Scrounging Firewood (and other stuff)

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Can’t win get everything all hooked up and no pressure. Pulled the pump and found the check valve was cracked . Got a new one and I got pressure . But now the pump is short cycling. Checked the pressure tank and sure enough it’s water logged . Water comes out the Schrader valve . So off to the plumbing supply tomorrow IMG_9513.jpegIMG_9514.jpeg
View attachment IMG_9517.mov
Been a long two weeks .
 
I’d LOVE to only be paying $5,500 in property taxes
Mine just went up a bunch after final inspection the barn. What's a bummer is they have been charging me based on what the home worth prior to it being foreclosed on(previous loans, I paid 25% of that. I feel it's a big rip-off, although it's much better than most.
Our forefathers would be astonished that we weren't tossing some leaders in the river...
Looking good! I'll be sure to take pictures and get them posted here in few. Those Diablo blades are legit! Used one to cut all the tin for the shop, I was so impressed I've switched everything else to them. Like night and day difference from the other home store brands
Thanks.
I used the aluminum one when i built my 25' trailer, it worked well, but i went thru two cheap circular saws cutting it. I've seen the actual circular saws (the ones designed for cutting steel) with the steel blade in them on Craigslist, just couldn't pay the price at the time. The blade I just snagged up is the 70 tooth, should work great for making clean cuts on those panels.
The really nice thing is they don't shower your work with a bunch of super hot sparks like a standard grinding type blade does, those put a bunch of burn marks on paint.
I was able to make a bit more progress in the barn this morning before work, one small piece of osb and then some organizing. Hopefully this weekend I can get all three panels cut. I also have some used red roofing steel I may use in the welding area, the blade will be nice for that too.

Those boards look great 👍.
What torch tip did you use.
 
Made the first cuts today. This is white fir. 31" on one end, and 35.5" on the other end. I had to cut spots into the log to get the log dogs out of the way of the carriage. It's supposed to be able to handle a 36" log. It's so high up that I have to use a ladder to start and stop the engine. I'm new to this, and still figuring things out as I go.

View attachment 1226821View attachment 1226822View attachment 1226823View attachment 1226824

It's not cutting perfectly straight, I don't know if I'll try to dial it in or not. It's close dimensionaly, I can see a rise in the middle though.

20241217_164450.jpg
 
Can’t win get everything all hooked up and no pressure. Pulled the pump and found the check valve was cracked . Got a new one and I got pressure . But now the pump is short cycling. Checked the pressure tank and sure enough it’s water logged . Water comes out the Schrader valve . So off to the plumbing supply tomorrow View attachment 1226987
Been a long two weeks .


That mud-covered crescent wrench says it all...
 
Mine just went up a bunch after final inspection the barn. What's a bummer is they have been charging me based on what the home worth prior to it being foreclosed on(previous loans, I paid 25% of that. I feel it's a big rip-off, although it's much better than most.
Our forefathers would be astonished that we weren't tossing some leaders in the river...

Thanks.
I used the aluminum one when i built my 25' trailer, it worked well, but i went thru two cheap circular saws cutting it. I've seen the actual circular saws (the ones designed for cutting steel) with the steel blade in them on Craigslist, just couldn't pay the price at the time. The blade I just snagged up is the 70 tooth, should work great for making clean cuts on those panels.
The really nice thing is they don't shower your work with a bunch of super hot sparks like a standard grinding type blade does, those put a bunch of burn marks on paint.
I was able to make a bit more progress in the barn this morning before work, one small piece of osb and then some organizing. Hopefully this weekend I can get all three panels cut. I also have some used red roofing steel I may use in the welding area, the blade will be nice for that too.

Those boards look great 👍.
What torch tip did you use.
Shoot, I'm still rocking out my pops old skill saw, and I have a really nice makita worm drive. (It's heavy as sin) I'll cry when the skill saw is shot. Pretty sure it the last of the made in USA models.
20241217_210819.jpg20241217_210752.jpg20241217_210737.jpg
Just got one for the table saw too. Can't remember what tooth metal blade is got for cutting the tin, and for whatever reason I can't seem to find it either. I know ow it was a fine cut/for really thin metal and the tooth count was pretty high. It's cut a lot of metal so far and hasn't seemed to slow down too much.
It's not cutting perfectly straight, I don't know if I'll try to dial it in or not. It's close dimensionaly, I can see a rise in the middle though.

View attachment 1227016
could be a lot of things, but I'd say it's kinda normal for the blade to wander a little even under ideal conditions. I've been using a lot of rough cut recently and usually it has some sort of small variations in thickness. Doesn't seem to matter if it's my cousin running his Hudson or my logging buddies guy that has the big timber king mill.
 
I'm right on the border with CT. Lots of folks move there for lower property tax only to get hit with Personal Property Tax and Income tax on pensions and even (sometimes) Social Security. It is often like a minefield trying to figure out where taxes are lower overall. Ironically, a teacher in CT has a crappy pension (compared to NY), is taxed on the pension and does not pay into Social Security (pension is in lieu of Social Security).

Many places out West look picture post card perfect, but most of them don't have many hardwoods to speak of. I guess I'm a bit spoiled, but I can't imagine not having good hardwoods to cut and burn!

Ironically, the Catskills used to be almost all Hemlock, but when the clear cut it (to tan the leather for the Civil War) hardwoods grew up in their place!
If my wife would pack up and move to Alaska with me tomorrow, you could have the 4 year supply of sugar maple I got stacked in the pasture.
 
@MechanicMatt, I bet you've done your fair share of these in your career...View attachment 1227031
Thought I'd never see one again but here we are!
Death Star!!!

God knows how many head gaskets

The stupid exhaust that wraps around the 4T80

The stupid water pump

The cheap aluminum block that pulls its threads when you are torquing the heads down


One of my less liked engines….
 
I've only done 10 or so head gasket jobs on the Northstars. I haven't had one pull threads yet(knock on wood).

GM must've thought they had invincible water pumps when they designed them for these and the Quad 4s.

Definitely some poor designs in the 80s and 90s.
 
Florida is too south for me

I am thinking, NC-Tennessee-Kentucky area.

Maybe Arkansas and Missouri too
A lifelong close friend of mine incorporated and based his consulting business in TN for tax reasons... that includes business, personal and property/school taxes. Eventually he landed in GA near Atlanta. This as one of his big clients offered him a lot more money and a comprehensive benefit package to join them as an employee. In GA he has a finely appointed home with about 10,000 sq. ft. of finished space... When he built the house about 16 years ago he included a suite for his mother who had Parkinson's. He also put her on the deed. Doing that eliminated the need to pay school taxes and school bond taxes as she was over age 62. After she passed he paid school taxes for 4-5 years and then when he turned 62 he himself was exempt. The property taxes are trivial compared to NY and the income taxes comparatively low. His place is legitimately worth a couple million in the GA market... cheap compared to here. In my community there is is a mid-century home, on an equally desirable and sized lot, but it's got about half the finished space. Zillow reports the taxes on the local house are $31,000... My friend told me his taxes were a bit under $4,000 in 2023. Based on my friend's experiences I'd think TN and GA are worth consideration...
 
Hot as........ in the summer, but very nice mild winters, with a tiny bit of snow here and there.
Not as humid as most places east of the Mississippi, but we do still have our muggy days.

We pay $350 ish per year property tax on a new 1200 sq ft house and 5k sq ft of outbuildings sitting on 10 acres in the boonies.
Vehicle license fees & insurance are also pretty low....like 1/4 of what I paid in Oregon.
There's more freedom for regular o'l american rednecks in rural southern Missouri than just about anywhere in the US..... Arkansas is pretty similar from what I can tell.
Folks open carry here all the time.
NC, TN, & KY are definitely more scenic if that matters....though it's not really ugly here, just not quite as nice as those places.
I have no idea what the job market is like here because I'm self employed.... though, I've been offered a job more than once.
Now that is what I call cheap living compared to friggin Taxachusetts where we get screwed over on everything. We were in Branson last Summer. I liked that area around there.
 
Mine just went up a bunch after final inspection the barn. What's a bummer is they have been charging me based on what the home worth prior to it being foreclosed on(previous loans, I paid 25% of that. I feel it's a big rip-off, although it's much better than most.
Our forefathers would be astonished that we weren't tossing some leaders in the river...
Real estate taxes are another scam as are the assessors.

I see two vehicles on my security camera a few weeks back. One marked for the county and another unmarked with it. WTF do they need multiple people in multiple vehicles to assess my 4.5 acres? I went home to see what was up but knew right away when the assessors card was in the door.

Living on the lake means high taxes. Older people who have been on the lake for decades continue to get priced out. Mine are high but not bad relatively speaking compared to how the people in town are getting gouged. My ex's house in town is about 40% the value of my house but she pays 20 percent more taxes.

Average house on the lake is 5K per year. How does a single retiree cover that without significant savings/investments.
 
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