Variety is the spice of life...they say. I can actually afford a little variety in this particular arena. I have Red Armor, Makita Synthetic, XP Husky and now some Kawi mix oil. The Makita reminds me of a motocross track. Hoping the Kawi stuff is similarly fragrant as the Makita stuff is mostly gone. Do have some Makita bottles put back. I scratch my head when I see folks complaining about the 'fumes'. Parfume to me! I will say that blue dye vs red dye is more easily identified as 'mixed' gas, not that it matters much in my case as I'm the only one who handles my fuel. Almost time to start feeding the thirsty weedeater, unfortunately.
Finished my stuff peeled a little early from work this afternoon. Pretty nice weather. Gathered up the last of the ahole pieces and a wee bit of white oak top I left behind earlier at a processing site. Plenty of trailer space left, may as well get that cherry. Oh I didn't forget about you! There's a little punk in it but I think mostly solid. It was still good when I ran out of trailer room but I think I was pretty well at the end of the good stuff. Ready to roll. Dunno what these are but they are exploding down by the river. First real sign of life from spring I've seen.
Some nice easy handling rounds. I've encountered "dry rot" like that in all different sizes of cherry.
Had to hump them up the little hill but they weren't bad and could get two at a time. I dunno how I am continuously surprised with how good it smells when cut. I'm nearing a cord of cherry on hand now. Spotted a little pecker pole hickory laying on the ground when I was cutting the cherry. Will have to go back for it.
Got the brush pile burned down Friday evening. Did a little plinking yesterday after messing around with the dirtbike trail for a while. Little Echo got to eat some more wood. Echo 501 filter pic for science as I try to attain a better seal around the air horn. Hope everyone had a nice Easter. Real nice weather here for it.
A 26 year old scrench. It came with the little Echo 3400 way back in 1998. I had went to the local dealer on a day they were doing demo cuts to buy a saw. Shop owner assisted me while testing a couple saws out. I explicitly remember a compliment he gave me after watching me do some cuts..."You're hands are gripped correctly and in the right position. I like that you keep your head out of the kickback zone." Explained to him that I needed a saw for clearing junk off of trails and storm debris and whatnot. He talked me into the top handle model with selling points that I cannot recall now. Still remember the princely sum...$279.00 asking price. This tool has become a personal treasure. Being 10mm on the small side, it is less common than most screnches. Knowing this I kept a short leash on it wherever it might go with me and the saw. A reminder that responsibility helps me to keep from buying the same tool twice.
Very true. I recall being a teen in the 80's listening to my father and uncle BS about the 40's and 50's like they were yesterday. Now I understand. Great thing is its now my turn to be old and cranky!
It has officially been recommissioned back into service. Finally let it have the new bar I bought for it 5 years ago on clearance from a place that was dropping Echo. I think I prefered the black bar. Gonna have to get a decent one for it if I'm going to keep using it regularly. These laminated jobs aren't very robust.
Soil and water department saplings showed up this week. I just bought one pack of white pine. Hoping they'll block a little wind in a few years. Probably will get more next spring if these do ok.
Had to do a little mowing but got in the woods after. Took the buggy up the crick towards one of the property lines to remark it. There's some pretty nice scenery back here. Neat rock. Crick is way down there in bottom. I did opposite side from bottom. This part I did from a side hill road that's about halfway up the hill. Rough navigation. Crick is in bottom left. Property line runs across the whole valley behind the hill in front to right. Finally gave up. There are a few of them in vicinity. Township corner is nearby. River was up in the yard at the cottage. No damage. Made a mess. Super nice day out. Great time in the woods.
Well my boss bought into the hype and is closing today at 1:00 so I gotta go find something to do around the woods for the afternoon. Been nice to have known last week.
Decided to start grooming the trails. Had to fix the crick crossing as well. Got rough enough that the mower couldn't pass after all the rain. Mainly worked on a southern facing slope where the sun has dried the ground up pretty good. Have a couple logs waiting for the tractor but the ground where they are is too mushy yet. Should be fun...one of them is hung up in another tree and I will 'trap' the tractor when I pull it down. Two oaks and a little beech. Gotta pull them out through the crick.
Found a plugged culvert and flooded sump Saturday. Oh how I love whenever I need a spud bar. Got it freed up and flowing again. Took down 4 little sugar maples in an area I'm starting to prep for some dirt work. Got a few usable rounds out of em, rest to the burn pile. Bluebells going crazy down in the bottoms. Had some help yesterday so decided to take out a Catalpa tree that was beginning to threaten a power line. (failed to document) Roped it because it wanted to fall towards the line. Unsure if it could have reached or not. Used a super heavy face cut, called for a 'pull' at about 1" of hinge left. Laid right where we wanted it to, against it's natural lean. Cut it all up and made a new fire pile on the river lot. A bit of it was suitable size for processing, but I've never burned it and have not heard great things, so it's just brush to me. Walked out and planned another 1/4 mile or so of new dirtbike trail. Tried looking for Morells a little on both Saturday and Sunday. No joy. They don't seem to like growing in my woods very much.
Catalpa about the same as sassafras IMO. They don't seem to grow straight either. I don't go out of my way for it but will take if given the chance and decent wood.
Feeling 'privileged' this morning. I just got to watch a bald eagle swoop down to the river and grab a fish out the window from my desk. There is a pair of them that show themselves pretty regular this year.
