WOW! Holy tire chains Batman!

[quads]

Tire chains sure make a big difference. In 1996 I bought a set of tire chains for my old 2wd ATV and used it for plowing snow. It worked really well and I was able to plow a lot of snow with it. Later on I bought a 4wd ATV put the plow on that, and then mostly forgot about the tire chains hanging in the garage.

Fast forward to today. I still have the old 2wd ATV, and now I have a smaller 4wd ATV with no plow. It snowed again Sunday, I tried to get out in the woods Tuesday and couldn't, just like the last few years, when the snow gets deep, I have a lot of trouble getting out in the woods with the small 4wd ATV. Yesterday I went looking for new ATV tires, the ones I have are worn out and mostly bald. But they are an odd size which nobody carries and some places can't even get.

This morning I thought of the tire chains hanging in the garage. The old 2wd ATV has different size tires than the 4wd, so I figured they either wouldn't fit on my little 4wd or I would have to cut them up and modify them to get them to work. Well, turns out I didn't have to do anything to them, there was enough adjustment on the chains themselves to compensate for the different size tires.

And boy, was I dumb for not using those chains on this ATV before! I guess I had forgotten what a difference they make. Not only was I able to get out in the woods with the fresh snow and ice underneath, but the chains made the ATV so surefooted that I was able to go down trails that I hadn't been on all winter! I still didn't haul any wood up, which is what I really need to do, but I did cut more. Maybe tomorrow after the freshly opened trails settle a little I will try to haul a few loads up to the yard.


Here she is with the old tire chains on it. The tires are worn, the chains are worn, but the difference with them on there is like night and day:

And as long as I am on the subject of making things better, I have had some trouble with the hitch on this ATV. The pin hole is wearing out and the bottom of the receiver tube cracked (it has hauled literally hundreds of loads of wood). A buddy of mine welded it for me one time, but it's cracking again. So, I pulled the pin, shoved the ball mount in a little farther, then drilled a hole down through the assembly and put a bolt through it. Hopefully that will cure any future problems with it:

Today's work:

The new 260:

The old faithful maul, with the new handle:

 

[Trundle]

Hell yeah! Very nice.

 

[thewoodlands]

Glad that you finally put some chains on that horse.





Zap

 

[quads]

I'm glad too Zap! I should have done it before. Oh well, none too soon, because it turned out to be a very busy afternoon. I sold 5 loads and I am almost completely cleaned out so I have to try to haul more up from the woods tomorrow. I've already got 2 loads sold for tomorrow. As of tonight, 116 loads sold so far this winter! Wow. (one of my loads is 1/2 face cord)

 

[thewoodlands]

I'm glad too Zap! I should have done it before. Oh well, none too soon, because it turned out to be a very busy afternoon. I sold 5 loads and I am almost completely cleaned out so I have to try to haul more up from the woods tomorrow. I've already got 2 loads sold for tomorrow. As of tonight, 116 loads sold so far this winter! Wow. (one of my loads is 1/2 face cord)

Glad to hear your busy, this is the first year up here that I've seen so much wood being delivered in the winter. I'm just glad we purchased the land I cut on, plenty of wood for years to come.


Zap

 

[quads]

Well, and speaking of busy, since my last reply above, there was a knock at the door and I just sold another 2 loads! So that's 7 today and I'm not sure I have enough left up here at the house to sell even one more. Tomorrow will be a very busy day hauling from the woods. Hopefully I don't get stuck....

 

[thewoodlands]

Well, and speaking of busy, since my last reply above, there was a knock at the door and I just sold another 2 loads! So that's 7 today and I'm not sure I have enough left up here at the house to sell even one more. Tomorrow will be a very busy day hauling from the woods. Hopefully I don't get stuck....

I'm sure you'll keep the maul busy Quads.




Zap

 

[DanCorcoran]

That was all well-seasoned wood, right?

 

[quads]

That was all well-seasoned wood, right?

Ha! Nope. They cleaned me all out of the good seasoned stuff right away this year. But, I tell each and every customer what I've got (some of it now was cut and split only hours before they buy it), inform them that even though these oak trees were dead for maybe a decade (most of them have no bark on them), much of the time the trunks are still full of water. Sometimes people don't want it, but most of the time they take it anyway. My repeat customers have been telling me that they haven't had any trouble burning it. Me personally, I don't burn it, I have my own very well seasoned stack separate from what I sell.

This year has just overwhelmed me with sales so much. I tried to stop selling when all the good stuff was gone, but so many people pleaded with me to keep selling firewood to them. I don't know what is so different about this winter, but it has been remarkable. In all of 2009 I sold about 2 full cord. This winter I'm up to 20 full cord and counting. I've got arms like a gorilla from swinging that old maul! HAHA!

And now I'm heading into the woods to try to haul more up. The temperature got down into the teens overnight (and supposed to stay in the 20s today) so I'm hoping that the fresh snow has hardened enough and I won't get stuck.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Just keep on cutting quads. Make hay when the sun shines.

 

[quads]

You're right Dennis! Even if I can't haul it up, I cut it, split it, and just toss it in a pile until someday when the white stuff goes away....

 

[gzecc]

Quads, what it the dark wood?

 

[midwestcoast]

Quads, what it the dark wood?

Looks like all Red Oak to me. Dead for a while the "Rays" in the oak turn dark. Then when you split it the wood will split along that ray & makes the split face dark.
Or maybe Quads has a grove of Ebony grwoing up there. ;-)

 

[Shari]

Quads - I'm surprised you never used chains on this before. I use a rider mower with chains and a blower attachment to clear our 2 lane drive & large, large turn-around (equivalent to a 2 car+ garage area). This is all very flat and without chains I can't do a thing but then again I don't have ATV tires on the rider.

Looking good there, Quads! Here's hoping you keep on selling! Maybe you & Mrs. Quads can do something special with your extra pocket money!

 

[quads]

Quads, what it the dark wood?

Looks like all Red Oak to me. Dead for a while the "Rays" in the oak turn dark. Then when you split it the wood will split along that ray & makes the split face dark.
Or maybe Quads has a grove of Ebony grwoing up there. ;-)

You are correct! When I grew up, it was always known as red oak, except they call it 'black' oak here nowadays.

 

[quads]

Quads - I'm surprised you never used chains on this before. I use a rider mower with chains and a blower attachment to clear our 2 lane drive & large, large turn-around (equivalent to a 2 car+ garage area). This is all very flat and without chains I can't do a thing but then again I don't have ATV tires on the rider.

Looking good there, Quads! Here's hoping you keep on selling! Maybe you & Mrs. Quads can do something special with your extra pocket money!

I bought the tire chains for the old 2wd drive ATV a long time ago and used it for plowing. When I bought my first 4wd ATV I hung the tire chains in the garage and just kind of forgot about them.

Thanks! I might have to start turning people away, unless the snow melts soon. I'm having a very hard time keeping up with the demand this last week, even though I pulled my ad from the newspaper weeks ago. As for doing something special, Mrs. Quads' likes to go on hiking trips, so....