didn’t.

 

[MustangMike]

My brother is a lefty, so I learned to use both hands. I can split wood both ways, and often do to reduce fatigue. It also helps when square filing, and I can throw a Frisbee with either hand, but not good with a ball lefty, and hammering & sawing lefty are just "moderate".

 

[Logger nate]

That is why I like my pulleys, I don't have to be in the line of fire!

Yes that is much better, not much to hang a pulley on but could have been done differant for sure.

 

[MustangMike]

Even a large round getting away from you on an incline can be a real "wake me up"!!!

 

[nighthunter]

Even a large round getting away from you on an incline can be a real "wake me up"!!!

especially when they decide to bounce off your
shins (ouch)

 

[svk]

Speaking of venison, yesterday I ground 15 lbs of scrap/trimmings into burger with a hand grinder. What a freaking chore! I cut off all the fat and pitched any bloodshot meat I came across.
If faced with hand grinding or starvation in the future I'll take the latter lol. I have an Oster kitchen master that has a grinder but I didn't take it south with me. That hand grinder will never be used again unless I'm making fish patties.

 

[nomad_archer]

Speaking of venison, yesterday I ground 15 lbs of scrap/trimmings into burger with a hand grinder. What a freaking chore! I cut off all the fat and pitched any bloodshot meat I came across.
If faced with hand grinding or starvation in the future I'll take the latter lol. I have an Oster kitchen master that has a grinder but I didn't take it south with me. That hand grinder will never be used again unless I'm making fish patties.

Hand grinding will make you appreciate that electric grinder no matter how big or small it is.