Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Coro cutter]

C4.

Philbert

TNT.....will fix it

 

[svk]

Spent the weekend down at my BIL and SIL house at the bottom of Jersey. He has a old Vermont Casting Resolute. He uses it as a back-up except when I visit. I had that ole girl cranking all weekend. My wife and her sister actually wrestled for the "warm chair". Can't say I minded watching those two rumble a bit......... sadly her sis is in crazy good shape and won. She is a personal trainer and even though my wife is in good shape and the most stuborn woman on the face of the planet, her sis out muscled her for the chair.

Pics or it didn't happen

 

[tla100]

Cut a hole in base and about 5-8 pounds of tannerite, get back a safe distance, 100 yards should suffice. Shoot with high power rifle. Tricky part is cutting hole. How big is tree?

 

[zogger]

C4.

Or one of these:
http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/remote-control-tree-removal.272986/

Philbert

That there's beyond amazing!

 

[mainewoods]

So is the price! I can think of a lot of things I would rather spend a quarter of a million$$ on.

 

[zogger]

So is the price! I can think of a lot of things I would rather spend a quarter of a million$$ on.

Well, ya, that's pretty darn expensive, but you look around at say another mom and pop business, say a today's commercial full time farm, where it is not unusual to have a lot more than that tied up in equipment and buildings, plus ongoing operating expense, just to make middle to upper middle class pay at the end of the year.

Heck, the farm here, used the be the largest but now the second largest broiler farm around here, million$ in buildings and equipment. Asked the boss once how much he really nets after all expenses and it isn't much different from joe commuter with a little car going to a (decent, say high tech college grad level) office job.

 

[svk]

Well, ya, that's pretty darn expensive, but you look around at say another mom and pop business, say a today's commercial full time farm, where it is not unusual to have a lot more than that tied up in equipment and buildings, plus ongoing operating expense, just to make middle to upper middle class pay at the end of the year.

Heck, the farm here, used the be the largest but now the second largest broiler farm around here, million$ in buildings and equipment. Asked the boss once how much he really nets after all expenses and it isn't much different from joe commuter with a little car going to a (decent, say high tech college grad level) office job.

You are absolutely correct, there's really not much money in farming, while you are farming. When they sell the farm and equipment, however, if they played their cards right they can buy a small island somewhere warm.

Met a farmer from Illinois one time. He didn't have much in the bank but his farm was paid off and the land alone was worth about 5 million.

 

[svk]

Well we saw -8 in Albany overnight which is akin to about -45 in Minnesota in frequency and psychological effect on the locals. I may need to wear a jacket when I cut later this morning LOL.

 

[MustangMike]

Stay warm out there! Was sub 0 here & breezy this morning. Dogs ran out and did their business and ran right back in again!

 

[dancan]

http://www.kijiji.ca/v-buy-sell-oth...ts/1051703718?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

Hard to scrounge for pellets .

 

[MustangMike]

That is what I need is a pellet maker. It would likely consume more energy to make the pellets than the pellets generate, but the gov would likely give me tax credits because the pellets burn cleaner! I have numerous clients with pellet stoves, and they qualify for the energy tax credit!

 

[Marshy]

I think it would be easier going with one of those smart Froling boilers vs pellet (assuming you already have an existing hydronic system). NY offers some good tax credits for cord wood boilers but part of that is you have to have a certified water storage tank and that get expensive. An indoor boiler that has a water jacket of approximately 35 gallons would require a 600 gal thermal storage tank.


Anyways, thought I'd share some "scrounging" pictures using my new sled. I think anytime there is significant labor involved it can be considered scrounging. Even though this wood was cut split stacked last year I'm considering this scrounging because the snow is 3-4 feet deep and was a lot of work to get it up to the house!

That tall stack is slightly over 6 feet with no snow, so you can only see the top half. It was 10 feet long and a mix of elm and maple. I moved about 80% of it up to the house just in time for Polar Vortex.

Here's a pic of my pole barn and some of my property.

My house from the wood pile...

And the towns snowblower moving the banks back.

 

[dancan]

Hey Mike !
http://www.kijiji.ca/v-business-ind...ll/1036832509?enableSearchNavigationFlag=true

 

[Ambull01]

Barber chair?

SOB, I forgot to take a pic of the most important tree! Damn it lol. I guess it looks sort of like a barber chair. Mike may be right though, looks like wind damage. I don't know how the lower part splintered like that though. Maybe the top part somehow spun a bit to cause the splintering? Anyway, the log only looks like it's attached to trunk by some fibers. I was cutting from the top of the tree back towards the trunk to get some weight off. I may try to pull it down with a winch once I cut enough weight off. Don't think I will chance cutting it from the splintered trunk.

Here's a few pics of my oak scrounge that will keep me busy for a while.

 

[Ambull01]

Also picked up a potential poor man's scrounging tool. It was only $10 so I figured what the hell. Lifting the Makita to limb tiny branches wore me out quick. Hopefully this weird looking tool will suffice instead. B&C oil was only $7 a gal so I picked up 3 of them.

 

[dancan]

Ambull , it looks so cold where you're scrounging .... LOL
I wish that's what my scrounging area looked like
Nice sled Marshy

 

[MustangMike]

Thanks for the info, but I was just kidding about making pellets!

 

[Ambull01]

Ambull , it looks so cold where you're scrounging .... LOL
I wish that's what my scrounging area looked like
Nice sled Marshy

I know, this is probably fall weather to you. For me it's freaking cold. It's about 9 degrees outside right now, not sure what it is with wind chill. This whole week will be lower than usual. The day I took the pics the temps were about lower 20's to upper teens. I think the wind chill put it 7 deg colder. Anyway, I was nice and toasty once I started hauling that Makita around. I love that saw, so smooth.

 

[Philbert]

Also picked up a potential poor man's scrounging tool.

I have used an axe to limb/clean/dress up smaller stuff (a Fiskars axe - don't tell anybody!). Often thought a machete or brush axe would work well to remove twigs up to an inch (green stuff) or so.
I also use an anvil style pruner (long handle, compound leverage) to remove slightly larger limbs.

These work especially well on smaller stuff with lots of twigs/limbs (I will burn stuff larger than 1-1/2 inches diameter in my wood stove). It's nice to have some tools that don't make noise all the time.

Philbert

 

[Ambull01]

I have used an axe to limb/clean/dress up smaller stuff (a Fiskars axe - don't tell anybody!). Often thought a machete or brush axe would work well to remove twigs up to an inch (green stuff) or so.
I also use an anvil style pruner (long handle, compound leverage) to remove slightly larger limbs.

These work especially well on smaller stuff with lots of twigs/limbs (I will burn stuff larger than 1-1/2 inches diameter in my wood stove). It's nice to have some tools that don't make noise all the time.

Philbert

View attachment 404135 View attachment 404136

I've used the Fiskars to chop stuff too, it wasn't that great thought. Head is too thick/wide I guess. Looks like someone piled all the brush right on top of the logs I need to cut so I'll be cutting a lot of really small stuff. I was about to buy a machete but it felt so light and they wanted $30 for it. This tool I bought has some heft to it and most of the weight is in the head, should be easy to swing.

What's that tool on the left? Looks interesting. Now I know what you mean about quiet tools. Running a chainsaw is fun and all but it is nice to hear yourself think at times. Scrounging is almost mediation for me, it's a lot easier to free your mind in the absence of 2 cycle noise pollution.