Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[GrizG]

logging can be big down here in Big City. this yesterday as we drove to grocery... only a few blocks from us. headed up to Sawdust Man's... is my guess! ~


View attachment 1103202

Gotta wonder if anyone would be willing to saw those logs... Urban wood often has embedded stuff!

 

[MustangMike]

Years ago, when the wife and I both volunteered at the dog shelter and the rules were far laxer, we took one of the more unruly pits for a hike up South Mt Beacon. It was one of the few times in his life he was away from the shelter (other than walks near the shelter). He was a very athletic dog, and really enjoyed the hike.

He was very good with my wife and me because he knew us well, but he tagged several other folks, and he would not give you warning until he went for you.

About halfway up on the hike, the dog got hit by a swarm of yellowjackets and it was very stressful trying to get the bees off of the dog w/o getting bit or stung, but we managed.

Luckly, Dusty (a tall slim brindle pit) did not seem to have any adverse effects and enjoyed the rest of the hike. He has since passed but lived a long life at the shelter.

I'm thinking that may have been his best day. A car ride and a nice hike. He was very well behaved with us, you just could not let anyone else go near him, as he would not give them warning. Soon after, the rules changed, and you were not allowed to sign dogs like him out of the shelter.

We did continue to walk him (near the shelter) for years, as he did not allow many other folks to do it.

 

[GrizG]

 

[SS396driver]

Forgot to post this . First time truck had seen water since I finished it . The next day it hailed in the evening but I had it under the motel overhang .

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Well, it was time to cut down these two trees,

My buddy and me, used the skidding winch on my tractor to winch out the hangers and then put the winch line high up in the tree to winch it over,

With that done, my buddy cut the notch,

and he did the back cut, then I winched the tree over. With the tree on the ground, we limbed and cut it into sections and winched the logs out of the way,

This tree was over 30" on the stump,

With THAT done, we put the winch line up in the second tree,

Then it was "rince and repeat", and this tree is even bigger, at over 40". Here's my buddy standing next to it,

That was enough for one afternoon, I'll get back on that project later!

SR

 

[bob kern]

Forgot to post this . First time truck had seen water since I finished it . The next day it hailed in the evening but I had it under the motel overhang . View attachment 1103295

Thank goodness. We'd all been sick if it got dented up!

 

[dboyd351]

I was told wasps eat spiders, and not a danger to upright bi-peds.. can even find half dead spiders in a nest meant to fed hatched young. Was it a crock of bs? The blue ones are said to be the serious insect killers.

Have you never been stung by a wasp?

Hurts plenty. Worse than a honeybee in my experience.

 

[Squareground3691]

Have you never been stung by a wasp?

Hurts plenty. Worse than a honeybee in my experience.

Got nailed by 5 White faced hornets once, that was an experience don’t want to repeat,

 

[JimR]

Got nailed by 5 White faced hornets once, that was an experience don’t want to repeat,

I rank the white faced bastards as the worst for bee stings.

 

[SS396driver]

Thank goodness. We'd all been sick if it got dented up!

Several of the newer cars in the parking were all dented up. My truck was getting hit but it was mostly protected. And the metal is twice as thick

 

[Sawyer Rob]

I rank the white faced bastards as the worst for bee stings.

My dad called them bald faced hornets, and he always said they were by far the worst for stings!

SR

 

[svk]

We primarily have the big black ones a.k.a. white face wasps and then the smaller yellow jackets. In a normal year, the yellow jackets are much more prevalent. To my understanding, there’s one type of tree nesting yellow jacket and another type of ground nesting. I’ve had the most problems with the ground nesting yellow jackets. Occasionally you’ll come across a smaller type of black and white ones that build tree nests as well. That’s about all we have around here for stinging insects except maybe an odd mud dauber here and there.

Twice I’ve encountered the big white face wasps in very low nests. One was in tall grass, at the edge of a farm field, and the other one was in low brush next to my friends lawn.

 

[bob kern]

We primarily have the big black ones a.k.a. white face wasps and then the smaller yellow jackets. In a normal year, the yellow jackets are much more prevalent. To my understanding, there’s one type of tree nesting yellow jacket and another type of ground nesting. I’ve had the most problems with the ground nesting yellow jackets. Occasionally you’ll come across a smaller type of black and white ones that build tree nests as well. That’s about all we have around here for stinging insects except maybe an odd mud dauber here and there.

Twice I’ve encountered the big white face wasps in very low nests. One was in tall grass, at the edge of a farm field, and the other one was in low brush next to my friends lawn.

Not sure about accuracy, but I've heard some species will build underground or on limbs etc. depending on the harshness of the coming winter.
One thing I've learned on yellow jackets in the ground is I've been able to go out early while it was still cool and mow right over the nest. The secret is to just keep going and not to come back for a second pass beside the first one til the next morning. At that point you are far enough away they don't pay any attention anymore. I've been doing this for some time now with zero stings. I have also learned to always be looking ahead as I mow. Many times I've seen a swarm where I had went over a nest on my last pass and got them stirred up. I just give them their space and come back later for another pass.
In either case, hi temps and bright sunshine greatly increases your chances of having a very bad day!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Gotta wonder if anyone would be willing to saw those logs... Urban wood often has embedded stuff!

they don't look like headed to the dump!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

bad news! that was worth a couple of replays!

 

[svk]

Not sure about accuracy, but I've heard some species will build underground or on limbs etc. depending on the harshness of the coming winter.
One thing I've learned on yellow jackets in the ground is I've been able to go out early while it was still cool and mow right over the nest. The secret is to just keep going and not to come back for a second pass beside the first one til the next morning. At that point you are far enough away they don't pay any attention anymore. I've been doing this for some time now with zero stings. I have also learned to always be looking ahead as I mow. Many times I've seen a swarm where I had went over a nest on my last pass and got them stirred up. I just give them their space and come back later for another pass.
In either case, hi temps and bright sunshine greatly increases your chances of having a very bad day!

Agreed, if you clear the area before they get whipped into a tizzy you are in the clear. I have been nailed when you get into an area where you need to turn the mower around and then they get you.

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Forgot to post this . First time truck had seen water since I finished it . The next day it hailed in the evening but I had it under the motel overhang . View attachment 1103295

glad u escaped the hail!

 

[GrizG]

Not sure about accuracy, but I've heard some species will build underground or on limbs etc. depending on the harshness of the coming winter.
One thing I've learned on yellow jackets in the ground is I've been able to go out early while it was still cool and mow right over the nest. The secret is to just keep going and not to come back for a second pass beside the first one til the next morning. At that point you are far enough away they don't pay any attention anymore. I've been doing this for some time now with zero stings. I have also learned to always be looking ahead as I mow. Many times I've seen a swarm where I had went over a nest on my last pass and got them stirred up. I just give them their space and come back later for another pass.
In either case, hi temps and bright sunshine greatly increases your chances of having a very bad day!

The first time I was swarm stung by yellow jackets I was manning a horse drawn sickle bar mower cutting down an overgrown and weedy field. Seems the mower's bar found the nest and the yellow jackets used it to find me. BTW, the mower was being pulled by a tractor, not a horse. I was in my mid-teens.... people would have a stroke if they saw a kid doing that today, especially given that another kid was driving the tractor! For those not familiar with those mowers here's a image of one... complete with nothing resembling safety equipment. Cool stuff!

 

[Philbert]

Had a couple of nests in rotten stumps, in the ground, and some railroad ties, used for landscaping.

Daughter and dog got stung.

Went back at night with pickaxe and several cans of wasp killer.

Stump is long gone. But railroad ties are still uninhabited 25 years later.

Philbert

 

[Sawyer Rob]

The first time I was swarm stung by yellow jackets I was manning a horse drawn sickle bar mower cutting down an overgrown and weedy field. Seems the mower's bar found the nest and the yellow jackets used it to find me. BTW, the mower was being pulled by a tractor, not a horse. I was in my mid-teens.... people would have a stroke if they saw a kid doing that today, especially given that another kid was driving the tractor! For those not familiar with those mowers here's a image of one... complete with nothing resembling safety equipment. Cool stuff!


View attachment 1103495

I still have the one I rode many a mile on as a kid mowing hay!! I also have the Farmall BN that we pulled it with.

SR