Pellet Fan
All Things Considered => General Discussion--Non food Related => Topic started by: Kristin Meredith on December 08, 2017, 02:09:10 PM
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I am a bit late in my documentation, but will get things going now. We started about mid-Oct 2017. Cut down and processed some big trees. Got some of it split, maybe will be 3 cords when all split and stacked.
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We then kept on down in the South 20 and maybe got another 2 cords cut, some stacked, some still waiting.
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A couple of days ago moved into some areas needing cleaning up. No before pics, but a few after.
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Here's what we were doing yesterday and today -- clean up work!
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Here's where we move to tomorrow -- if it doesn't snow! So much wood. If only we knew how to make pellets out of it. :pig:
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Is that Rusty in one of the photographs (maybe # 6 or 7)? How's her eye?
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Yes, she follows me everywhere. When we are down in the woods,she runs right beside me as I drive the golf cart and then goes on "patrol" to make sure the area is safe and then returns to my side. Very loyal and protective and will now take a treat from my hand, but won't let me touch her!!! The eye seems much the same, I don't think she can see out of it. I sure wish I could get her to a vet.
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Hey Kristen, are those trees mostly red oak or something similar? It looks like good wood from here.
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The end grain looks like Red Elm but I think we examined the leaves and determined (on PH) that it's oak.
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I believe the majority are Southern Red Oak. It is very embarrassing to admit that I am a Master Gardener who has taken tree identification classes and have a tree identification guide which I use and I am still horrible at identifying many trees. There are also many ash trees mixed in which is a shame because the county has a very bad infestation of Emerald Ash Bore and that is a death sentence to every one of the ash trees. I have also found a few Sweet Gum (Liquid Amber) which I love and so am guarding each and every one. And also some cedars which I don't love so much, so they usually go.
The huge trees are red oak. We know that they can't be older than 150 years because 100,000 Union troops occupied the county in the winter of 1863-64 with an indication that some may have stayed on this farmland or within a half mile. The writings of the period indicate that there was not a tree left standing in the county when they left. When you think about it, must have been hard times for civilians in the years following.
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K & B,
I need to tell you how fascinated I am with viewing photos of your current homestead. What a change for you guys.
Moving from Pasadena to "Mayberry" had to be quite a culture shock. But, I am total digging your lifestyle.
I'll officially nickname this ranch the "Ponderosa".
It is certainly quite a different style, from when I visited S. Cal and we "crawled" to a few BBQ joints.
I have also viewed the aerial photos taken by Bent with the Phantom with great delight.
Keep the photos coming.
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I have tried to post some from 4 years ago to show the progress, but none I have seem to do that.
(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/Meredith%20VA%20Park/IMG_0510Stitch.jpg)
(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/Meredith%20VA%20Park/IMG_0313.jpg)
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(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/Meredith%20VA%20Park/IMG_0958Stitch.jpg)
(https://pelletfan.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1245.0;attach=3968;image)
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(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/Meredith%20VA%20Park/IMG_0958Stitch.jpg)
(https://pelletfan.com/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1245.0;attach=3968;image)
This last one really shows the work you have done. That's a lot of thinning! Looks great.
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Seems like yesterday that we both had our homes built. Can't believe it is 2.5 years for me and over 3 for you.
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Here are the woods today. I think it will need to melt a little before we go down again.
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This was my 2016/2017 logging season. The trees that came down in the storm at my cabin (plus some that had busted tops from the storm). My friend on the left who helped me saw them into lumber.
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His sawmill (Wood Mizer)
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Finished lumber
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Z
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Wow! What did or do you plan to do with the lumber. Looks like enough to build an addition onto your cabin.
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Impressive, ZCZ.
MEGA
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That really is quite impressive. That set up looks awfully neat also.
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Impressive, ZCZ.
MEGA
Agree!!!
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Kristin & Bentley - Love seeing pictures of your woods and the progress you have made. I remember subscribing to the similar thread you had on PH. I love working in the woods, too. There is a satisfaction to seeing progress. Thanks so much for posting.
Z
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Wow! What did or do you plan to do with the lumber. Looks like enough to build an addition onto your cabin.
Garage and outdoor shed.
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Z, there must be a great deal of satisfaction in felling a tree, trimming it, ripping lumber and building something substantial. I can't think of anything that compares.
One of the Foxfire books has a story about an Appalachian woman that sheered the sheep, spun the wool into thread, wove the fabric, dyed it with black walnut husk stain and sewed her husband's wedding suit. She buried him in it about 50 years later. That sorta' compares.
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I am pretty sure those were not cut worth a 20 inch Husqvarna...How long did they have to air dry?
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I am pretty sure those were not cut worth a 20 inch Husqvarna...How long did they have to air dry?
Actually, the ones we ended up cutting down were cut with my friend's 20" Huskie (and limbed with my 16" Stihl). They say they need to air dry two years but they have dried out pretty well already. They came down in the storm at the end of summer so they had a lot of sap.
Z
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Wish you had taken some video of that thing in action!
Wood Mizer LT 40 (https://youtu.be/CEMZjU9evXs)
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One of the biggest ones coming down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm1PJx58hSA
Unfortunately I did not take a video of the saw working.
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That tree fell right in the gap! Wow!
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One of the biggest ones coming down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm1PJx58hSA
Unfortunately I did not take a video of the saw working.
Holy cow that is neat, got to admit, I'd be scared as heck doing that.
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That tree fell right in the gap! Wow!
We had a cable on it to help us out. It had a back lean to it (back toward the cabin).
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One of the biggest ones coming down
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zm1PJx58hSA
Unfortunately I did not take a video of the saw working.
Holy cow that is neat, got to admit, I'd be scared as heck doing that.
It is very dangerous indeed. One wants to avoid this (called "Barber Chair"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O7H9qWdquk
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It is very dangerous indeed. One wants to avoid this (called "Barber Chair"):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9O7H9qWdquk
Well, that was quite a rabbit hole to go down. I spent waaaaaay too much time watching barber chair videos. You're a bad influence, Z.
See? I'm an expert at delegating blame. A technique I learned at a Fortune 500 company. That's why I never had the company ailment, a peptic ulcer.
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Here’s another rabbit hole for you.
I think Bentley will enjoy watching this one too.
An excellent method for getting a tree to fall where you want it. In this case between another tree and a pickup.
https://youtu.be/gih-lZS2M6s
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You do not wanna watch this
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHZkR6UVegY
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I am getting better at bringing them down. I have learned a lot from youtube. The trees I am bring down are 1/2 to 1/3 the size in most of the videos, not big enough for a bore cut. So a back cut and then the hinge cut and most of the time they do not come down on anyone...
I will have to set the camara up next time and film one of the bigger ones Kristin wants down.
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I am getting better at bringing them down. I have learned a lot from youtube. The trees I am bring down are 1/2 to 1/3 the size in most of the videos, not big enough for a bore cut. So a back cut and then the hinge cut and most of the time they do not come down on anyone...
I will have to set the camara up next time and film one of the bigger ones Kristin wants down.
Yes please. And I enjoy seeing the pictures showing your progress so keep those coming as well.
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A short video of why lies ahead...and a picture of a leaf, which I believe someone said may be a pin oak leaf...
Wood Clearing to Come (https://youtu.be/cGqii7_Wk2g)
(http://i110.photobucket.com/albums/n90/lwnna/Meredith%20VA%20Park/IMG_0821.jpg)
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A large White Pine we brought down this last weekend. My brother on the saw. If you look higher on the tree you will see a nylon strap which is connected to a cable going to the tractor in the distance. Cable is connected to a winch on the tractor to make sure the tree goes away from my brother's house behind me as the tree had a back-lean to it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiCfn0P1EOE
The effects of the impact. My brothers lake home behind. My cabin is up the hill to the left.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHQ6F-LVXNI
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That was a HUGE tree to bring down!!!
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Why was it felled?
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Why was it felled?
The tree was a threat to my brother’s house in the event of a bad storm. He did not want happening to him what happened to me just over a year ago
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Quite the war zone. No windows were broken if you can imagine that. Everything has been repaired. So glad we were not there when it happened. Car would have been destroyed as we parked right under the little overhang on the side. Also the road in was blocked by downed trees. Someday I will put a thread together showing before & after.
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You guys are just a bunch of real lumberjacks! Nice work.
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(https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171221/7ea9d9b389d5021cb2f00d0320d57810.jpg)
A couple logs cut after clearing some trees and brush for a cabin build this year.
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You guys are just a bunch of real lumberjacks! Nice work.
Nice videos for viewing, Z,
Yeah, you Swedes have been knocking down trees for quite awhile.
Aye?
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Here we were about 5 weeks ago. Got in about 4-5 days work, clearing little stuff and burning and then bitter cold weather and holidays kept us from going down.
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Here we are today. Only been able to put in a couple more days since the first of the year, but it is 55 today so back in the swing of things.
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Don't want to sound dumb but the 1st. 2 pictures show the green ribbon tree, is that to signal save?
Also is that basically the same perspective?
Most important is your chain saw cooperating?
Too much work for this old buzzard but would love the set up you guys have.
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Green ribbon was a signal to save and not cut down.
Perspective is not exact because I did not look at the old pics before going down today so had to just try and guess where I took prior pics. But I was within about 10-12 ft to the right of original photos and farther back. If you look at the last "after" photo, the big tree in the middle of the photo was the one with the green ribbon on it.
My little toy saw is working well for me. A little tree that takes Bent about 20 seconds to down takes me about 2 minutes, but it is my speed and I feel safe, so all is good.
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You two have done a lot of work! Does it feel satisfying to look at all you've accomplished or is there still so much to do that it's too soon to celebrate?
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Well, to clear it all back to the run is 20 acres. Bent has a better sense of acreage, but I would say we have cleared about 1 acre of that 20, maybe 2. So sometimes, when I walk around in the areas we have not cut, I get overwhelmed. But when I look at it from the driveway to the neighbor's winery, it looks really nice and you can start to see some of the big, older trees. Then, I think "Not too bad, looks pretty!!"
I should probably get him to do a drone fly over so you could see the scale.
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Love seeing and hearing your reports of progress. Would love to work with you and help out as I love working in the woods. My wife wants me to cut back up at the cabin as it seems lots of people getting Lyme’s Disease here in MN. Be sure to use bug repellent, the Deer Ticks are very small.
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Z we have extra bedrooms and a private bath for you!!! You are such an expert we would probably have those other 18 acres down in two weeks!!!
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Z we have extra bedrooms and a private bath for you!!! You are such an expert we would probably have those other 18 acres down in two weeks!!!
And maybe squeeze in a comp over the weekend, and throw some clays. But I would probably get distracted by all the Civil War battlefields & rich colonial history in northern VA. I was a History major in college (“I didn’t go to college for nothing, I paid for it.â€). Most likely not going to happen but would be LOTS of fun.
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I will try and get some quality video up to replace this if the sun comes out tomorrow! Horrible quality!
Fly Over (https://youtu.be/pn0lapaoNjA)
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We will see next time if he can go in further to the run to show the depth of the property.
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I will try and get some quality video up to replace this if the sun comes out tomorrow! Horrible quality!
Fly Over (https://youtu.be/pn0lapaoNjA)
Shows you have done a LOT of work. Where is your house in relation to these woods? Maybe next time the drone is up have it turn back toward the house?
Thanks for posting!
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1:31 mark, far left...
Where is your house in relation to these woods?
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Got it. Thanks.
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You live in a beautiful place, Bentley. Without the leaves on the trees I can see you've done a ton of work already. The drone work is so fun to watch. Looks like Rusty enjoys it, too!
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We were out running the dog and went by our Uncles place, saw this in the back yard...What do you think? 35 more feet and house damage?
Will see what they want to do when they get home in April!
(https://i.imgur.com/YnQrJ9Gh.jpg)
(https://i.imgur.com/qKwG2mhh.jpg)