How'd it go today?

Beautiful! I was given a "tip saw" about 2 months ago...an 041 Stihl. Bought a 24" bar and chain for it, paid our Stihl guys at Ace Hardware to do the carb and she is doing great so far.

Yours looks a lot better...:)

This is the first time I ran it...before the Stihl mechanic got hold of it. Cranked right up...good deal since it had been sitting a long time before the Chief gave it to me.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/kJOlr62M-0c" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; encrypted-media" allowfullscreen></iframe>
 
Looooong day today. Finished the complete "David Copperfield" tree removal we started yesterday at noon: red oak removed, stump ground, grindings hauled off, top soil brought in, sod laid. Tree completely vanished, nothing but lawn left. Lots of "Manuel Labor" involved, pitching chips, then pitching, raking & tamping soil, laying out sod... Customer is happy.

Then it was off to another simple job -- fell 6-7 small trees growing beside a house -- very tight space between her fence and the neighbor's picket fence. Started with the Silky hand saw until the chipper truck arrived with the saws. Felled a nice slender "Mongolian" elm -- with a big fat hinge, lots of holding wood, it laid down in slow motion, bent over on its stump. Whole smorgasbord: burning bush, elms, hackberries, mulberry, pecan.

Then on to a drop-n-chip: dying ash, dead red maple. Done in 15 mins while the customer wasn't there. Did the stump grinding, she showed up and added another declining ash tree (suggested she replace them with Linden).

Then it was on to more stump grinding: back to the poison ivy twin pines. Thankfully, the customer had kindly pulled all the ivy groundcover up, so there were only a few actual vines and ground sprigs, nothing like it had been. Directly afterward, I headed to the auto parts store to get more Grime Boss wipes (we were out). They didn't have any, but I realized that it was an ideal place to wash up after poison ivy detail. Their bathrooms were stocked with both GoJo hand soap and FastOrange hand cleaner -- perfect for taking off the oils. I scrubbed up really well, then went ahead and bought a "Tub o' Towels." Very impressed after the first use -- seemed to clean up any grease residue on my arms very well, has a lotion & aloe vera additive so it didn't feel drying to my skin. It also works very well as an Armor All replacement on our dashboard!

Then two more stump grinding jobs -- one by the Kansas Motor Speedway, just two bush stumps in a planter bed. Only hairy thing was there was live Romex ran below one stump 3 inches down, feeding an outdoor yard lantern. Then on to wrap up a job from last week, grinding out a small ash stump and an ornamental. No big deal, but the drive time between each and every job today was at least 30 mins, so it made for at least a 12 hour day today. Whew.
 
It was switched, off. Wasn't really worried about hitting it since it dove down deeper the further away from the house it got, plus it was trenched out and exposed so you could see it. I was only just skimming the surface 1" or so to bust up the bush stump & surface roots. Plus, that late in the day I could've used the jolt to stay awake!
 
The bike is packed, I'm ready to head out tomorrow.
I loved how we were able to do a spur of the moment decision on this.
Push a couple of jobs ahead, load tents and sleeping bags and off we go.
Almost makes me feel young again.

I'll take some pictures to show y'all:D
 
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Looking forward to the pics and trip report, Stig.

M and I operate the same way...takes us less that 48 hours to put a camping trip on the road, unless it's of several weeks' duration. A trip of 3+ weeks takes a bit more food prep time up front :).
 
Stump grinding, stump grinding today. Trying to play catch-up with the crew, as they're rolling out small removals and I'm trying to keep up on the stumps. I got waved down by a neighbor as I was pulling out at one of the jobs today and he asked me to grind his 18" ash stump, about 2-3 years seasoned. Great to earn a C-note in ~15 minutes, unexpected cream. Can't say it was no sweat, because I was for sure dripping today at 92 degrees in the full sun!

Ended the day by picking up a root rake grapple bucket for the track skid steer we have access to. I don't have all the particulars on the job it's for, but that always means we're going to have some
F.U.N.
 
I had to stop by the local IRS office for an estimated tax form so I can mail in quarterly estimated taxes. Was expecting to walk in, grab the form off a display rack by the door and walk out. Instead I had to ask directions 3 times and make my way to the 3rd floor and down 2 hallways to the 'taxpayer assistance office' where I was stopped at the door by a security officer asking me to empty my pockets before stepping through the metal detector. Of course my little 2.5" pocket knife set off all sorts of panic and I was immediately asked to leave because I was carrying a weapon. Freaking Bizarro world! I managed to get my form by pleading with the idiot guard to just hand me a 1040-ES but was required to wait outside in the hallway. She scolded me about my language so I departed with a "frig You!"
 
Yeah Brian, it's going to get a lot worse before it gets better. Most people believe it is the weapon that is responsible for carnage. Some more years of down hill slide and the loss of all reasonable first amendment rights before we as a society wake up.

We have already lost the right to say whatever we want about big corporations. (They can sue you for any resultant financial loss.)
 
Mellow said:
I'm pretty sure you can print just about any of those IRS forms directly from their website.

edit: Here ya geaux: https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f1040es.pdf :thumbup:
Click to expand...

I've tried having a printer before, almost never used it and the last one I used 3 times in 15 months before it died. So I haven't owned a printer for the last 10 years. Also the IRS office is only about 4-5 miles away and I was driving past anyway. Should have been no big deal IMO but as usual anything related to government is about 15 times more complicated than necessary.
 
Helpful advice!

Just refrain from saying FU to any of those guys.

They may have a different reaction than those other people!
 
Contract climb this morning, no ground help showed up.
Ran some paperwork for the estate I'm taking care of, priced out a couple tree jobs, bought some steel to weld up a bigger mill for my new 47" hardnose bar. Dealer told me it had a sprocket..... Meh... Guess I'll have to make a helper handle with a bearing....

Motor shop sucked. All 4 pool pumps I had lined up to do today were not repairable, so that was a bust. I did sell a new motor at the end of the day, I got it earlier this week in stock.

Truck is packed for Monday's milling job. It's really just to remove a spruce log from a property, but hey, I get paid in the front end and get money at the back end.

Made up loops of 404 ripping chain..25ft only got me 3 loops. Had to go to London to get some. Picked up a moisture meter from Lee Valley while I was there.

Safety net on the little girl's trampoline was broken, easy peasy fix to make a bar, GF was anxious to get it done. I told her I can make one, but I have to go home to do it. She has a decision to make. Have me stay and help with kid.... Or go and make a part you can't buy.....
 
Today was Bradford Pear Day

I guess if there were a National Bradford Pear Appreciation Day, we would have to stand up & say, "We're thankful for the work that Bradford Pears afford us!"

Today we tackled about 20 of them lining a driveway; the homeowner's goal was to open up the driveway for an RV he was purchasing this weekend. I removed one so the homeowner could change the angle of a driveway to his workshop, making it easier to pull in the RV. It had a strong backlean toward the other trees in the row, but I wanted to drop it diagonally across the driveway so as to not damage the keepers. While the "intentional barber chair" concept sounded interesting, I chose to go with a more traditional high notch (about shoulder height), about 45 degrees off the backlean, so it would cross the driveway and land on the tips. It did brush a tree across the driveway, but no damage to any other trees or the driveway itself. I'll be back out Sunday for stump grinding, and we have some friends that bring in the gravel and do the skid steer work on the driveway, so the homeowner will see some prompt action to meet his goals.

Then it was on to pruning to raise the crown to 14' clearance over the driveway. Mostly dropping off some leaders from ground level, but some free climbing for a few more limbs on each tree. Then some touch up and light deadwooding with the Marvin pole pruning saw. And a big mess to cleanup! Thankfully the homeowner was out for errands, so he never got to experience the mess, just coming home to having his objective realized.

Forest Keepers recommends that all homeowners plant Bradford Pears, Silver Maples, and Ash trees to assure our future financial solvency. Thank you for your support!
Click to expand...
 
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