Work Done In 2020

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They are a bit cleaner but if a fella uses covers over you outlets & wipe the tips off with a rag the old style tips are good. I drew a circle around the coupling slip ring. If that gets hit it, you can get a flat spot & they are a real PIA to get apart, the same for the slip coupler on the other connector that will be on the machine. On my brothers skid loader those get whacked occasionally when the grapple is on it. It may not be a problem on the tractors with loaders since the couplers aren’t sticking right out the front.
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Even with the covers on there is always liquid and/or dirt on the fittings when I got to connect them. This style is just easier to clean before I make the connection. I do need to get some caps on the attachment side of things for sure.
 
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Starting splitting the ash I got last week. It's much more stringy than the cord I split last year. Atleast some of it is sounding like a baseball bat when smashed together. I'll be burning it around February. About 40% done. Hoping to get the rest split and stacked by next weekend and top covered.
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Starting splitting the ash I got last week. It's much more stringy than the cord I split last year. Atleast some of it is sounding like a baseball bat when smashed together. I'll be burning it around February. About 40% done. Hoping to get the rest split and stacked by next weekend and top covered.
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I recently split up some large rounds of ash and it was extremely stringy as well. After the splitter went all the way through, almost every split had to be separated with an axe. I am working up a load of mostly oak right now and it is a nice change from the ash.
 
Got in my National Forest permit so decided to take a trip. Not entirely sure of the species but good times either way!

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I cut a lot in National Forest last winter. Looks like you got some nice oak.
 
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Swapped the fittings from pioneer to flat face connect under pressure on the third function, and I already like them much better. I don't have to turn the machine off and release pressures to connect/disconnect and very little if any fluid comes out when I pop them off. Eventually I will retrofit the remotes as well, but I'm not in as much of a hurry.

Also I had a small fluid seep on the old pioneer fittings anyway, and the shop that installed the third function used very little tape when they installed the fittings. I have some strong opinions about my local dealer, but that's a whole separate topic.
 

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Helped a friend get a decent sized Silver Maple(22" approx. 25" bar just punched through below the union at stump height) down last weekend, more for the reason of enjoying tree work. Turns out the homeowners we did the job for didn't want the wood. After we all got to talking there is another 20" plus Silver Maple that has been down since last fall limbs have been cut off needs bucked, probably a cord of ash that is cut to 6' lengths ranging from 3"-16" and a standing dead ash probably pushing the 30" mark ( its in the brush but an easy drop and retrieve). I think between the three trees and the piled ash may get close to 4-5 cords! Brought a pickup load home last weekend and then decided it was time to get a trailer so after picking the trailer up last night got another load to the house. Wife is starting to question where I am going to put it...good question!



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Helped a friend get a decent sized Silver Maple(22" approx. 25" bar just punched through below the union at stump height) down last weekend, more for the reason of enjoying tree work. Turns out the homeowners we did the job for didn't want the wood. After we all got to talking there is another 20" plus Silver Maple that has been down since last fall limbs have been cut off needs bucked, probably a cord of ash that is cut to 6' lengths ranging from 3"-16" and a standing dead ash probably pushing the 30" mark ( its in the brush but an easy drop and retrieve). I think between the three trees and the piled ash may get close to 4-5 cords! Brought a pickup load home last weekend and then decided it was time to get a trailer so after picking the trailer up last night got another load to the house. Wife is starting to question where I am going to put it...good question!



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Nice! Seems like "when it rains, it pours". When I get access to a lot of wood like this, it seems like it happens when I am very busy and don't really have time to get it and when I have plenty of time, no one has wood to cut.
 
Nice! Seems like "when it rains, it pours". When I get access to a lot of wood like this, it seems like it happens when I am very busy and don't really have time to get it and when I have plenty of time, no one has wood to cut.
I agree, the homeowners are a very sweet couple who have been together 56 years. They said to get it as time permits no rush, so I lucked out a little bit there.
 
This thread is giving me the itch to split. But it's way too hot and humid and I don't have any more room on my property. Love seeing all these pics of everyone's hard work though!

I agree with you, this was one of those years where we went from frost warnings on a Monday to 90-degree temps by Friday (no Spring, straight from Winter to Summer). The humidity is ridiculous as well. I was going to wait until it cooled off a little before tackling the 4-5 cords of rounds out back (first pic) but with all the rain we've had lately, I'm concerned about some of it going punky (especially the birch). There's no rush as this is all for the 21-22 season and beyond, so I'll just do a little at a time in between the rain storms. Got four trailer loads split and stacked yesterday (second pic) and it sucked. I can't wait for temps to go back below 50 (I hate summer). The good news is that out of all the rounds split yesterday, I only had one that had gone partially punky (beech) and only two with ants (birch), so I cant complain about that (these were all scrounged and cut into rounds late March into late May).
 

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Yeah man I wouldn't split in this heat. You're a brick for splitting anything recently in this state. Looks like a nice pile of rounds though.
 
I have been consistently working on a truck load of logs over the past 3-4 weeks mainly working in the early mornings on my days off and in the late evenings before dark. I am not as bothered by the heat as most. Also, I keep reading posts where people have their wood cut for 1, 2, 3 years in advance. My outdoor furnace is a real beast on wood and I would estimate I burned 10+ cords last winter. I have only lived at my house for 11 months, so I am trying to get enough just to get through the upcoming winter. I don't know what it is, but when I sit on my porch and look at that pile of logs, something inside me can't stand for it just to sit there. I want to be working on it until it is totally processed. When that happens, I will want another load no matter what the weather is.
 
I feel the same way when I have logs here. I have a compulsion to cut them up as soon as I can, split them, stack them, and cover them. Luckily I burn around 5 cords per winter here, so with 16 cords I'm set for 3 years.
 
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I agree with you, this was one of those years where we went from frost warnings on a Monday to 90-degree temps by Friday (no Spring, straight from Winter to Summer). The humidity is ridiculous as well. I was going to wait until it cooled off a little before tackling the 4-5 cords of rounds out back (first pic) but with all the rain we've had lately, I'm concerned about some of it going punky (especially the birch). There's no rush as this is all for the 21-22 season and beyond, so I'll just do a little at a time in between the rain storms. Got four trailer loads split and stacked yesterday (second pic) and it sucked. I can't wait for temps to go back below 50 (I hate summer). The good news is that out of all the rounds split yesterday, I only had one that had gone partially punky (beech) and only two with ants (birch), so I cant complain about that (these were all scrounged and cut into rounds late March into late May).
Nice work @EODMSgt , I agree with you on the humidity but once I'm done painting, there will be something coming down in the woods.

We have what I think is Yellow Birch that are damaged or just growing on an angle so they'll come down first, this will also give me more room back there to store some snow.
 
Nice work @EODMSgt , I agree with you on the humidity but once I'm done painting, there will be something coming down in the woods.

We have what I think is Yellow Birch that are damaged or just growing on an angle so they'll come down first, this will also give me more room back there to store some snow.
I wish we had more Yellow Birch, they are beautiful and great firewood.
 
Nice work @EODMSgt , I agree with you on the humidity but once I'm done painting, there will be something coming down in the woods.

We have what I think is Yellow Birch that are damaged or just growing on an angle so they'll come down first, this will also give me more room back there to store some snow.

I hear you @thewoodlands. It's been around a month since I felled or bucked a tree and I need to get out in the woods and scrounge some timber.

We had severe thunderstorm warnings for this afternoon however I did manage to get a couple more trailer loads split and stacked. I'm not thrilled with where the stack is located but the area I was working on to expand my firewood processing has been put on hold. The dealer has had my tractor for a month now so that has set me back from working on that project (not the dealer's fault, they're just like everyone else and scrambling with parts and employee shortages).

As for looking at the unprocessed stacks of rounds, it has never bothered me at all. I can't see them from my front deck and what I can see from my side deck makes me happy. Rounds and logs are like money in the bank and I look forward to processing them when it's cooler. All the rain this year has just made it more prudent to get them split and stacked sooner to prevent possible rot. If it was a typical year, they could sit there until October since I already have over 7 cords CSS and seasoned for this coming burning season. Firewood processing is always a year-round cycle for me so a little at a time and it all adds up.
 

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The last few weekends I have been cutting a little here and there. Last weekend We cut up the rest of a large maple my brother had at his place and I ended up with a truck load. I did help a friend of mine extract honey last weekend he ended up with 70 lb. It has been a hot summer I still have some wood to move with the tractor but with it being in the 90's most days I just don't feel like moving wood I would rather be doing other stuff. But this weekend I have a couple truck loads to cut up for a friend who wants some wood and I could see using the tractor to finish filling in the stacks close to the house.
 
Having to split in this weather due to this being our first year in the house. Slowly finishing off the cherry I got from the last scrounge, which would put us up to 2/3 of a cord of mostly cherry and pine aside for next year. Then will start to work on the oak. Also have a small stack for this year of stuff that was dead and dried out, working up to a 1/3 of a cord of that.
 
Our 25 chicks completed their long journey from MN today. From initial impressions there are about half and half hens and roosters.
 

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Second load of silver maple and Ash, probably another 3 maybe 4 off of what is on the ground. There is another maple laying just off the yard been down a year or more from what the homeowner said. I think this property will yield almost a full winter of wood. Time will tell we got our final quote for a chimney install and stove from our local dealer, expecting to burn 2 to 3 cords a year. If that number holds true this maple and ash will put me 4 years ahead! That's my ms291 with a 18 inch bar for comparison.
We cut the maple down cause it was about leaning hard about 15ft over a couples home and they were starting to get nervous.
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Our 25 chicks completed their long journey from MN today. From initial impressions there are about half and half hens and roosters.
I found one chick had passed after coming inside after chores, unknown cause of death, but I did expect to lose a few.
 
Sorry to heat that Spacebus. My grandmother hatched chicks and ducks for many years unfortunately it happens. Still a crappy feeling when it happens. I hope the other 24 do well.