How'd it go today?

The weather's getting cooler, so we've been spending several evenings lately out sitting by a fire. I decided today was perfect for a little dutch oven cooking, so I had my oldest daughter throw together an apple pie for me to cook. It turned out PERFECT....


Dutch ovens rule! The flavor of anything cooked inside is unparalleled.
 
Waiting for the finish on a coffee table to dry, I got into modifying a 262xp. Got the squish where I wanted after removing the gasket and turning down the cylinder base. Kind of surprising how large the original squish was when stock, for a saw with a good reputation for power. I picked up the saw used awhile back after Willard gave a recommendation, but never much ran it except to get an idea. See how it cuts and where the rpms are before deciding about porting. Might have to do something about the altered port timing, I took a good chunk out of the cylinder height. The compression jumped up around 45 points, but need a new intake gasket before final readings and operation. One thing is that the model runs hot by reputation, and I have already observed that. Not sure how the added compression is going to affect it, maybe turn it into burnt toast? Opened up the muffler, so it might help. Kind of long in the tooth, but it feels a good balance with a twenty inch bar on it.

Haven't heard much about that model being a good saw to mod or not, but there is one on youtube that has been worked on, and it looks sweet. My 242xp has been about my all time favorite saw since I modified it. The 262 is the next one up in the same series, I believe. Anyway, made a productive day out of one with not much potential to begin with, I hope.
 
There are a lot of good saws out there that will carry a twenty inch bar well, both old and new models, and different brands. Over at AS discussions, the 262xp has a kind of mystique about it with people, don't know what that is about, or how much is based on fact.
 
Spanked a dead white ash over a historic barn today. The tree grew 2' away from the barn and up and out rather far over it. Not one dead piece could ding the metal roof. The barn owner emphasized that the materials used could not be replaced. HO didn't own the barn, but his neighbor did. We smoked it in 2 hours. It paid well. I wasn't taking on that brittle headache for peanuts.
 
We need a rain day here.
Tomorrow is day three of a three day job...
Pruned a way over grown fruitless mulberry... Had to carve my in from the ground first.
Lifted some white oaks off roofs..
Took hazard dead off a dying grey pine (yeah seriously WTF... told him when it dies, crane time):|:
Took down some little pecker pole grey pines and rigged a dead one off the dying one to float it through trees, over brush and down a slope to the driveway... Lift line, floating block, tag line.....
Set up the white oak we are removing a leader from to cable the next leader in and bolt the codom.
Good thing the dude has a cute and flirtatious daughter :D

On the other side of it...
Are the planets in some sort of weird alignment?? Because it sure seems like there are a lot of people auditioning for the position of the royal head of Fucktardia these days. :X
 
Rupert is recovering from a fight with an SUV on our dozen household private road. Probably 15 mph in the thick fog. No broken bones from xrays, thankfully. A bit of road rash, couple of SBA dollar sized patches on his ankles. His greatest pain is in the knee that was operated on in 2008. We will have to watch for soft tissue and nerve damage potentialities. He's banged up, but it may well keep him from getting killed. Neighbors drive slowly enough. Visitors are the bigger problem. Rupert not staying out of the road is the biggest problem. He's a free range dog, and such freedom could cost him, but its a free, happy life. Tomorrow will probably see him sore, and moving around a bit better. I think he'll pull through. Didn't help the existing arthritis in his 7 year old knees. $450 later sie la vie. Could have been so much worse. The neighbor that hit him was worried sick. She was happy to get the call that he'd be okay. She couldn't find him in the fog after it happened, and nobody was home at the time. 2 hours later, when she got back from town, she found Amy home, and was so happy to hear Rupert bark from the bedroom when she knocked on the door.
 
I was in the middle of posting here and my Fire pager went off...a tree came down across the highway (its blowing a gale today) a guy in a pickup had a SERIOUS close call!
The tree just hit the front left of the truck, flipped him up on his nose and he came down in the ditch on the other side! By the time we got there in the landcruiser the ambo's were there and he was actually ok, sore back etc, they took him to hospital regardless, and he must have been shocked! Luckily it didn't take out the power lines as well, I reckon it grazed them, looked like a bit of bark on one.

It was a nasty old poplar in a sheep paddock, white rot in the base from what I could see, it just snapped off and BLAM right across the highway...the SES got to it with their chainsaw before I could, but I helped roll bits out of the road and tried to look important.

We were still downwind of a whole row of these old trees, bit nervewracking watching them sway as well...
 
Two hrs later...second call out!
Car had flipped and rolled into a paddock, coming too fast into the corner in the wet...three occupants, two walking about after, one half in and half out of the car, still concious...been in the Firies one year, first three call outs all in one week, all MVA's...
 
I was a professional firefighter for 7 years. I was on the extrication truck for at least 2 years. MVA's are not for the faint hearted that's for sure. Bermy, Don't allow yourself to get tunnel vision and forget your surroundings that will get you killed. Sorry for the derail: Sold some firewood today and did some light pruning on several trees. Tomorrow working on some palms and looking at a removal.
 
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