Here's the rake I was referring to. Kind of like a bent potato fork. Has a screw in handle extension that makes it 7ft long.
It won't big too big but I'm thinking a cord and a half or so capacity. I want to keep it normal low height for easy loading. It will do more than just firewood though. We don't move logs as we are fortunate to normally be cutting on ground that we don't have to rush it out. IE worry about people taking what we have worked up. Around here that is an issue anymore. Developed an exhaust leak today on the mighty half ton and thought the Y pipe finally gave out. Looked under the hood and the Oxygen sensor had rusted off and popped the top off! Came out nice and just welded a plug in it for a temp fix till I scrunge one up. Crispy out there this AM. Same out there?
Wow that is cold. A little too cold for me! But then again last year me and Scotty Overkill did two trees on two different occasions that one day it was -6 air temp and the other one was down to -25 with the windchill. That really sucked. I climbed the one to piece it out and ne and Scotty shared climbing the other one to piece it out. I don't really want to do that ever again!
Nice one, my Dad served as a firefighter and would bring alot of their old gear back home - that sort of rake was amongst it... also my beloved 120super. Emptying the trailer, that thing comes in pretty handy. Even though the one i got has spikes more like a pitchfork.
Heck, you should see wind chill indexes when riding the snowmobile a@ 60-100MPH. Actually wind chill does not get much lower once your over 50mph.
Kevin, I've been doing tree removals for many years. And over the years I've seen some nasty ones. Guys will say "why would you do it that way" or "you should've done this or that or this", without ever having been put in a situation like the one being dealt with at the time. It sometimes cracks me up, especially if the person asking the questions has zero experience being in a hairy situation. Looking at your pics, and given the fact that that ash tree was 4 years dead, you did exactly what I've had done myself. Assessed the risks, planned the outcome, took preventative measures, and executed it to a tee. Well done, brother. Each species of tree behaves differently, live or dead, and ash that's been standing dead for several years can be very dangerous and unpredictable to cut. Some tree companies will not even let their climbers gaff in a dead ash, even if it's known to be stable. That's how unpredictable they can be. Continue to always double and triple check your decisions, always play out multiple scenarios in your head, take extra safeguards (they dont call me Overkill for nuthin'), and always expect the unexpected! Stay safe brother, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Nice stash of wood you earned there, it'll give you lots of warm heat in the future!
If the wind is blowing 40 MPH and your going 50 MPH with it, your dealing with a 10MPH windchill. Coming back would be bad though!!!! I'm assuming you have heated grips on them? I remember riding ATV's in extreme cold and the hands were always the quickest to get cold when -10 or more.
I'm mounting a set of modern heated grip mountain handlebars on my vintage Chaparral later this week for that very reason!
Thanks for the words. Most people do not understand the difference between dead and alive trees like you say. Things like tops snapping out and landing at the stump where a cutter would be and the exploding mass when it hits the ground. I've seen limbs fly 50 ft away from the fall zone and that is why I take the extra steps to move everything a long ways away. I'd rather leave a large hinge and pull so I don't have to say, "I wish I woulda..."
I've seen limbs no larger than 3-4" diameter snap off high up the dead tree and spear 1' deep into the ground when they landed. And never even make a sound. All kinds of hidden hazards with deads.....
It's been a couple of months but we could finally get back into the field to split the wood up. It has been raining or snowing pretty constant since December and finally have a window to do it. We did the stuff in his yard first while it was still froze on top some. This is how it works best for us. Just back down the log length and lift the bigger ones with the remote winch. Then throw to the side if you don't have another truck/trailer. Then once the truck is next to the wood, either load or come back for a hauling day. Dad came to help and it makes a bog difference. He's 80 and still going strong. While we were here we decided to throw a load on his truck. First time using his and probably won't do it again. bumper is too low and angles the splitter too much. I have the drop hitch for my 3/4 ton. Lower ones were rotted in the center but overall, most of the wood was solid and as good as silver Maple can be. LOL Keep working our way to the stump and back up occasionally to say the cable drag. It's a constant movement thing as once you get it down to smaller size, the other guy can unspool and start dragging in/up. Basically no waiting that way. The piece we were looking for...the last one. there will be about 3 trucks worth here. He said he'd cut the stump so we will see. All strapped down and ready to head out. Took a little less than 3 hours but we had to move quite a bit.
Yes the grips and throttle are heated. One thing that makes a huge difference is just putting gauntlets on the handlebars to put your hands in. If it's real cold I do and then wear very light gloves and often have to turn the heaters almost off. The new layering system of clothes makes cold weather no big deal.
