I do believe the first of anything FHC, gets its place in the corporate museum. I could be wrong, however.
Like others have said, the summer time heat. I got overheated a few years ago, never been the same since. With that said, I am going to a Charity Cut tomorrow, and am not looking forward to it.
all the work, especially any done in Summer. It used to be fun, a distraction from the day job. Now I'm retired and "fun" is doing less. Now it's more just something I do.
“The bounce of defeat”. When you give the maul a good swing, nicely aimed at the round….and the darn thing hits and just bounces back from the round.
Rabbit trail: Brad, I checked out the trees. There are 7 that need to come down. 6 are Ash that the EAB has gotten to. Though there are many unaffected Ash trees there. One he wasn't going to take is a bigger oak that the trunk is well rotted from one side to the middle. There are 4 Ash trees all very dead, that if dropped I can get to. The other 2 are on a hill, which is swampy, and ends in a swamp. Im not sure how they will get those two without a crane. If they haul the trees up the hill, I cannget the wood The oak is twisty, gnarled, rotted to the core ground to 25 feet up. There are more lumps and bumps, and not a straight piece of wood on it. That one will get composted near where it falls. He hasn't chosen a contractor but all of the trees will require ropes and tie offs. Not one can be simply cut down. Not sure if I'll see any wood outta that place, but he knows where I stand. Sca
We have some kind of skinny black ants down here now that bite the pizz out of ya. And it stings for awhile. Luckily they don't make a sore like fire ants do.
Loading/Unloading wood after scrounging...............I have get up for it. Loading up my truck and trailer then back to the house to unload it all. My setup make for difficult unload, but slowing improving it. Once I get it home it's fun work splitting and stacking, it's jus getting it in the back yard. I love when mother nature drops a tree for me out back, it's enjoyable.
The rock that I didn't see...... that's in plain sight on the other side of the log.... seemingly always in the first cut after I put a brand new expensive Stihl chain on the saw. After that, I'd say back pain is my least favorite side effect of firewood.
Talk to the tree service he hires. They'll often leave it log length and chip the brush. If they gotta pay to dump it'll save him $ to have it left on site. I had 4 cord of White Oak logs dropped here Friday from a nearby job. Gave the tree guy $50.00 for fuel. To answer the original question. 1. Heat and Humidity 2. Bugs 3. Lack of time to do all I want with firewood. We bucked up three cord yesterday and staged it by the splitters, and didn't even dent the log pile. 4. I'm tight on room here even with 2.5 acres.
I can try: About 5 years ago I was cutting wood at a residence, with a tree service. I was helping drag limbs and cutting all the wood to firewood length and loading my trailer by hand (or with a dolly); we had no power equipment, not even a chipper, so I was helping load limbs on their trailer and loading firewood on my trailer, even helped rake with the clean up. It was middle of July hot. Been working all day (8 hours); I was starting to unload my my last load (my 3rd iirc) of firewood, by myself, before going home. My heart started pounding, I couldn't catch my breath, I felt faint, I couldn't focus, I thought I was going to pass out. I knew something was wrong; I would say panic set in, which makes it worse. You start wondering, "What the heck is wrong with me, am I dying, etc." Then a miracle happened. A friend of mine just happened to be driving by and stopped to say hi. He saw me and said "are you ok?" He knew I didn't look right. I told him "No, I am not". He got me some water and got me in some shade where I could lay down. He unloaded my trailer for me and stayed with me until I cooled down and could drive home. Medically, I cannot say whether I had heat exhaustion, dehydration, heat stroke, or whatever; probably the first 2 and fortunately not a full blown heat stroke, but I have not been the same sense. Now, it is simple, I can't labor in the heat/humidity for very long at all. The first sign of losing my breath or heavy heart pounding, and i call it a day, or take a very long break to cool off before going back at it. If I start needing a break every 15 minutes or less, I just call it a day. But honestly, I don't even have a desire to work in the heat anymore. Will I do it for a friend in need or for a charity cut opportunity---yes, I give it my best. Will I go cut wood by myself, in July/August, for the love of it, like I used to---no way. How do I know it is a heat issue? Because I can cut in cold/cooler weather without any of the problems mentioned above. I know there could be other factors as well; such as, age, weight, lack of fitness, working at a desk all day, sweating like a hog, etc., that factor in to the equation also. That's about the best explanation I got.
With all that said, I took 4 kids from church Saturday, to a small charity cut, supposedly the hottest day of the year, 100ish degrees. We left at 5am, started cutting at 7am, and quit at 11:30 to start loading up. We were cleaning up tornado damage, so no splitting. We just had to drag and stack in burn piles. I did the cutting and the boys did the dragging/stacking. No way in the world I could have worked 4 hours if I had to drag and stack by myself. On more than one occasion i hooked up limbs and drug them with my truck to the burn piles. I am on the left; my guardian angel (the guy who stopped to say hi the day I got overheated) is on the right. We actually got a lot done. There was only 1 tree left, but My friend Paul said you’re done, I’m done, the boys are done.
Nice to put a face to the user name Hinerman Good on you folks for the charity work. Nice that you are in the shade. Dont know if i wouldve lasted that long!
