How'd it go today?

[treebogan]

Made 2.5 days money in 6 hours.
Bought myself a new Rifle scope in reward for being a scoundrel.

 

[lxskllr]

Good start to the day. Found my skidding cone. It's better than I could have hoped for...



Downside is I cut my finger with a hacksaw removing the hardware(Why's that crap on a skidding cone anyway?!). Dumbest part is I said to myself, "Self; You should move your hand, or you're gonna cut yourself". Self said "Don't worry about it. It'll be alright..." :^S

 

[stig]

Cool.
Is that a rappel out on a rescue 8?

Exactly!
We started using those on Burnham's recommendation, back in 09, when we first went to climb real trees.

 

[stikine]

Those beech look nice size stig.

 

[Tree09]

Downside is I cut my finger with a hacksaw removing the hardware

Lol that's why you don't use a hacksaw! I can count on one hand the times I've used a hacksaw, it's like the tool of last resort when the other tools of last resort have failed

 

[stig]

Those beech look nice size stig.

Yep.
Too old to use for anything else but testing apprentices in.
We have gained some fame locally for our way of having new apprentices in for a "talk", so when I called the local State forester and asked if we could borrow "the usual Beech tree", he just laughed and said: " Another youngster being tested, I guess".

I got really lucky today.
We'll be logging for at least july and august on island Møn.
2 different castle forests and some 3000 cubic meters.
So I called the owner of Nordfeld castle ( We have a really fine relationship, he'll be going along on our motorcycle trip to Schweiz this summer ( Corona willing) and asked if he knew of anybody down there, who had room for us.
While logging camp is fine and fun, 2 months is too much.
Turned out that Nordfeld castle had a place where the renters are moving out in may, and they haven't decided whether to rent out again or do a bed and breakfast.
So letting us have it for 2 months is no problem.

Working 10 hour days in summer heat, it sure is nice to be able to shower and sleep on a mattress, instead of staying in a tent.















Hhhhhhmmmmm......................................................Am I getting old or what?

 

[Mick!]

You going to be recovered in time for that? Your foot and all.

 

[stig]

I have no other choice.
Doing 10 hour days in the shape I am in, will likely be the hardest thing, I've ever done.

But, I still have 2 months to train for it

 

[Mick!]

Alrighty then.

 

[Tree09]

Holy shit Stig, doing that right after chemo sounds brutal

 

[stikine]

10 hrs is a long day running saws for sure. Stig where do the apprentices come from? Are they enrolled in some college or trade school program?

 

[stig]

Forestry school.
A 3 ½ year education, where most is served with a master and 1½ year at school.

 

[lxskllr]

Lol that's why you don't use a hacksaw! I can count on one hand the times I've used a hacksaw, it's like the tool of last resort when the other tools of last resort have failed

Hacksaw's all I got. If a file, carpentry saw, bowsaw, hacksaw, or chainsaw won't cut it, it doesn't get cut.

 

[Tree09]

No sawzall? Grinder?

 

[lxskllr]

I guess I have a reciprocating saw. It was in the tools I found in the trash. Haven't used it though. I've spent most of my life using hand tools. That's why I got into chainsaws so late. Until a big storm nailed my property, I did almost all woodcutting with a bowsaw. The rest was an axe/machete, or crosscut.

edit:
This was the last cordless drill I bought...



Got it a couple months ago. I wanted one in the house. My old one's in the truck, and the chuck's sloppy from abuse. Haven't had a dead battery yet!

 

[Tree09]

I hate even using a sawzall, it's a tool of last resort for me. But a hacksaw is ridiculous, especially on iron or steel. Hand tools have a use for sure, but on metal they are almost futile except for fine work. A cold chisel and hammer would even be better in my opinion. I'm spoiled in the fact that i work with metal all day everyday so i have all sorts of tools, but sometimes doing stuff the way it was done over 100 years ago isn't remotely practical. Get yourself a cheap grinder, or better yet a good one, and then you'll have a way of cutting stuff, sharpening tools and mower blades, and wire wheeling rust off stuff.

 

[lxskllr]

I have stationary grinders. I have a foot treadle big stone grinder, a normal sized handcrank grinder, and an electric benchgrinder in the basement, but I don't like going in the basement. I scavenge a lot of rebar at work to use as control points and property corners. Straighten them out in the hitch receiver in the truck, then cut them to length with a hacksaw. It goes pretty quick. You only have to get ½-⅔ in, then snap it off.

I like the portability and reliability of handtools. They just work. No hassle aside from the effort it takes to operate them.

 

[Tree09]

A pair of bolt cutters does rebar even faster. I'm clearly not gonna convince you of anything, but in life things are often done in a certain manner for a reason. A $20 tool, or the one you already own, could have done that job effortlessly in a couple min.

 

[lxskllr]

Boltcutters leave a shitty twisted end. Yeeaars ago we used to get rebar from a guy that cut them with shears. They don't drive straight, and it's hard to get a cap on right. Not that all my rebar is a gem. Some of it came out of old bridge decks or jerseywall, so though I straightened it mostly, it has a funny shape, and doesn't drive as straight as virgin rebar. I prefer to use those for control points, cause they get set and located. They don't have to be in a particular place. I save the really straight ones for property corners, or driving in extremely hard ground. Mine are 100% recycled, 100% postconsumer content, and no petrol or electricity was used in production. Doesn't get any greaner greener than that!

edit:
WTF spelling :^/

 

[stikine]

John, take some photos when you use your improvised log cone. You might want to cut the flange off it beforehand? Of course that might not be feasible with your hacksaw...

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Tree went well. Not terribly large. Just in a bad spot. I was going to originally cable it after a nice prune, but mom was worried the insurance company was going to eventually require it's removal vs cancel. And really, it would not be over my personal dwelling.
Down to a stem by lunch. Mom went and got pizza. Started about 9ish. Lowered most of it. No stress day. Levi ran the material with the mini about 600 feet out to a burn pile.

 

[lxskllr]

Already ahead of you. I cut 30%-50% off what's to be the bottom of it, *and* I used the hacksaw :^D

 

[Bodean]

Good to see Levi chipping in.. I bet a mini is more fun than dragging by hand...

Is that your same OG mini?

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Yup, the little Dingo just keeps on keepin on.

 

[Burnham]

I'm not at all sure I see why that tree needed to be taken out, Stephen. Did I miss an earlier post, maybe?