Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

[svk]

I wish!

It will be next friday at minimum before I can even think about that!

 

[mainewoods]

No weekend XP duty, you're slipping !

 

[mainewoods]

It is pretty treacherous in the woods though, snow has melted and only a thick layer of ice is left. Had to chain up the jeep just to get up the "hill". It's about a 30 % grade to get to the trees I dropped last fall, and ice cleats are required to safely do the limbing.

 

[svk]

No weekend XP duty, you're slipping !

This weekend I have Friday night dinner date with my wife, 4 soccer games/practices Saturday, and celebrating my son's Bday Sunday.

Next Saturday 4 more soccer games and Sunday I am getting my concealed carry permit (finally).

 

[zogger]

Guess everyone is out scrounging up some spring time firewood. Keep up the good work fellers!

I had to start mowing already..back to work. Going to be planting the garden shortly. And I still have the big trunk half of oakzilla in the front yard, the other branchy half is out back,(branches meaning, big as normal trees...) been splitting on that daily. Not a lot, but some wheelbarrows full, just chipping away at it. Most of it is gnarly, sorta hard to split, plus shaving the punky wood and bark off of each round first..tedious. Inside though is wonderful great wood. I am planning to try out my new to me used pp5020 on an 14 to 18 inch oak shortly...that will be a technical scrounge, dead in my boss's side yard.

 

[MustangMike]

Every time I think things may be slowing up a bit, I go out to do 2 or 3 tax returns and return to 6 or 7 phone messages! After 4/15 things will change, until then I'll just be thankful I'm not sitting around waitin for the phone to ring!

It is 7 days per week, and every evening is booked, and it does test you. You look forward to it coming (for the money) but you look forward to it ending to relive the fatigue. It is tough being a one horse operation. You do the taxes, print & mail, answer the phones, return the phone messages, respond to the mail, email and faxes and keep track of billing & collecting ... it is like a 5 ring circus. You also respond to all the questions and respond to numerous dumb IRS and State requests. I swear they go out of their way to hire Morons!

May everyone get good refunds this year, and if you get a dumb love note from the IRS or State, don't do anything till you contact your preparer, they send out a lot of stupid stuff!

 

[SteveSS]

Mike - I've always heard that if you wait until the last minute to file your taxes, that your chances of being audited decrease significantly because the IRS has already chosen all of the auditees by that point. Any truth to that in your experience?

 

[SteveSS]

I always wait until about a week before deadline because of that. It drives my wife crazy.

 

[svk]

I have to start digging receipts this weekend. I have all of the incidentals in a big envelope but compiling all of the phone, data, mileage etc sucks.

Doesn't suck as bad when you get the return though.

 

[hardpan]

Every time I think things may be slowing up a bit, I go out to do 2 or 3 tax returns and return to 6 or 7 phone messages! After 4/15 things will change, until then I'll just be thankful I'm not sitting around waitin for the phone to ring!

It is 7 days per week, and every evening is booked, and it does test you. You look forward to it coming (for the money) but you look forward to it ending to relive the fatigue. It is tough being a one horse operation. You do the taxes, print & mail, answer the phones, return the phone messages, respond to the mail, email and faxes and keep track of billing & collecting ... it is like a 5 ring circus. You also respond to all the questions and respond to numerous dumb IRS and State requests. I swear they go out of their way to hire Morons!

May everyone get good refunds this year, and if you get a dumb love note from the IRS or State, don't do anything till you contact your preparer, they send out a lot of stupid stuff!

Get it while the getting is good. There are a couple guys out there right now swearing to end the IRS, remove loopholes, and stream line our system with flat rate taxes. And to top it off the unemployed Morons might want to start cutting firewood for income. LOL

 

[MustangMike]

As I told people years ago (we had tax simplification in 86) every time the Gov simplifies taxes, I get more clients!

I also round everything to the nearest dollar. When client's ask why, I tell them because the government does not have any cents!!!!

Eliminating the IRS when you have millions of existing pension plans is not practical.

Simplification would be nice, many folks would just have someone else do it anyway (like lawn service).

Don't know if there is any truth to that Steve, I kind of think the computers just look for things that either don't match up or are out of line, the the IRS is low on resources. The Obama care crap is very complicated, and is eating up a lot of their time.

I will tell you this, 4 out of 5 notices they sent to my clients are pure nonsense! They don't double check anything. Very frustrating the work I do to clear things up, and I don't bill clients for things that are not their fault.

 

[mainewoods]

Very interesting Mike. Thanks for sharing that bit of wisdom. Just as good as a red oak scrounge!!

 

[dancan]

Honeydo list this morning , hope to get it done by lunch time and go scrounging this afternoon

 

[Agent Orange]

It is pretty treacherous in the woods though, snow has melted and only a thick layer of ice is left. Had to chain up the jeep just to get up the "hill". It's about a 30 % grade to get to the trees I dropped last fall, and ice cleats are required to safely do the limbing.

Stay safe! Snow isn't so bad, but that ice sounds sketchy.

 

[Erik B]

Over the winter a top of an elm broke off and I got that part cut yesterday. I will be taking down what is left of the tree and getting it cut up today.
No snow on the ground and things are starting to firm up in the woods. Pics when I get done for the day.

 

[Erik B]

I got the last of that elm cut up today. Here are the pics. It should be about 1/3 of a cord.

 

[dancan]

Got the list done so ,,,, Off to the woods !!!
Still had a few stems to haul to the landing from the last time I was out .
Snowed yesterday but the forecast said it should have been all melted today , they were wrong and it didn't .

I went and got the last half dozen stems , the sun finally started to peak out from the clouds so I figured I'd go pop a couple of broken tops/dead standing that I could see .
I got myself ready to winch .

And went to make my way in .

But I came up with a better idea and parked the tractor LOL

I blocked up a dead standing spruce and threw it in the truck LOL
On the way out there's a big pine that was blown down several years ago , 16" at that part of the stem , I had to cut from both sides at the butt polly 24" .

Made plenty of noodles for a little saw , the core of the stem is still white but still too wet to burn this spring but it should be fine by this fall so it'll come home and get split before this summer
The spruce was dry so I'll burn it on the warmer days .
Here's a pic of the first wood I've split in 2016 .

Mighty Mouse Logging LLC

 

[Agent Orange]

Had a long reply typed out and lost it....
Finished the skidder.

Cut some hedge. And scored a Coke crate.

 

[svk]

Got the list done so ,,,, Off to the woods !!!
Still had a few stems to haul to the landing from the last time I was out .
Snowed yesterday but the forecast said it should have been all melted today , they were wrong and it didn't .

I went and got the last half dozen stems , the sun finally started to peak out from the clouds so I figured I'd go pop a couple of broken tops/dead standing that I could see .
I got myself ready to winch .

And went to make my way in .

But I came up with a better idea and parked the tractor LOL

I blocked up a dead standing spruce and threw it in the truck LOL
On the way out there's a big pine that was blown down several years ago , 16" at that part of the stem , I had to cut from both sides at the butt polly 24" .

Made plenty of noodles for a little saw , the core of the stem is still white but still too wet to burn this spring but it should be fine by this fall so it'll come home and get split before this summer
The spruce was dry so I'll burn it on the warmer days .
Here's a pic of the first wood I've split in 2016 .

Mighty Mouse Logging LLC

Didn't recall you saying you have a gransfors. How do you like it?

 

[dancan]

Yup , I gots stuff LOL
It's a nice axe , I got it at 50% off a couple of years ago , customer return .
Same length as the x25 and the new Stihl splitter so I can compare all 3 .
In the right wood it's my favourite and the most comfortable to use but I don't think it's worth it's retail , the x25 is a workhorse with the Stihl splitter being the best of the 3 , I'll have to wait for a deal on the Husqvarna to compare the 4th in this size class .
I'll polly buy the Husqvarna splitting maul first , I'm needing to find a long handled heavier weight for those special occasions
All this and I have 4 powered splitters LOL