How'd it go today?

[stig]

Burnham, these are mere toothpicks compared to the Doug firs they grow up your way. Around here 6 cubic meters is a biggie.

Turned out that Martin has a knack for felling. He still needs to be WAY faster on limbing and bucking, but he has a real talent for putting trees exactly where he wants them to go.

Last friday we had a skidder with us, so I let him fall 3 big ones that had to be squeezed into real tiny lays. One had to go between two big maples and there was so little room that it had to roll off one of them and screw itself down into the lay.
Not the easiest thing to do, since you have to hit precisely and have your hinge break at the exactly right time.
I just figured, let him hang them, and we'll get the skidder to pull them down, and he will have leaned something from it.

Damn if he didn't get all 3 down.
He was one proud apprentice when he went off for the weekend and with good cause.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Excellent! I was wondering about the limbing lessons as well. Well done that he can read them as he is Great learning opportunity for him.

 

[Burnham]

Matters not, Stig...I still enjoy seeing your work pics. For that matter, we're almost exclusively logging second growth these days, so don't feel left out .

 

[Reddog]

Burnham it is still impressive how tall yours are on the wet side to the seemingly small dia of say 24".

 

[Burnham]

True enough, Wally. 150 feet wouldn't be a surprise.

Depending on the stand conditions, it's easy to find 24" dbh Dougs that are 50 years old, and just as easy to find 24" dbh Dougs that are 250 years old.

Guess which has better wood quality, and is worth more .

 

[woodworkingboy]

Shake a leg on that job, Stig. It also occurs that working in that cold must be challenging.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I had fun trimming this live oak, today It's the third time I've trimmed it in twenty years, she's an old friend.

 

[PCTREE]

BIG live oak.

 

[Burnham]

That's a hella specimen.

 

[arborworks1]

Cool deal Butch. Nice tree. Has it been the same owners for the duration?

 

[Tucker943]

What sort of trimming Butch? Away from the house? Prune?

 

[MasterBlaster]

They've lived there forever, yep!

It was a complete trim.

 

[rangerdanger]

Pretty good day today, got to climb one tree this morning, then I did ground duty while Dad, our other guy, and a contract climber climbed some Willow Oaks to prune them. Dad didn't think I could keep up with three climbers, but keep up I did lol. Overall, a fairly easy day, tomorrow is another day of Willow Oak pruning and a Hackberry removal.

 

[Stumper]

Fun live oak Butch. Tucker, I love those Ruger .22 semi autos. Oddly enough my Standard model is the most precise the Mark III is close and the Mark II I have is only very accurate instead of stunningly superb.

I pruned an ugly Silver Maple today along with a couple of apples and blocked down a dead Ash.

 

[Fiddler]

Managed to get ceiling covered with wall board yesterday and new lights wired in my back room last night. It was a late night so took it easy today.

Chipped some brush piles up.

Visited optometrist for new eyeglasses. Picked up more syringes from pharmacy. Had to start shots & go off of blood thinners starting Sat until I get teeth yanked on Thur. I'm just so happy to be giving myself shots in the stomach again I could just poop.

Got a call when I returned home...some guy who has been getting free wood from me to burn for heat came over and cut a dead cherry on my property while I was gone. He in no way had permission to run a chainsaw here or take down anything. He called to tell me it was hung up in a maple and might be a danger to someone walking around back there. It's not an immediate hazard where it's at and it's dark now, so I can wait 'till morning to get it down. I can't believe some people! There was a good pick=up load cut up stove size laying right next to the tree he took out:roll: I don't understand what gave him the idea he can be here when I am not but I'm certain he understands how it works now ...

 

[CurSedVoyce]

OUCH Dave! Better man than me... Some one would have to strap me down and do it. I couldn't do that myself.

Really nice old friend Butch!

 

[sotc]

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/PA-igZi5-Iw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[woodworkingboy]

That is so cool, nice surprise to come home to! The dark green color is very interesting, i think.

Went and topped some trees aided by a crane at an old house. Some got left that way and others were completely removed. Farmers often let their trees get so tall that there isn't much you can do with them but remove the tops. Earlier attention would have much better served. Some pretty good rot in a couple, only evident when cutting at the base. Nice to do tree work for a change, and back again tomorrow with two cranes, though they are predicting a very cold day.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

That was awesome... I loved the look of delightful surprise on her face.

 

[Stumper]

Very cool Willie. ..... I wonder what colors you will have to redo? ;^)

 

[sotc]

We had already talked colors and had the paint. She thought we were going to do this over a couple months. We got more done than painting, like that wide trim around the door but the paint was the dramatic part

 

[Fiddler]

Pulled down the hung-up cherry and cut it up. Hanging drywall tonight, and going to blow insulation tomorrow. I want to get the insulation in before winter hits.... Weather is warning of sub-freezing temps later this week.

 

[Reddog]

I want to get the insulation in before winter hits.... Weather is warning of sub-freezing temps later this week.

May save more on the cooling bill.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Got rained out today and no biggie... Rescheduled everyone the way I wanted it to go down and went with Kat to the kid's charter school. Just had a nice family day. Came home and cut some brush to feed the critters out back... Tinkered on some equipment. Power went out at about 3-4 PM. Just finally came back on. Crews were working right across the hill from us so we could watch them with some binoculars and Levi's telescope. Katy lit some candles she had made. Lit a couple lanterns and stoked the wood stove. Made some coffee and chilled out with books and conversation. Heated up some bean soup and some HM bread... Simple times

 

[Burnham]

It's a rough life, Stephen....