Please don't give him any ideas!! I am still waiting for my invite to the next Porterhouse Steak Fry MAF143 !!
Probably a stupid question but Do you sell off any of your beef?? I am in central Ohio and always looking for good beef. Last two people I dealt with have gone downhill. Half would be plenty for us.
Yes, we sell halves and quarters. We're a very small operation so I'll have to double check on what we have left at this point. We butcher in late October and I need to check the list. I have a couple family members still waffling on whether or not they are "in" this year or not. PM me. They are grain fed 1% of their body weight every day since being weened and always have access to all the fresh grass they can eat also. Our whole intention was to raise beef like we had when I was a kid without all the chemicals and crap that the commercial stuff can be exposed to. I lived through the "mad cow disease" thing in Europe as I was in Germany for the Army in the early mid-80's so I prefer beef that I know where it came from, where it's been and what it's been grazing on...
I hear they burn well also. I'm not sure I want to sit around the campfire or cook on 'em though!!! They tell me that after about 5 years of the rotational grazing like we're doing, that we'll no longer need any fertilizer on the pastures... We move the cattle around instead of hauling manure... They do most of the spreading, but on occasion I do assist with a 4 wheeler or tractor tire, but I try to not make that a regular thing...
T-Bone, Rib-eye, and Strip. The angus are Chuck, Rump, and Sirloin... They're in the last 5 weeks of finishing now. I'm getting hungry. They are looking good with tail head fat pones, nice briskets a hangin', and no ribs showing.
Monte, you saw any boards yet? My BIL sent me this, wants to csm what he is saying is hemlock. Looks like it would go rather quick.
Hopefully this all reads with my intent to share, educate, and keep my fellow Horders safe. Gills have been around for awhile. It’s important to note that the increased hinge width they afford will only do so much though. Especially if you are trying to put a tree perpendicular or 90 degrees against a lean. You really need to be a very experienced feller to pull it off and you should know the characteristics of the species as well. For example I have a 25ish in diameter northern red oak here with a heavy lean that I want to fell perpendicular to the lean. Basically straight at where I’m taking the 1st picture from. Notice the line launcher to reference true vertical. I have a nice open empty lot to do a little testing for myself. That’s over 10 inches of hinge! Ultimately the hinge did not perform as intended though. You can see the intended lay in red and the actual lay below. So what happened? Well red oak doesn’t particularly like bending and the hing wasn’t able to hold against the force of the lean. This was exacerbated by a slow pull with a come along and 5:1 mechanical advantage. So what should I have done instead? I believe the hinge would have performed as intended with a fast pull instead of the come along. The best technique here is still going to be side bracing with an additional rope opposite of the lean. Although that comes with its own set of drawbacks. If you misjudge the side brace line length the tree can swing too far to the line side and miss the intended lay that way. However, the bottom line is do not fell perpendicular to a heavy lean if life or property damage are at risk folks.
I saw that double gill cut last week but they called it a shark cut. I’ve got a few trees away from my Quonset I may try it out on with similar leans to the one I want to take down. for the risk though, the $300 for a 65’ man lift seems worth it.
Nice having the luxury in an open space to practice. I know when to walk away and let someone with equipment or lots of experience do it.
