How'd it go today?

Nope. I wondered off to past the fire pit. It was time when I was sitting there talking to my brother and one of the kids had a bad throw with the football. Little shit had good aim.
 
I remember rock cod fishing once with about 4#of weight attatched to go deep. String of hooks on the rig was giving me a tangle issue and i sat the 4# of weight on the gunwale (rail for the land lubbers). One good swell fixed that and set that shiney hook right through a finger.. easier that way though. Clip off the eye and pull through. Never ever did it again.
:lol:
 
I solve all that by not fishing :^D Fishing gear clutters a nice day on the water. Besides, I'm not that good at it.

Another fairly easy day, but the heat's getting old. Can't wait til fall. Made a new friend today...

IMG_20200723_105239.jpg

He must have been busy. Only hung out for ten minutes or so.
 
Change of pace for today. After so much cutting and hauling, I hauled and will plant this Zelkova 'Brightpark'
 

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I'm back from Møn.
It was probably the hardest thing, I've ever put myself through.
Talk about being your own worst enemy.
Too bushed to do it now, I'll tell the whole story tomorrow.
 
Rest up stig!

Patrick, I'm not familiar with that tree. Wikipedia says they range from shrubs to 100'+. Where does that fall on the scale?
 
This one could reach 100ft. It is at the edge of a meadow so it will be free to go as high as it wants. It won't be a climbing tree. Zelkovas are known and appreciated for their tight crotches and almost vertical branches. The leaves are reminders of elm and chestnut leaves but more slender.
 
My neighbor went by yesterday with a big tree in his truck like that, only it was a big ass pot plant. :/:
The nursery did a great job wrapping the tree in a tarp and it was laying flat in the trunk. I once burned all the leaves of a tree transporting it without a tarp or burlap.
 
The nursery did a great job wrapping the tree in a tarp and it was laying flat in the trunk. I once burned all the leaves of a tree transporting it without a tarp or burlap.
You probably know, but burlapped trees almost always have the root flare buried, sometimes over 6"down. Good idea to do some root ball excavation before fully planting.

Or, as my old boss used to say, "Plant em high, they won't die"
 
Rest up indeed, Stig. We are not so very far apart in age...I have a few on you, but not enough to talk about.

And I didn't nearly kill myself on my own staircase recently (though I must admit I have looked at mine askance, and used the handrail more than before, since your incident).

I wouldn't expect very much from myself, going back in the woods just now. You probably would be starting from a much higher base level, but even so, maybe you shouldn't either, my dear friend.

So hell's bell's, as we might say here...give yourself a break!
 
No choice, really.
The job had to be done, that is one client I don't want to lose.
It actually went much better than I expected.
The hand acted up the first day, but I quelled that with some vitamine I.
So it was mostly a question of me being ouf of logging shape.
In fact, the apprentice was just as bushed as I by day's ending.
In his case not from being out of shape, but from being extremely stressed, not to say, scared shitless by the trees.

It was some of the worst stuff I've dealt with.
Big ash trees in various states of dying.
Armillaria attack made it hard to find good hingewood and if you hit another tree, it could start a domino reaction.
Add to that a dense understory of arm thich slender Maple and Elm that meant that in order to dertermine lean, one had to cut a hole in the understory to see through.
Then clear the lay or have dozens of loaded springpoles waiting for you when bucking. An escape route was necessary, too. There was lots of dead branches coming down when the trees went over.
The forester came out to us and the first thing he said,was: " I realize you won't be able to make money in this, we'll compensate in the price".
Might be first time, I've had that happen, usually we have to fight to get anything extra.

So the poor apprentice was in WAY over his head.
He did really well though, but it was hard on him.

I didn't get to take any pictures, here are some from last time.
Difference being, back then we worked in open forest, no understory.

The last 2 pictures are of the old fraud. :D

'We are going back next week to finish it.

P1060319.JPG P1060325.JPG P1060341.JPG P1060344.JPG
 
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I was picking raspberries for the freezer today, when Thais suddenly started barking like mad.
Turned out there were Afghans in the cherry trees.
A man and a woman, dressed in traditional Afghan ( I think) garb, were walking among my cherry trees up in the orchard, picking cherries.
I have to say, that pissed me off.
They were most likely from the refugee camp 2 miles away.
I don't believe it is an Afghan custom to walk a quarter mile down a private driveway and just start in on the landowner's fruit.
In fact, I'm fairly sure, that if they had done that in Afghanistan, they would have got a few rounds from an AK 47 sent their way.

Thais chased them off, and I made a phone call to the camp.
 
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That sucks. Some states here, you can paint your fence posts purple letting trespassers know you will shoot first, and bury the body later.
 
Another ordinary day. Boss last week had the mechanic look at his Bobcat, and he determined it needed a starter, so he bought one, and I installed it today. Got everything hooked up, boss hit the switch, and the machine fired right up. Then promptly stopped... Tried a few more times with the same result. One error code that indicated the fuel solenoid(frig if I know). He did some googling, and I took everything apart, and hooked it back up, including the wires to the fuel solenoid, which I hadn't previously touched. Tried again, and it fired up and stayed running. Sounded good, so I'm calling it a success for now. He's gonna grade the driveway on the farm tomorrow, so that'll be the real test.
 
It's a diesel right? Remember the fuel solenoid is the kill switch. Might be worth getting a new one, or if you are a hillbilly shadetree like me, take it apart to clean everything (use sealer to keep weatherproof), and then reinstall. If they sit they will get corroded, so sometimes even turning the key on and off a bunch will help make better contacts.
 
Yea, it's a diesel. I'll see how it goes. If it gives further trouble, taking it apart and cleaning it is cheap enough, and it won't get any more broken. If that doesn't work, he can buy another one.

I'm not any kind of mechanic, and don't really enjoy the work. I have very high level knowledge of how everything works with a motor, so it isn't a complete mystery, but I don't have any particular skills. I take what little knowledge I have, hit up a search engine, and try to make it work. I generally end up successful, but it's far from routine activity. I work in a mild state of anxiety, and when finished, it's more relief, than pleasure in a job(well or not) done. That said, the starter was easy as can be, and I like the simplicity of the Bobcat. Not much back there, and I have a good idea of what everything does just by looking at it. *Much* better than modern cars.
 
I've experienced that on a diesel mini skid with a blown fuse. It would start and die, and run only as long as the key was in the start position.
 
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