Good morning!!!!

[rswyan]

RS, your wood pictures have me wondering: What happens when the length of a round falls mid way between what works best in your stove? Do you buck one side to best length and leave the other side short, and if so, what do you do with the short? Or do you split it down the middle?

RNG,

We have three stoves here - the WBF and a wood-burning fireplace insert in the basement here at the house, and the double barrel stove up in the shop. And of course, the "ideal" length for each is slightly different

Usually what I do is cut for the WBF - 22" is about right - so mostly it's one side to the ideal length and the other side short. Sometimes I will just split it in the middle, as the woman prefers handling smaller pieces ... easier for her.

Loading the fireplace insert front to back, rather than crossways, means shorter pieces ... maybe 16" at most. The double barrel stove in the shop can take a 28" length no problem.

I ask because I use pallets to stack my wood, and short lengths waste space on the pallets. Maybe that doesn't matter to you?

It might this winter, if we have to heat again with wood. I actually need to come up with a way to handle the wood for the house with the tractor ... pallets are looking pretty good at this point, but I have to round some up. Usually can find plenty of free ones on Craig's List. Part of the issue will be the limited lift capacity of my loader.

The wood pile for the shop, which is masonry block, gets built on the east side of the building, partially under the overhang, on the driveway. No need to do anything fancy with that ... just stack it ... it's easy enough to get to.

The wood supply for the house is another issue however. I guess the plan at this point is to palletize the wood after it's split, then move it down to the house in late summer/early fall with the tractor and stack it outside under the deck by the back sliding glass door (it's a walk-in basement)

I'm not sure that even with packing that area, it will be enough to last the entire winter ... might have to use the "unused" half of the garage.

Also, that looks like a serious counterweight on the back of your tractor. Homemade?

Yup ... built it last winter ... weighs around 1150 - 1200 lbs. ...

I have to manually give it an "assist" when I pick it up with the 3PH, otherwise the 3PH won't lift it ... need to add another shim to the PRV on the 3PH.

And finally, I don't know about sycamore, but the oak around here splits much more easily when it's dry. And the dryer the better. When it's wet, the wedge acts more like a knife and tends to cut across the grain instead of wedging it apart. That takes a lot more force and it's easy to get the wedge stuck if I'm not paying attention.

I've been real lucky ... haven't stuck too many so far ... but like you say, the pine that I've been splitting tends to tear across the grain. Maple and ash, not so much ... they usually just pop ... haven't tried any of the sycamore yet.

It will be interesting to see how it goes with those two huge red oaks I still got to go cut up and split

 

[RedNeckGeek]

RS, for what it's worth, the local tile shops get their inventories delivered on pallets, and they have a hard time gettin' rid of them. They come in all different sizes, so it's pretty easy to pick and choose those that will work for any size wood. I usually pick up some extras to cannibalize for the racks I build on top of the pallets, and size on those isn't important at all. Any left overs makes great kindling, too, so all it really costs is the labor to take 'em apart and a few drywall screws to put 'em together.

 

[Larro Darro]

Good Afternoon. 1400, partly cloudy, 88F {96F heat index} with 58% humidity. Forecast high of 88F with 20% chance of rain today, and a low of 71F tonight.

Today is Margie's 62nd birthday. {Happy birthday Ron's Mom} Some of our Tampa Cousins, John and Dee asked us to breakfast at the Altha Diner since Margie took the day off. We went and had a good time, even running into more Tampa cousins while we were there. About lunch time Margie remembered we had a scheduled bug spraying for 8-10 this morning. There was nothing left on the door knob, so I think he blew us off, not the other way around.

I've been working on the expanded garden fence since we got back. Almost got it all the way around. If there is time when I finish, I'll put the disc on the 3930 and get started turning grass into garden. Then we are all going to Pizza Hut tonight for Margie's birthday. Not sure who all will be there, but it should be 8-10 folks at least.

Hope everyone is having a good day,

Larro

 

[bakerg]

Today is Margie's 62nd birthday. Larro

 

[dave1949]

Perhaps your chainsaw has mysterious powers like mine. As some people can divine for water with bent coat hangers, my chainsaw can find steel. Not consistently though, it only seems to have this gift when wearing a brand new chain.

I am not alone in the universe of chainsaw mysteries.

 

[sodamo]

Yeaaaaaaaaaa, diesel generator is working, more importantly stopping when commanded. We switched out the the injector/pump/governor. I, and the mechanic, think something is amiss internally with the old one.

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[txdon]

This is a test to see if I have master the new technology - (new to me) - iPhone to email/Mac to iPhoto (crop out out finger) to desktop to TBN. Saw this on the road about 2 miles from here.
small Timber rattle snake sunning on the road - this is not the big one that's hanging around my place.

 

[vtsnowedin]

This is a test to see if I have master the new technology - (new to me) - iPhone to email/Mac to iPhoto (crop out out finger) to desktop to TBN. Saw this on the road about 2 miles from here.
small Timber rattle snake sunning on the road - this is not the big one that's hanging around my place.

Nothing wrong with him that a 12 gauge with a load of no. 6s won't cure,

 

[RedNeckGeek]

[B

iPhone to email/Mac to iPhoto (crop out out finger) to desktop to TBN.

Beautiful photo (and snake), but you probably already know you took the long way 'round. If you hook the iPhone up to the Mac with a USB cable, iPhoto will open and you can import the images directly. Then edit, save to a handy folder like you're doing, and the rest...

 

[sodamo]

Something doesn't sound right here, David. If the fuel solenoid is cutting the flow of fuel to the engine, the engine has to stop, regardless of what the injection pump is doing. I'm no Diesel mechanic (I don't even play one on TV), neither did I sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but at this point I'd suspect I don't understand what Diesel man is telling me or that what I'm hearing is BS. Any chance you could get a second opinion from somebody you trust? :2cents:

About everyone would agree with you, well, maybe not the generator guy, who is convinced it is the EGR valve First thought was always a defective solenoid, but it wasn't. I had to shut engine down by cutting off the air, not a good solution.
Somehow, fuel was still getting into the system after the solenoid activated. One of my first successful test was to crimp the fuel line - it worked. I next installed a manual valve in the line, that also worked, but would take more than a minute before all the fuel was gone, also not a good solution for autostart operations.

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[sodamo]

[B Beautiful photo (and snake), but you probably already know you took the long way 'round. If you hook the iPhone up to the Mac with a USB cable, iPhoto will open and you can import the images directly. Then edit, save to a handy folder like you're doing, and the rest...

Or use the photo app with iCloud, even easier

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[Larro Darro]

Look what I found when I was loading my supper pictures tonight. {we ate out, so I used my car camera} I had forgot about taking the picture until I saw it. Judging by the shadows, it was morning. So last Saturday or Sunday would be my best guess. This is about a quarter mile from my crossroads.

 

[txdon]

RNG and Sadamo, thanks for the suggestions - I guess I'm only about 3 years behind now. I had trouble taking the picture on my wife's iPhone, I kept getting burst of 8 pictures in a half second. . . . oh well at least I'm attempting to kind of keep up.

 

[dave1949]

51F Should be tonight's low. Rain sliding off to our north again tonight.

Larro Hope Margie had a fine Birthday today and you both enjoyed dinner out.

Sodamo Good to hear the generator issue is cleared up.

An article about drilling wells, farms, and water allocation in California: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/07/b...n-region&region=top-news&WT.nav=top-news&_r=0

Picked rocks and mowed the yard today. The field has a fine crop of Sheep Sorrel growing. According to what I read it rapidly colonizes disturbed areas, spreads via rhizomes, and really likes highly acidic soils. The best thing I can say about it is it is a favored host plant for caterpillars of the American Copper butterfly. In general, it is described as a noxious weed. We always have some Sheep Sorrel around but it is amazing what the weed seed load in the soil is capable of when given the right conditions.

 

[deerseeker001]

I got the Lawn mowed before the Guy that marks under ground Wires came over.I now can move the soil next to Garage.

 

[Eric Salop]

A day of high westerly winds so we will be taking shelter on the eastern side of the house while we make some more slate mulch.

Yesterday afternoon a polite young man from Oakley's Groundcare came and looked over the Grillo mower. The machine still had that whiff of burnt rubber (from the drive belt - not the tires. I've noticed my wife going faster this year but I haven't seen any handbrake turns yet or signs of doughnuts on the concrete yard). He says tension mechanism is working, just needs a new belt under warranty. We can still use the mower for light use until he comes back to replace it.

 

[ronjhall]

Coffee is brewing. 53° with clear skies this morning. Heading to 73° with mostly sunny skies. Still working on siding project. No new car yet. Dealer offered to deliver it to my home this morning. I took the offer. We will see they get it done today.
My mother enjoyed the little birthday party we arranged for her. When I told her that my friends on TBN wished her a Happy Birthday. She asked if TBN was my Tractor friends. Thanks for all the wishes.
riptides, good luck with the job search.
txdon, those Apple devises can be a little trying until you get the knack.
LD, (Happy belated) Birthday to Margie.
Good Morning All.

 

[Thomas]

59F overcast high low 70's and clear sky...got some more much needed rain during the night.
Not all that much plan for today,move rock if I can to one side of stream and repair garden hose Mrs. and I might take afternoon ride on motorcycle...had motorcycle inspected yesterday $30 :duh: for nothing wrong.

Well its time to go and start puttering.

Enjoy the day all.

 

[daugen]

a very comfortable 62 degrees going up to 82 today, in clouds and likely some thunderstorms this afternoon.
So....off this morning to see what's going on at the country club, big golf weekend which is of zero interest to me, just curious as a newbie what's going on there. Then I head North on the same road to Edenton where after the parade gets through town I'm going to find their high school where the tractor meet is:Upcoming June Events - Visit Edenton - Chowan County - North Carolina.
Not going to be able to do a huge amount of walking with my right foot just zapped for a plantar's wart. (yes that nitrogen does make one's eyes water after they hold it on for awhile...)

But my camera trigger finger will work just fine.

I pass the local butcher shop on the way Request Rejected
where I learned every conceivable way of using/eating a pig. So much of this stuff looked
seriously unhealthy. Not quite like Larro's or Don's careful meal planning at all...
Of course even our local Food Lion has pickled pigs feet, tails, etc.
enough to make one a vegan...

I might stop there on the way home and see if they have any deals. The last time I went I caught the tail end of strip steak sale for 7 dollars a pound, and it was prime for sure. I bought a dozen, and carefully froze most. I listened to the butcher's advice to get every last bit of air out of the wrap. The local supermarkets just don't stock this top end meat but then I don't want to pay for it anyway. I'm seriously cheap when it comes to meat. Over 5 bucks a pound, it had better be mighty enticing... I can afford it, I just refuse to spend it. I guess that defines cheap, who knows. We all set lines in the sand like this, in our own ways.

Of all the beef products, isn't a relatively lean steak the "healthiest" to eat and get protein?
I eat beef perhaps once a week, sometimes every two weeks. Mostly chicken and pork otherwise.
No scrapple for me...

Boneless chicken breasts, frozen, are still at 1.99 on sale, almost a permanent sale. Seems unfair the chicken farmers get so little for their product so I guess you have to do seriously big numbers to make it work. Can you imagine having an equivalent 50,000 cattle? considering what hamburger costs we should be paying at least 2.50 for chicken.
Perhaps there is more cost in raising each pound of beef vs chicken. I'm plenty old enough to know when beef was much, much less expensive.

but I surely digress. Have a great weekend.

 

[RoyJackson]

2015-06-06, 0723

58 right now...high of 69 today and overcast...pretty wet outside right now.

Boy, long long day yesterday! As I'd written, I woke up at midnight Thursday, tossed and turned for a few hours...left for work at about 0430 Friday and knocked off at 1530. Wifey and stepdaughter had gone out, so after a beer and a slice of pizza....well, caught up on the sleep....10-11 hours straight.