Well I really haven't been making much firewood lately, that has a lot to do with not using much of it this el-nino winter. I usually burn (gasser wood boiler) 8 cord keeping the shop & house warm, I might have used 3 this year, although I did miss having "winter", having well over half of my allotted "stash" still in the stack is a good thing. So to my "guity" part. So, I have no good "weekends work" or "huge oak" posts to show, and have only been trying to make whitty jokes on the back of other posts. So just to show that I have not been sitting on my ***, I have been gathering wood to split and did a little work to the log wagon and put a hitch on the tractor winch along with several other projects. I needed to make a new "tongue" for the wagon that was long enough to clear the grapple while hitched to the tractor, and put a hitch on the winch itself. Got that done and the pics show what I've hauled out thinning my woods. I did get a good start on the next "row" of wood back when it was good & frozen, then it started to get, well "mud season" too early! I don't mind cutting in spring & early summer, the saw & splitter seems to keep the black flies away.
You have the ultimate log fetcher Fuelrod... that's for sure... Yep... this has been the year of no winter. As for that guilt thing... I got nuthin'... I sit on my azz feelin' mighty grateful that I can...
I bet ya got some big-time turning radius there fuelrod. One heckuva set up for getting it out of the woods.... That grapple is bad adze sir !!!!
The old man's hand built wooden wheeled log wagon only had a bolster built on the front axle and a rear axle with hand hewn log posts on both front and rear. No framework to amount to anything except a rear facing horizontal A-frame on the front axle and a front facing horizontal A-frame on the rear axle that met in center via an adjustable coupling pole. Pull the pin and drag the front axle forward and load logs up to 26' long and the logs became the framework. And vice-versa for short logs. Ya gotta remember, my dad was born in '09 and all the logging they did back in the day was with a team of mules or a team of horses. I learned loading from the side just like they did with a team, except by the time I come around in the '50's we were loading with a tractor pulling them sideways up the ramps instead of horses. Using the tractor in reverse allowed a fellow to watch the ground man closely as logs would have to be 'cut' (shifted in direction) by use of a cant hook pivoting the log on a sawed off knot on one ramp or the other. The fellow on the tractor (me) had to pay close attention to keep from getting one of the knots up side the head......well at the least a good cussing.... So let's just say that I appreciate greatly the ease your machinery provides because I've been on the opposite end of the spectrum many times...and I still have the coupling pole here in a pile of material somewhere and three of the four original wooden wheels. Sorry for the attempted thread hi-jack..... I just get to ramblin' a mite.
No Rambling there tractorman44 . Just an interesting story about old school logging and toting the wood out. Very related to the thread. Keep em' coming.
I did notice the mule shoe on the side of his grapple and was wondering the significance.... Fuelrod, you're up. Side note: You know why horse shoes are always mounted with the opening up for good luck...?? Wait...wait...wait...build anticipation here....wait..... It so the good luck won't run out !!!!
It's kinda my "mark", I weld one (or more) on a lot of my welding projects.ATTACH=full]87252[/ATTACH]
Yeah, me too. What particular plazma you using? I was hoping to get a little input on your table too.....bummer. That'll likely be my next major purchase and I don't wanna buy the wrong one. I need super user friendly software. And btw, the slot in the last pic look milled from this angle !!!
I have a Hypertherm, I bought it new about 15 years ago. It's model # is not related to today's machines but it was rated for 5/8 IIRC. I just bought a new torch handle for it, the technology has advanced and the new one's get longer "consumables'' life. It's nice to have manufacturer's support and to be able to upgrade a tool of that age. If I read you correctly, I'm with you. I'm afraid I'd buy a nice plas. table and not be able to figure the computer side out. My only use of the computer is this damm forum thing. I drilled 2 holes (mag. drill) and connected them with the plas & grinder for those slots. I'd like to have a mill, non computerized
Mines a Hypertherm 65. It cuts 3/4" like butter. Straight edges clamped alongside is the way I cut. It is sooooo much better than torching and grinding ain't it ?!! About a mill...there's almost never a project comes through the shop that the mill is not fired up for. Once you get used to fiddling with a Bridgeport, you wonder what the heck ya did so long without one for. Kinda like a plasma cutter..... Currently all my time, effort and $$$$ is going into a new shop so I have about a year to figure out which CNC table to go for. Hypertherm seems to have a really good customer service record and is supposedly the preferred plasma cutter for a lot of table/software manufacturers.
