Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[Backyard Lumberjack]

And that was after helping the bro-in-law break down a deer View attachment 1131649View attachment 1131648

2nd butchering rack i have seen in as many days....

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

My rider mower wears chains all winter moving a 2.5x4' trailer full of rounds over to the split/pile area, some fairly good slopes to work up/down.

as a kid, i found me a '30 A Ford coup. for sale. by chance. i was poor, but the owner wanted to sell it, and i dam* sure wanted to buy it. had '40 ford brakes and a frozen 48 ford flathead v8 in it. for me it was instant . it had a high price on its head!: $125.00, as is, where is. grass growing tall around the wheels. i knew it was a deal for me! but i was poor! and so asked if lay-a-way could buy it. sure they said. i drew up the papers rite there on the stop with payment sched attached, we both signed and i left a $20.00 bill. a lot on $$ for a kid employed as a lawm mower DIY'er.... 'mow your lawn, ma'am? hmm, how much. $2.00! well.... ok! ~

anyways, got a 53 ford fh and put it in. $35. and we had snow up in PNW... andi had heard, and so i put chains on my lil A hot rod... and off we went... just like the did back in the 30's...

rings of rope tied in between spokes and around wheel. worked great!

 

[sean donato]

Hey, all still alive lol. Hunting was pretty much a bust this week. Just not seeing anything legal to shoot as far as buck and the doe traffic was about zip, zero, zilch. Should have shot one Saturday. Moved on to some home projects. Yesterday, which turned into everything going to pot.
Started splitting wood, then thought I should back the truck around to load all the shorts up for dad. Truck started spinning backing up the hill. Got out and looked the hubs in. Truck still spun the ine back tire. Drivers side hub wouldn't lock in. Whatever I had a spare set. Went to change it and what do I find? The fricken hub rusted fast to the axle. Well that took the rest of the day to get off, then I figured u should check the bearings out. Fourtonalty no rust made it there, but the seal was junk, and some hammer head had taken a chisel to the jam nut. So it was half rounded out. Trip to the junk yard amd parts store this morning got me going again. Now maybe I can load the sorts up for dad and take them over.
Oh I forgot to mention, the rod seal on my log splitter started leaking a little too, just can't win sometimes.

 

[MustangMike]

I just had to try it!

Every year I throw away thousands of Black Walnuts ... then I read that they are healthier for you than English Walnuts, just harder to harvest the fruit.

After seeing all manner of Black Walnut crackers for sale, I decided to just try my vice! Put a paper towel under the jaws and went to town.

It is a pain in the neck to get the nut out, but they do taste pretty good. You don't get halves, just a piece at a time. Maybe I'll save some more of them in the future.

Having a pointed pick is also helpful. Unfortunately, there seems no way to process them that is not time consuming.

 

[MustangMike]

I did a MacGyver again! I am the king of saving useless junk ... because some day I may need it!

Well, I've had my old Coleman cooler for 30 or 40 years, so it owes me nothing, and last week both hinges broke at the same time. They were only strips of plastic, with two screws (each side) into the cooler and two into the lid.

I did not want to throw it out because otherwise it is fine. I toyed with buying new hinges or using a piece of leather, and then it came to me!

I saved an old (flat tire) tube from my mountain bike 5-10 years ago, and it seems like it may be the perfect size ... and it is!

I unscrewed the 4 pieces of plastic from the cooler, cut 2-2" long pieces of tube and inserted the plastic sections. Then used an awl to punch holes in the tube, inserted the screws, and put the whole thing back together! It works great (may be better than new) and I did not even have to go to the store!

Sometimes, it's just the little things that put a smile on your face!

 

[turnkey4099]

I've said this before, but I was under the impression that riding mowers with transaxle drives and zero turns should not pull anything. Supposedly hurts the transmission. I've got two old Craftsman geared transmissions that were my work horses. I could pull my 5x8 trailer half full of splits around my yard. Have some issues that have to be repaired on them that I've never gotten around to fixing.

I've been using them that way for some 30 years without a problem....except for forgetting to check oil in one and....um ....other stupidities.

 

[turnkey4099]

I just had to try it!

Every year I throw away thousands of Black Walnuts ... then I read that they are healthier for you than English Walnuts, just harder to harvest the fruit.

After seeing all manner of Black Walnut crackers for sale, I decided to just try my vice! Put a paper towel under the jaws and went to town.

It is a pain in the neck to get the nut out, but they do taste pretty good. You don't get halves, just a piece at a time. Maybe I'll save some more of them in the future.

Having a pointed pick is also helpful. Unfortunately, there seems no way to process them that is not time consuming.

It only takes a few shreds to really flavor up a batch of cookies. I made a mistake when I first bought this place with 1 acre, planted windbreaks of Spruce and about a dozen Black Walnuts. Haven't bothered to use the nuts yet and am about ready to delete all of them. Mowing around them is like trying to mow a gravel pit.

 

[Kodiak Kid]

Two more loads of logs hauled to the mill. Should get a good supply of lumber out of theses. Enough to get a decent start for building a barn!

10 footers


12 footers


16 footers


I STIHL have five eight foot butt logs 32" in diameter at the scale end. I need to haul them to the mill.

Cut safe, stay sharp and be aware!

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

Two more loads of logs hauled to the mill. Should get a good supply of lumber out of theses. Enough to get a decent start for building a barn! View attachment 1131824View attachment 1131825

10 footers
View attachment 1131826

12 footers
View attachment 1131827

16 footers
View attachment 1131828

I STIHL have five eight foot butt logs 32" in diameter at the scale end. I need to haul to the mill.

Cut safe, stay sharp and be aware!

yup, that ought a build a barn! ~

 

[Kodiak Kid]

yup, that ought a build a barn! ~

At least frame one. I'm gonna have the butt logs milled into 3/4× material for sheathing. The price of plywood is outrageous on Kodiak. I bought two sheets of 5/8 CDX last month. $46 a sheet! I was like "Holly Sheet!!!"

 

[Backyard Lumberjack]

At least frame one. I'm gonna have the butt logs milled into 3/4× material for sheathing. The price of plywood is outrageous on Kodiak. I bought two sheets of 5/8 CDX last month. $46 a sheet! I was like "Holly Sheet!!!"

hi kid -

will u put any wood into ground? uprights. some in other thread building making DIY U and bolting/welding to sonnot tube concrete bases....

 

[Kodiak Kid]

hi kid -

will u put any wood into ground? uprights. some in other thread building making DIY U and bolting/welding to sonnot tube concrete bases....

Hi bud!
Probably creosote piles in the ground if I go post and beam, or maybe a concrete foooter if I decide to stick frame. I have a bit of time to decide on if I want to have the Sawyer mill the wood into regular framing lumber or bigger beams. Haven't decided yet. Yes, I will do all barn construction myself.
Thanks for asking.

 

[svk]

I did a MacGyver again! I am the king of saving useless junk ... because some day I may need it!

Well, I've had my old Coleman cooler for 30 or 40 years, so it owes me nothing, and last week both hinges broke at the same time. They were only strips of plastic, with two screws (each side) into the cooler and two into the lid.

I did not want to throw it out because otherwise it is fine. I toyed with buying new hinges or using a piece of leather, and then it came to me!

I saved an old (flat tire) tube from my mountain bike 5-10 years ago, and it seems like it may be the perfect size ... and it is!

I unscrewed the 4 pieces of plastic from the cooler, cut 2-2" long pieces of tube and inserted the plastic sections. Then used an awl to punch holes in the tube, inserted the screws, and put the whole thing back together! It works great (may be better than new) and I did not even have to go to the store!

Sometimes, it's just the little things that put a smile on your face!

Those are great coolers. We have had many of them over the years. Eventually the bottoms crack and they leak....which isn't bad if you just have ice but quarters of meat leaching into ice can create quite a stink if that leaked fluid is not quickly cleaned up. I had two 100 quart coolers from the 70's that finally had to be retired last year. Luckily they only leaked hog juice into my pickup box and not my suburban!

Of course the lids of the brand new Coleman replacements are NOT air or water tight. I had one on the back rack of my suburban last week and when we got to the hog hunting camp, all of the sleeping bags were wet from the rain we drove though. On the way home, we encountered dusty areas and everything inside was full of dust!

 

[Kodiak Kid]

I did a MacGyver again! I am the king of saving useless junk ... because some day I may need it!

Well, I've had my old Coleman cooler for 30 or 40 years, so it owes me nothing, and last week both hinges broke at the same time. They were only strips of plastic, with two screws (each side) into the cooler and two into the lid.

I did not want to throw it out because otherwise it is fine. I toyed with buying new hinges or using a piece of leather, and then it came to me!

I saved an old (flat tire) tube from my mountain bike 5-10 years ago, and it seems like it may be the perfect size ... and it is!

I unscrewed the 4 pieces of plastic from the cooler, cut 2-2" long pieces of tube and inserted the plastic sections. Then used an awl to punch holes in the tube, inserted the screws, and put the whole thing back together! It works great (may be better than new) and I did not even have to go to the store!

Sometimes, it's just the little things that put a smile on your face!

I have a hard time throwing things away too Mike. Especially living far from town! You'd be surprised with the things I salvage from old broke down tools, vehicles and equipment. So on and so on. I even save things like rubber bushings from worn out shocks. I've ended up using the bushings for other things several times! I MacGyver things all the time. Lol

 

[djg james]

I did a MacGyver again! I am the king of saving useless junk ... because some day I may need it!

Well, I've had my old Coleman cooler for 30 or 40 years, so it owes me nothing, and last week both hinges broke at the same time. They were only strips of plastic, with two screws (each side) into the cooler and two into the lid.

I did not want to throw it out because otherwise it is fine. I toyed with buying new hinges or using a piece of leather, and then it came to me!

I saved an old (flat tire) tube from my mountain bike 5-10 years ago, and it seems like it may be the perfect size ... and it is!

I unscrewed the 4 pieces of plastic from the cooler, cut 2-2" long pieces of tube and inserted the plastic sections. Then used an awl to punch holes in the tube, inserted the screws, and put the whole thing back together! It works great (may be better than new) and I did not even have to go to the store!

Sometimes, it's just the little things that put a smile on your face!

I have some old thick boot leather that I fixed the hinges on my Brother's cooler and one of mine a couple years ago.

 

[djg james]

Two more loads of logs hauled to the mill. Should get a good supply of lumber out of theses. Enough to get a decent start for building a barn! View attachment 1131824View attachment 1131825

10 footers
View attachment 1131826

12 footers
View attachment 1131827

16 footers
View attachment 1131828

I STIHL have five eight foot butt logs 32" in diameter at the scale end. I need to haul them to the mill.

Cut safe, stay sharp and be aware!

I was drooling over those other logs you took to the mill the other day. Didn't realize they were for a project for you. Thought for sale. Nice to be able to have lumber source for when you need it.

 

[djg james]

Softwood here is usually 150-200 a cord and hardwood is 175-400 a cord......of course seasoned can mean anything from perfectly dried to harvested this morning. LOL

The ones that piss me off are the guys advertising a slightly heaped shortbed as a cord.

A guy that cuts in the same log yard as me is in the firewood business as a side job. There was a pile of Walnut logs there and I was cutting some rounds out of it for bowl blanks for wood turning (my Nephew). He wanted the rest. I said 'sure, but it's green.. it won't burn'. He mumbled something like his customers like Walnut and it didn't matter. I mentioned the piles of dead standing Ash lying around would be more reasonable for burning this year. He said he does, mixing half Ash and half other hardwoods.
This is a piece of the Walnut I cut. Just dripping with moisture.

 

[SS396driver]

Scrounged some Chaga today got a couple of big pieces . Going back tomorrow with my hatchet to get the real big pieces . I couldn’t pry off the trunk with the screwdriver I had in the truck

 

[MechanicMatt]

I did a MacGyver again! I am the king of saving useless junk ... because some day I may need it!

Well, I've had my old Coleman cooler for 30 or 40 years, so it owes me nothing, and last week both hinges broke at the same time. They were only strips of plastic, with two screws (each side) into the cooler and two into the lid.

I did not want to throw it out because otherwise it is fine. I toyed with buying new hinges or using a piece of leather, and then it came to me!

I saved an old (flat tire) tube from my mountain bike 5-10 years ago, and it seems like it may be the perfect size ... and it is!

I unscrewed the 4 pieces of plastic from the cooler, cut 2-2" long pieces of tube and inserted the plastic sections. Then used an awl to punch holes in the tube, inserted the screws, and put the whole thing back together! It works great (may be better than new) and I did not even have to go to the store!

Sometimes, it's just the little things that put a smile on your face!

Next time we are at the cabin, check the hinges on my cooler, seat belt material

Got the idea from this rifle sling I saw once upon a time…

 

[MechanicMatt]

Scrounged some Chaga today got a couple of big pieces . Going back tomorrow with my hatchet to get the real big pieces . I couldn’t pry off the trunk with the screwdriver I had in the truck View attachment 1131910View attachment 1131911

Saw them harvesting that on a Alaska show the other night

Another wonder that God gave us for free

I wonder why more people don’t know about it

The guy with the wife and two young daughters was chopping it off birch trees, had to do some reading about it on commercial