I'm a little late on this, but welcome aboard Smoketr1973 . Nice little pile of logs. Should keep ya' busy for a couple minutes, eh? We'll need more pics, of course.
Correction to the day's plan, raining here so no cutting. I got behind on next years wood when I took my little tumble, so for the first time I had to purchase logs from a local land clearing operation. I like to stay 2-3 years ahead on wood supply so everything is good and dry. In past years I was lucky enough to have so much extra I could afford to sell 10 to 20 face cords. Helped to pay for a few more toys...I mean tools.
Welcome to the forum Smoketr1973. That does not sound like much wood to burn in your area so you must be well insulated. You have a nice pile of logs to work on too. Would you care to explain a bit about the accident? Hopefully you are all healed from that by now. It can be tough to be laid up. Also curious about your avatar.
Welcome aboard, looks like your on the right track with plenty of firewood and staying well ahead on your supply. Love the tractor
Sorry for the delay, I don't always get a chance to check in. The accident goes like this. This past spring I was asked by a friend to take out a large limb overhanging his house from a silver maple. Where the limb met the trunk was around 18", so pretty big. I'm mostly self taught feller, climber, rigger, took a few courses along the way, but mostly play with trees and firewood because I love it. I have a bad habit of taking on tough jobs just for the challenge, and this was one of those jobs. We started early and by 11:00 am all the hard stuff was on the ground. Lots of rigging, rope work, climbing and gear, all the stuff I love. All that was left to do was remove the large wood of the limb back to the trunk. Decision time, spur up once more into the tree to finish or put up a ladder and block down a few pieces to finish. I chose the ladder, leaned it into the tree, tied the top of the ladder off into the tree, put on my safety gear, and up I went. Tied my climbing lanyard to the ladder at about 10', rope hauled my saw up and went to work. Dropped out two big rounds, shut off the saw and instead of lowering the saw to the ground I decided to carry it down with me. Unstrapped my lanyard and started to descend when the ladder shifted and I was dumped to the ground. Faster than the blink of an eye it was over. Shattered my left heal and ankle, bruised and sore everywhere else. Missed landing on the wood, saw, landscape rocks and a small garden shed so I consider myself very lucky. An inspection of my climbing helmet a few days after my fall and I found the foam liner crushed on one side, so I feel very, very lucky. Faith, family, ortho doc. lots of physio, hard work and some tears I am about 80% recovered. It's the most difficult thing I have ever gone through without a doubt but I learned a lot along the way..
Glad you're on the mend, that sounds rough. "Class, ....what have we learned today? Anyone...anyon..yes you.....-Smoketr1973...? Have we learned anything young man??!" Sorry, I read your post and had a "teacher voice" in my head responding to your scenario. I had a neighbor wanting me to take down a nasty cottonwood at his place a while back. I sized it up, said nawwww, get your tree guys to do it. From what I heard, I was wise to stay clear of that one. "A man's got to know his limitations...." -quote- Sylvester Stallone/ Terminator.
Yep. Now I know where to draw the line. A professional arborist told me "it's not IF you are going to fall, its WHEN! Crazy part is prior to this I never had so much as a splinter in 8 years of wood fun.
The avatar is me with the first piece of wood that I milled with my Alaskan mill. I ordered it before the fall and it arrived a couple weeks into my recovery. I couldn't even look at it when it showed up I was so depressed and in constant pain. At the time I thought I may never walk without a limp or pain free again, let alone push a mill, but last month I got at it with no problem at all. It was a milestone victory for me.
Dad gum sir, sounds like you had one helluva tumble! Im, glad you are on the mend.It could happen to any of us no matter when or where, up in a tree or down below. No one is immune!
Not much to add except welcome. You are right in that it's a good bunch of folks. Glad you're doing better.
Smoker-I have heard that heels are awful breaks to recover from. Hopefully you'll recover 100% and soon!
When I was just starting to walk again I would have a crutch under one arm and a saw in the other hand . Crutch to the log, make one cut, sit down exhausted, recover and repeat. It was like physio, helped me to get my strength back and get the blood pumping. It showed me that anything was possible, it was just the "new normal". I use the "HOPE" motivator . Hold On Pain Ends, and sure enough as long as I kept pushing myself things slowly got better.
