Where is everyone?

[iskiatomic]

New topics and posts have dwindled. Is everyone out cutting for next season, or is it spring clean up time?

Dropped a mother of a red oak on Tuesday about 28-30 inches in diameter. The best part was the few fuzzy vines growing up the tree. Tried to keep the contact to a minimum with the vines and clean up good, but they came back to haunt me with a mild poison ivy outbreak. I just don't get along with that stuff.

Anyone have any home remedies they care to pass along?

Sitting here inside a trailside condo in Jay Peak, Vermont watching the snow just disappear right in front of my eyes. Lots of rain last night and this morning. At least we got out on the hill for about four hours yesterday, dodged some raindrops. Today is not looking pretty. Well, I guess it's time to get the coffee going.


KC

 

[Hurricane]

The grass is starting to green up here so I needed to get the yard cleaned up and also finished splitting my load of wood for 2011. I just need to get it stacked.
With the spring thaw here I think most people are more involved outside.

 

[Brian VT]

I've been busy making maple syrup and scrounging/splitting wood in between.
I got 1 last day of skiing in 2 Sundays ago.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Being unemployed and establishing a small business, I have less time to be online lately.

I finally cut up most of the ice storm damage in my yard- 4 full oaks, more birch and red maple, couple good sized pines. Also got some from neighbors. Busy busy- my hands hurt, body aches- it's a comforting feeling and I'm glad to be back at it

 

[Duetech]

Glad things are going good for you and also glad I didn't have your ice storms. I've been trying to get my wood guy to deliver more wood so I can be ready for next season. I have about two cord of pine, one cord of mixed stuff, about 1 1/2 face cord of oak and maple, one bag of cob corn and no hauling apparatus for the stuff I see on my daily forays. On the farm though I have a couple of dead elms that keep calling to me.

 

[Chris S]

A farmer a know & buy hay from still gets poison ivy from stacking the hay. His solution- after you've been exposed to it- rub vinegar on exposed skin & let it dry- tingles a little, but not as bad as gasoline, or chlorox, which some people try. Ive done it , and it works.

Chris

 

[Backwoods Savage]

The posts will get less and less as the weather warms. But be forewarned, they are forecasting some nasty weather starting today in the Plains and moving east. Our forecast is for around 8" of snow for Sunday night. A cold week coming up too so the posts this coming week will probably pick up some.

On the poison ivy, we keep a bar of special soap handy. We buy it at Lehmann's (they do have a web site). Get exposed to poison ivy or poison oak, scrub with that thing ASAP and you should be okay.

I've gotten away with cutting that stuff during January or February if it isn't too thick. Too much ivy and that tree will die before I'll cut it. I used to be very tolerant of it and could work right in the stuff without any discomfort or rash. Then one day I made the mistake of burning some. Bad....

 

[Brian VT]

Speaking of nasty plants...does burning Staghorn Sumac (in a brush pile) give off any unusual fumes ?
I was thinking of Poison Sumac and wonder if they share some of the same chemicals.

 

[smokinj]

The posts will get less and less as the weather warms. But be forewarned, they are forecasting some nasty weather starting today in the Plains and moving east. Our forecast is for around 8" of snow for Sunday night. A cold week coming up too so the posts this coming week will probably pick up some.

On the poison ivy, we keep a bar of special soap handy. We buy it at Lehmann's (they do have a web site). Get exposed to poison ivy or poison oak, scrub with that thing ASAP and you should be okay.

I've gotten away with cutting that stuff during January or February if it isn't too thick. Too much ivy and that tree will die before I'll cut it. I used to be very tolerant of it and could work right in the stuff without any discomfort or rash. Then one day I made the mistake of burning some. Bad....

there calling for snow here monday and tuesday! I am cutting through it, cant be any worse than Jan.

 

[Creek-Chub]

RE: Poison Ivy

Keep a bottle of Tecnu (brand name) handy. Any time you think you've gotten into it, take a shower with the stuff. If you can do it within three hours of contact, there is a 99% chance you won't get poison ivy. I grew up getting some of the worst cases of Poison Ivy you've ever seen. Seems like every summer I had to spend at least a week naked in bed with sheets and fans. Since discovering Tecnu, I haven't gotten a single case - until a few weeks ago when I ran out and said "ah, screw it - I'll be fine". Guess what? Back to the doc for some Prednisone. You can get it at most drug stores, and probably Walmart or the equivalent.

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Speaking of nasty plants...does burning Staghorn Sumac (in a brush pile) give off any unusual fumes ?
I was thinking of Poison Sumac and wonder if they share some of the same chemicals.

I've been thinking about that since you posted. I highly doubt there would be a problem but if someone was really sensitive to it, I'd highly recommend not burning it. We've burned the stuff but it's never bothered anyone here.

 

[PA. Woodsman]

Been busy with getting our U-12 Soccer team ready for opening day tomorrow, plus it was a long, hard Winter and I guess that I just wanted to get away from wood for a little while, but now am getting the "itch" to get woodin' again.

 

[xman23]

Been away from the cabin for 3 weekends, skiing. Returned this weekend and had the stove crankin, so sweet. Trailered my splitter from PA to dads house in NJ today. Next weekend I'm going to split a 3.5 ft red oak he bucked last fall. This spring I have to buck and haul out a secret stash of 15 -20 white oaks taken down last fall. Thinkin about building a large wood shed, maybe this year or next year.

 

[North of 60]

Was out just this evening on the snowmobile scouting out some more dead standing trees in the bush near the house for quad season. For the first time and I dont know why as I have passed this area on the quad many times but missed seeing a nice patch of birch. Thats a hardwood for me and usually will pick some up 200kms away from here if I happen to be out that way. To-night it was my time for the lottery. Iam pretty excited. These are also dead standing from a fire kill 10yrs ago.

 

[LLigetfa]

These are also dead standing from a fire kill 10yrs ago.

I've never known dead Birch to stay standing for 10 years. Any long standing Birch around here, is nothing more than a soft tube of bark and punk that comes crashing down if you touch it. Birch here will rot in 2 years if not bucked and split.

 

[North of 60]

These are also dead standing from a fire kill 10yrs ago.

I've never known dead Birch to stay standing for 10 years. Any long standing Birch around here, is nothing more than a soft tube of bark and punk that comes crashing down if you touch it. Birch here will rot in 2 years if not bucked and split.

Id agree if I found some in the lower mainland/Vancouver being a wet climate. Any dead standing trees here seem almost to be semi petrified. All the poplar I burn is from fire killed. It is sun baked ,rain washed and grey on the outsides. We are in a arid climate and moisture gets sucked out of things pretty fast, along with an intense fire and obvious dry summers and winters, there's not much rot that goes on here. I always have an axe on my snow machine. They are solid. Thats why Iam exited. It is illegal to cut any living trees here unless you are clearing for building or farming. Wood permits are for standing dead only in old burn areas and beetle kill.
N of 60

 

[Pagey]

Like others have said, yard work has been taking some of my time as we begin to green up here in TN. I've also been working diligently in the wood shed (barn, in this case). I've got about 4 cords ready for this coming season. In addition, dad and I have been working to get another year's supply of red oak on hand. We found a local guy that's willing to fall, buck, split, and help load red oak for $75 a cord. We've been taking all we can get at that price. Finally, we've hauled around 8 or 9 cords of red, white, and chestnut oak out of the woods for my paternal grandmother. Gotta make hay while the sun is shining! I really should post some pics of the barn soon.

 

[mayhem]

Still splitting for this season oddly enough. Its goten colder again very recently and is supposed to be coola nd rainly all week.

For amy part, the front yard is still drying out from the snowpack-induced mud season so I'm in a combined cleanup/wood harvesting mode right now. We had enough trees either downed or snapped by the Dec ice storm that I've got tons of brush to burn and big limbs and trunks to buck and split all over my yard. I'm guessing I'll have more than enough wood off my own lot for this season.

 

[firefighterjake]

I spent a day and a half this past weekend splitting up next year's late winter (2010) wood. Ground conditions are still pretty soft to get into the woods to cut down 2010-2011's wood. I'm still burning as well . . . but mostly just a fire in the a.m. and a fire in the p.m. to take off the chill until the day warms up.

 

[Pagey]

I've been in here:

Working on this:

That last partial row is now filled in, and, additionally, there is another full row the same height/length all the way down the face of that run. And, looking at the first pic, there is about 2.5 cords in the back right corner of the barn. I'll get the actual pics up soon.

 

[captainjim04]

Speaking of nasty plants...does burning Staghorn Sumac (in a brush pile) give off any unusual fumes ?
I was thinking of Poison Sumac and wonder if they share some of the same chemicals.

Native americans use to smoke it and make tea and wine out of it. I know a woman that drinks it as tea all the time. I would think it would be safe to burn. When ever I have these kinds of questions. The first thing I do is look up the latin names. This way you will find that sumac and staghorn are not related and are english names. A lot of english words are made up because of the the different cultures and get nick names. Latin names are the real deal when concerning with make up and genetics.

Wikipedia is where I get the latin names:

Staghorn Sumac (Rhus typhina, synonym: R. hirta), is a deciduous shrub to small tree in the Anacardiaceae or Cashew family, native to eastern North America. In North America, the smooth sumac (Rhus glabra) and the staghorn sumac (Rhus typhina) are sometimes used to make a beverage termed "sumac-ade," "Indian lemonade" or "rhus juice".

Poison sumac (Toxicodendron vernix or Rhus vernix) is a woody shrub or small tree growing to 7 m (20 ft) tall. [1] All parts of the plant contain a resin called urushiol that causes skin and mucous membrane irritation to humans. When burned, inhalation of the smoke causes diarrhea and other internal irritations.