Worked on some of the hickory today. Had little ice pellets at times. A bit unwelcome after the delightful weather I've been recently having. I saved a couple pieces for after work one day this week.
Was walking dirt bike trail yesterday to make sure didn't have stuff in the way. Decided to walk to a cool little spot I used to go to as a kid. It's a rocky spot, way up high with a nice view of leaves aren't too thick. Found something very neat while sitting on one of the rocks for a few minutes. Never noticed this before. Been years since I have visited this spot. Unknown if moss had been covering it or something. Cool red flowers I see only occasionally. There were a few up there at that spot.
Best I can tell. I've no clue who CB could be though. There was a man with last name of Bussemer who owned at one time but his name was John I believe. I should have taken a pic. To get that photo I stood in the same spot they did to carve that. Kind of a walkway beside the large slab with a steep drop off other side. You can 'belly up' to the rock.
Nice! Fresh cut hickory hand splits rather easily IME. Let the rounds sit for a while its another story.
Most of them I've had to deal with have been cracked from impact thankfully. One of them was coming apart like an onion which was weird. Frozen at the time. Yep, bust asap after bucking else the ends get tight.
I'm lacking in my knowlege of woodland plants. I always notice these when they are around, but I see them maybe once a year. Possibly a spring only thing (I usually only see them in the woods and usually somewhere up high). Whole bunch of Virginia Bluebells down in the lower areas right now. Makes the woods even more enjoyable to be in. I swear I could see it getting greener on Saturday.
Saturday was a wash for weather, so I worked on the dirt bike instead. Swapped a larger front sprocket and did some much needed chain maintenance. It needs a little taller gearing for road riding. This was cheap experiment to verify. Will order a -2 rear sprocket to net same ratio (approx). Larger front sprock doesn't allow for case saver to be mounted. Not enough room. Yesterday was a productive day. Stop! Police! Wood Police! Went to gather some already cut rounds that are trying to get punky. First load had a little cherry and some hickory. Second load was mostly red maple with a little red oak. Got from here. Still a good bit there left to scrounge when I get a chance. Decent yield for time and effort spent.
It depends on the sprocket size obviously (ratio) but the general rule of thumb is that -3 on the back is equal to +1 up front...but sounds like you already know that, and are trying to split the difference maybe...
Then I decided to bust the big hickory rounds sitting there. On my way back down to the bottom I remembered a hard maple that I needed to grab. Had trailer on still, so just cut them to man sized pieces and chucked them in. Then I thought...hey...I got some other 'smalls' over at that one spot and went to get those. Not bad! Was wore out yesterday evening. Pretty happy with my 'scrounge' for the day.
-3 rear seems to be a little hard to come by so going with -2. It just needed a little bit more to feel like you arent ringing it's neck at 45-50. It will go much faster, but I don't like to cruise at high rpm if I can help it. Edit: Should mention...I'm trying to keep the 'tractor like' qualities the bike has offroad as well as make it a little less revvy on the road.
Cannot overstate how handy it has been. My buggy bed is not that large, so it's very helpful with brush and firewood...or whatever. I don't take it off trails very often but it did good as far as manuevering around in the woods. Neck is a little long, so sometimes had to do two step turn arounds but didn't have any issues.
I know what you mean...I have a Yamaha TW200 and it doesn't care for 55 MPH for long...or at least I don't anyways...you can't kill that engine, it would do it all day long just fine, I guess I just don't like pushing it like that.
Was so busy last Saturday that I forgot to take pics. Only took the one showing the leaf litter and junk covering a trail. Was supposed to be 'before' but didn't get the after. lol I had a red pine that was across one section that I couldn't fit tractor under so it had to come down. Was hung about 35' up with butt still attached and uprooted. Got the tree cut, which just sat there on itself looking smug, then hooked a chain to it and 'coaxed' it down out of the other tree. While sectioning the tree once on ground I got my saw stuck. The ground angle + tree lay had grabbed the tip of the bar like a politician holding onto a stack of money. It took considerable effort (no secondary with me, yeah that's a mistake on my part and I know better) of moving the tree around with the tractor to free the saw. One of my riding buddys had come down to ride on the single track loop a bit. It is finally open and clear of downed trees and whatnot. According to him, there are a couple places that need a little help but overall very enjoyable ride. Not too tough, but still with some challenges and slower sections. When I got off the tractor we scouted a new piece of single track trail and decided to make it happen. We made it about 1/4 mile or so through an old virginia pine stand that is now all laying on the forest floor, rotting. About three hours of work. My poor poor Echo, having to cut that junk! We both were 'out of gas' before we could make the remianing 100 yards or so to get it connected back into the original trail. A very scenic vista was added with this trail giving a nice view of the river and hills of the other side. There are several places on the new piece where you get to choose between two lines, one of which always being more difficult/technical. This is to help keep the trails from getting 'boring'. Of course you can always run them in opposite direction as well. Sunday was a bust due to rain. Messed with the dirtbike a little bit instead of hitting the woods. Oh and last Friday evening I got a suprise from my mower...dead battery. Yay! While removing...another surprise...broken positive terminal. So now I gotta solder a lug end on the harness. Bought new battery yesterday to the tune of $140. Interstate Megatron. What was in it when I bought it and it lasted ten years according to the date code. I don't think the old one is completely shot, but if I'm gonna have to mess with it, I'm going to make sure I don't have to again any time soon.
Saturday was yuck. Mud. Just had get get some splitting done since it was cool also. Hickory. Rounds that I gathered with the trailer. Mostly red maple. Anyone ever try to make shoes out of hickory bark? Repurposed steel panels working nicely. Stacked the hickory and carried and stacked the long pieces out of the round pile. Used the maul to break a couple larger uglies and did general policing of wood yard trying to clean up a bit. Was all I wanted for the day.
