At Home In The Woods

[vtsnowedin]

I came home from work tonight and found the power was off. No storm to speak of, probably just a fallen tree, but if your off you are off. The misses and the resident adult daughter had lit some candles and were reading by candle light and waiting for the power company or yours truly to do something. I fired up the portable generator that I bought back before Katrina and ran a couple of extension cords into the kitchen and the master bed room. Supper was prepared on the gas range using a match to lite the burners (steak, mashed potatoes, and carrots) and then the cord was moved into the living room so that the reading might continue. A few minutes later the lights came back on and the drill was over. I need to think about more fuel storage as I only had on hand about ten hours worth of fuel and that would hardly do in a real emergency like Sandy in N.J. One benefit of the drill though was changing old gas for new in the tank of the Honda generator.

 

[Obed]

yea I would almost never use one (wheelbarrow) if I had a fel!! also I would never go to all that trouble to plant flowers, your a better man than me. I would either put more soil ontop of that and make a mounded dirt or just put them in the clay, its actually can hold plenty of nutrients and grow fine flowers and veggies.

clemsonfor,
For small amounts of dirt moving, using the wheelbarrow is faster than digging with the backhoe, then turning the tractor around to use the fel, then turning the tractor around again to use the backhoe, etc. However, I didn't realize until we got into the digging that I would be removing 4 FEL buckets of red clay.

Also, my wife wanted to plant the bushes in topsoil, not red clay. Basically, that's the only argument that mattered.
Obed

 

[Obed]

would it not just have been easier to cut it flush with the ground and drive over it. I try and do things the fastest and easiest way possible though.

Maybe, but then how would I justify owning a backhoe attachment?
Obed

 

[Obed]

I came home from work tonight and found the power was off. No storm to speak of, probably just a fallen tree, but if your off you are off. The misses and the resident adult daughter had lit some candles and were reading by candle light and waiting for the power company or yours truly to do something. I fired up the portable generator that I bought back before Katrina and ran a couple of extension cords into the kitchen and the master bed room. Supper was prepared on the gas range using a match to lite the burners (steak, mashed potatoes, and carrots) and then the cord was moved into the living room so that the reading might continue. A few minutes later the lights came back on and the drill was over. I need to think about more fuel storage as I only had on hand about ten hours worth of fuel and that would hardly do in a real emergency like Sandy in N.J. One benefit of the drill though was changing old gas for new in the tank of the Honda generator.

A PTO generator is in my wish list but I'm wondering if I can really justify it. Chances are slim that we would ever be out of power for more than 2 or 3 days. A relative has a gas generator I could borrow to keep the fridges and freezer cold. We are on a well so we wouldn't have water without a generator. And I'm not sure if the borrowed generator would run our well pump. No water would be inconvenient. We could always stay with relatives if we wanted.
Obed

 

[brin]

Maybe, but then how would I justify owning a backhoe attachment?
Obed

:laughing: You do have a point...!

 

[Obed]

Well Obed...did you get those cage pallets?

Yay! Thanks to a tip from MotorSeven, I am now the owner of 9 heavy duty metal wire cage pallets! Thanks Rick!

It was a big ordeal for me to go get the cage pallets but it was well worth it. Rick gave me the phone number of the place where he bought 12 pallets. I called the guy and he said I could have 10 used wire cage pallets for $15 each. I asked if the pallets were collapsible but the place told me they were not. Thus I had to pull my big trailer for the 3 1/2hour round trip.

I took Friday afternoon off from work. The big trailer was parked in the woods where I cannot access it with my truck. So I had to remove the backhoe from the tractor (a 45 minute task) and pull the trailer out of the woods with the tractor. I then hooked up the trailer to the truck and hit the road. When I arrived at the store, they only had 9 pallets. They had accidentally sold one of mine. An employee and I loaded the pallets on the trailer and I arrived home without incident.

Saturday morning I started unloading the pallets off the trailer. My wife wanted them out of view. She doesn't seem to think they are very attractive. So I put them in the woods. At first I was using the tractor to move them but then found that it was quicker to move them with my wife's assistance using a hand dolly.

These cage pallets are perfect for storing and moving firewood. I've been wanting something like them but couldn't justify the cost. At $15 each plus my travel I couldn't pass these up. Wrapping chicken wire around wooden pallets has worked well for me. But these wire pallet cages are ideal. Thanks again Rick!

 

[vtsnowedin]

A PTO generator is in my wish list but I'm wondering if I can really justify it. Chances are slim that we would ever be out of power for more than 2 or 3 days. A relative has a gas generator I could borrow to keep the fridges and freezer cold. We are on a well so we wouldn't have water without a generator. And I'm not sure if the borrowed generator would run our well pump. No water would be inconvenient. We could always stay with relatives if we wanted.
Obed

I don't know what your winters are like but up here 44.30 North and at 1700 ft. elevation a house that is electric dependant for heat and water would be unlivable during a winter power outage of more then a day, especially if some of the residents are frail for any reason. My own house has wood heat and gravity feed water so lighting is the only issue but many houses today need power to run the furnace and the well. If you have one of those then a backup generator large enough to run the furnace and the well pump at the same time is well worth the investment. You can run the freezer and lights when one of those two is cycled off and suffer no losses during an outage.

 

[Diamondpilot]

I am on a well and have propane for heat and hot water. I have a electric range and dryer. I bought a 8,550 watt Troy Built generator with a 13HP motor back in 04. Its been a life saver. I have a 200 amp transfer switch between the meter and breaker box so I just flip the switch, plug in the genny, start it up and I am up and running. It will power everything but my dryer, AC, and Hot Tub. I throw the breakers for these items. Its been a real life saver. We lost our power for 8 days once and many times for 2-3 days. It burns 9 gallons per day. I let it run non stop. I learned the hard way to keep gas on hand. I now keep 100 gallons and if its not used in 4 months for any reason it get put in the boat, cars, trucks, mowers, ect then fresh gas is brought in. This gives me 10 days worth.

We lost our power once in a ice storm where the temps got down to -20 the days after so no heat was not a option. We also lost it once following a tornado for 3 days in August with temps near 110. I had to go out and buy a $99 window AC unit to put in our master bed room then drag the little girls mattress in on the floor so we could sleep but its now stored in the barn right next to the genny for emergencies.

Chris

 

[srs]

The big trailer was parked in the woods where I cannot access it with my truck. So I had to remove the backhoe from the tractor (a 45 minute task) and pull the trailer out of the woods with the tractor.

Obed, I added this receiver to my loader bucket which allows me to insert a ball hitch to use on my trailer. The tall ball hitch seen in the center of the bucket is used to get under the tongue of my trailer.

 

[MotorSeven]

Srs good job. I drilled a hole in the end of one of my forks so I can drop a ball in it anytime I need it. Also, I put a receiver hitch in the top center of the boxblade. With top and tilt it makes it real easy to back up and hook onto a trailer.

Obed good deal on the cages eh? So have you tried to collapse one yet? So I rekon some day they will need a coat of paint and that will make them much more attractive to the wife

 

[clemsonfor]

Maybe, but then how would I justify owning a backhoe attachment?
Obed

Maybe i ought to delete my post and you never be caught cutting a stump flush, and not letting the wife read this thread. haha!

 

[srs]

Srs good job. I drilled a hole in the end of one of my forks so I can drop a ball in it anytime I need it. Also, I put a receiver hitch in the top center of the boxblade. With top and tilt it makes it real easy to back up and hook onto a trailer.

Thanks MotorSeven! Also love your posts on the Log Home, you do great work! Stanley

 

[Obed]

Obed good deal on the cages eh? So have you tried to collapse one yet? So I rekon some day they will need a coat of paint and that will make them much more attractive to the wife

Yes, an awesome deal, thanks. No, I didn't try to collapse one. Now that I have transported them home, I don't need to collapse them. The only thing that will make the pallet cages more attractive to the wife is when I fill them with firewood. She loves sitting next to the warm fireplace (and so do I).

 

[Kyle241]

Nice firewood cages Obed! Have been looking for those myself up this way however the price being asking is very high. You can't go wrong with $15/cage. Time to get stacking!

 

[Obed]

I filled 3 pallet cages with wood I cut from our log pile. I wonder if I will be able to cut and stack the wood from all the logs before they rot. All the logs in the pile are off the ground except a few of those showing in the front of the picture. Otherwise, the logs are stacked on perpendicular oriented logs lying on the ground.

 

[brin]

I filled 3 pallet cages with wood I cut from our log pile. I wonder if I will be able to cut and stack the wood from all the logs before they rot. All the logs in the pile are off the ground except a few of those showing in the front of the picture. Otherwise, the logs are stacked on perpendicular oriented logs lying on the ground.

Obed...I had a stack identical to yours of logs...mine were pine and I got to some but after 3 yrs . the ones left were all rotting ..not worth cutting...so I have a compost pile now..termites etc. helped..But if yours are hardwood and off the ground you will be fine for years...and years..I have cut hardwood logs that had been laying on the Forrest floor for years and the outer 2 or3 " were soft and bad but the inner core was fine...I would not worry..

 

[clemsonfor]

Looks like each cage can hold a week or so worth of wood to me! that ought to make moving it easier.

 

[dstig1]

You've got all winter.... No better time to cut and split wood.....

 

[MotorSeven]

I see a lot of hardwood in there...yes they will last a long time off the ground. Just keep whittling away at them, no worries. Even punky wood will burn once dried out and I have a mantra....."if it fit's in the stove, I burn it".

 

[Robert_in_NY]

I see a lot of hardwood in there...yes they will last a long time off the ground. Just keep whittling away at them, no worries. Even punky wood will burn once dried out and I have a mantra....."if it fit's in the stove, I burn it".

I find it funny, around here you can't give pine away to burn. That includes it already being cut to length, just split and go. Took around 7 full cord of pine to a friend to burn in his shop. We dropped the trees, cut the wood, loaded, hauled and dumped in his back yard 20 miles away. 4 loads in all and didn't ask for a penny. Yet everyone locally turned us down, wanted nothing to do with burning pine. I have around 60 more pine trees to drop still. It is a shame to let wood go to waste.