Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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Boy do I love free stuff! Since mother's day gardening spree we've been discussing how to protect our green labors from the digging coonhound. I came across some free snow fence on marketplace. On the way home from picking it up I saw this ladder at the roadside with a free sign on it. I know this belongs in the scrounging scrap iron thread bit I thought you guys would appreciate. 🤣
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It's amazing what things people throw away.
 
Boy do I love free stuff!
As do I. Sometimes free just costs too much though and I have a hard time learning that lesson. You did good in this case.

I may have told this story, but here it goes anyway. My wife often gives me a hard time over getting free stuff. Not long after she resigned her job to raise our kids I was looking to buy a tractor with a bucket. One night laying in bed she said something about how I would love a free loader. Without missing a beat I said, "Honey, I thought I already had one." I then started laughing uncontrollably. It took her several seconds to get it, upon which she started hitting me, then rolled over to ignore me. Which was impossible because I was still laughing uproariously. It took a few minutes to catch my breath.

What was I supposed to do? She lobbed it up there and I freakin' hit it out of the park!
 
Finally got out wooding today to the willow bush clearance...and learned something knew!! At my age!!! Been 3 days of rain and wind at times cloudbursts. I was a bit worried about how wet that bottom was but it is well sodded. Entry had a couple mud puddles and the cattle had pretty well worked up my work area into mud. I decided to jusdt clear brush rather than back into that and make a heavy load.

4.5 hours, well tired out but still able to unload the small load I brought home. Problems with saw chains. Last week I picked up a new 14" chain for my ms193T from the dealer. Way to short for the bar. Went back next day and found that there is now a stihl chain even smaller than the Picco. It goes on some battery power equipment. Dealer repaced it. Today I needed a fresh chain on the 193. Opened box and a real struggle getting it on the bar and then It was so tight in the bar groove the motor couldn't pull it. Back to the dealer on way home today. Seems the 193T takes a .043 driver, not 050 as I tdhought. They replaced it again. I wonder why a dealer Stihl dealer would even have picco in a 050.

I wish I could post pictures but I haven't been able to download to the 'puter. I may pay to have a guru come out and take a look at the camera and computer.

I like the .050 gauge picco on a higher-powered top handle, like my 201tcm. It has no issue pulling a loop of that on a 16" bar and IMO clears chips out mildly better in big cuts. It's also more forgiving for someone who is hard on the chain.

That being said, I run the .043 Picco on my little Echo 2511t. With the narrow kerf chain, I'm able to run a 16" bar on it too...having the ability to run a 16" is a big deal when climbing a big conifer. After I muffler-modded it, the little Echo rips, but just doesn't have the gobs of torque like the 201.
 
Did some of my own firewood scrounging today. It's not the most impressive haul I've done, but was mostly an excuse to go cut with the new saw.

It was an oak tree that I climbed and cut down for somebody awhile back, I'm just getting to splitting it. We mostly have pine, cedar, and fir locally, so it's nice to get some hardwood for a change.

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I've heard people complain about insurance not covering a house because of a woodstove or expensive insurance etc. There is usually more to the story. Insurance knows when something is sketchy. Here in Ontario there is WETT certification. Wood energy technology transfer. It's a paper you get after a licensed installer does an inspection on your wood burning appliance. Once you have this paper in hand that says your installation is to code, insurance is much more cooperative. We had to add a rider to our policy and it does cost us about 30 bucks a year. I am ok with this because I save so much money while keeping my house way warmer. Heating a shop or garage is no different. Pretty much every outbuilding around here has a chimney coming out of it. I believe that people should have to take a course and get a ticket to run a stove or fireplace. So many people don't know how to properly use one. From insufficiently seasoned wood to improper temperatures etc. I've even seen folks keep a bucket of coals inside because it's giving off heat. No wonder insurance is particular! I wouldn't hedge any bets on these folks either.
 
My previous insurance supposedly didn’t have any wood heaters on the list so had my house burned down from my fireplace or boiler there would have been problems (which is obviously not what I wanted or expected)….. When my agent went from captive to independent we changed to a different company and now supposedly all of my wood burners are covered. When I put my new sauna stove in, I did confirm in writing that they had me covered for the Sauna as well as the fireplace in the house.

My cabin was a whole different story… Originally the other agency wouldn’t cover me so I had to get third-party insurance that was a lot more expensive. The new policy allows me to have my cabin as a secondary home under my primary coverage and due to its proximity to fire hall my insurance went way down. The original insurance was so high with a wood burner that we installed a gas furnace and it covered all of the gas for the year by the savings in insurance.

Also in the last 10 years, a small fire hall was built 3 miles from my house which dramatically dropped rates rather than the other fire hall being 12 miles away.

It’s interesting all the difference is that we all have with what is covered… All I can say is get everything in writing from your agent if you're using wood.
 
Seems the 193T takes a .043 driver, not 050 as I tdhought. They replaced it again. I wonder why a dealer Stihl dealer would even have picco in a 050.
Lots of different variations for lots of different saws and applications. Oregon ‘Type 91’ is the ‘standard’, 0.050 gauge, 3/8 low-profile that most people use. Oregon ‘Type 90’ is the 0.043 gauge, narrow-kerf, version, that is increasing used on pole saws, battery operated saws, etc. Both work well in the right application.

STIHL more recently has been adding new versions of their chains in these categories (low profile, narrow kerf, cutter style, etc.) as well. The new versions can be confusing if you are not expecting them.

Philbert
 
I recently talked to the arborist on whose log yard I cut, and mentioned about wanting Cherry. I checked yesterday and found this nice pile of mixed wood.
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Of course today was suppose to be out first 90 degree day so I started on the pile early. Ended up with two rows of a cover crop (Mulberry wood covering up the Cherry) in my truck.
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After digging and cutting through the pile, the final tally was a full truck and trailer.
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Was getting some oak dragged out today . This was the last one of 12 and wouldn’t you know I hurt myself . Not with the log or equipment . I stepped wrong and went down the embankment . Didn’t fall but smacked my right foot big toe into a boulder . Saw stars and had to sit down . Was able to walk and finish the drag out but called it a day . Not broken just stubbed/jammed it bad it’s turning black and blue now 3 hours later. I’ll be taking it easy for the next few days
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Update today we have color D3A45375-BC68-4921-AA22-9E81B211BDD6.jpeg
 
My understanding is that RM is anti-kickback. Maybe you're right and there are both versions. Went back and cut and noodled 15 rounds with the RS chain and I still haven't had to resharpen.
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You can get both RM and RS in anti kickback(green) or professional grade(yellow). RM is semi chisel, RS is full chisel.
 
Had a friend's son over to help trim a tree at the in-laws. He's been to school for arborist and has been working two summers with an excellent arborist. Watching this fit young man work his way around this tree really reaffirmed the fact that I have no business climbing a tree let alone climb one with a running chainsaw!
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I always preferred RS when I used round file chain, but I rarely cut dirty wood.

I did use my wheelbarrow a lot today, but did not think it would be right to post pics of bags of mulch in it!

My 25 year old lawn tractor will not start, and it has other problems, so I borrowed a lawn tractor from my step son and I have a new zero turn on order. Since I snow plow with the ATV, no need for a traditional lawn tractor any more.

Nothing is cheap or available anymore ... but I guess I'm not allowed to say who is to blame!!!

The one guy at Home Depot told me that were actually buying their own boats to offload some of the stuff anchored out at sea and have it unloaded. I have no way to confirm if that is true or not.
I think it’s the corrupt crime family that is at fault. You know the one?
 
You sure have put the miles on that wheelbarrow. I got an Ace hardware job that has metal handles and they suck. I can’t keep plastic hand grips to stick and stay. Look forward to replacing with ash handles or some type of wood.
Yours seem to be holding up well.
 
I got the Stainless keg fabricated up for the 68 gas tank . Bottom is held down with j bolts on a rubber pad to stop it from squeaking . The leather strap actually a size 52 belt I got at Wally World will steady the tank . I just need to make a tie down mount and attach it to the bed bulkhead . View attachment 983924View attachment 983925
This is the fill the gas pump nozzle just fits.the other fitting is for the vent tube
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the gas port on the bottom is about 1/2 inch above the bottom so if any crap or water get in ,it won’t get sucked up View attachment 983927

I’ll post some pics of the install tomorrow
Nice looking TIG weld!
 
You sure have put the miles on that wheelbarrow. I got an Ace hardware job that has metal handles and they suck. I can’t keep plastic hand grips to stick and stay. Look forward to replacing with ash handles or some type of wood.
Yours seem to be holding up well.
It has moved a lot of wood (and other stuff) to be sure. I have not always treated it well either as it mostly lives outside. I did treat the handles to several coatings of linseed oil a couple years ago.

When I picked up another just like it from Craigslist last week, the guy also offered a steel handled one for $10, saying that it was "sturdy". I picked it up and it felt as if it was already filled with wood so I passed!
 
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