Hello, I'm Burt Reynolds. I just heard I was dead.
As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
Having been raise with woodstoves and remember a fair share of corn cobs being burned, I feel like I'm in a learning curve of all the things of my childhood. What is frustrating is all of the old methods are wasted away and I had to acquire by God's design much of the same equipment.
This year was a junked H Farmall, that is running, which I acquired a belt pulley to run a buzz saw, and am now working with JYG for the belt. The belt pulley was typical in I read online an argument of H and M belt pulleys being interchangeable. I learned they are not, but it fit on the junked Super MTA we have, so that was a plus. Then again with a loader on it, it will not work off the front end and I'm working on using a PTO extension off the back. Yes summer is only so long and it is forecast snow, so with delays and problems it seems to take a few years to get things running again like they should.
Today was a day of day two in scavenging dead trees from our groves. Of course poison ivy was in the one, but thank God no poison ivy reaction on me. The work was chainsawing which I cut pieces into as long as I can move, put them on a trailer and then haul them to the buzz saw.
Ideal it would be dry ,but it is rain wet, so again, it would be nice to have this all done in dry weather and if there was not constant set backs. The reason for the buzz saw is to save on the chain saw as it is an old Poulan 2000 which the Goddamn Chinamen only make shitty gaskets for, which was another delay but I got the thing running by God's Grace and got what I hope is a growing pile of elm and ash to burn. I do not like ash in the barrel stove, or large pieces of it as it does not burn the best. Elm did well, as did soft poplar on start ups and box elder burns hot and fast, but again, that has me burning lots of wood and stoking it too often.
The plan is to use the buzz saw to make nothing longer than 12 inches, preferably 6 on the ash. Richard and Stephanie helped out on a wood splitter, but I'm thinking I can save the splitter if I cut shorter pieces of this ash. Is still an experiment in learning with this stove and wood. I had thought last year that long pieces not too large would burn. Yeah they also smoked out the front end and had me moving them more. Am hoping that short is better, and honestly this barrel stove likes baseball bat size wood and under. I have to get kindling yet as that is all important, but if I had 40 foot poles about fist size I would love cutting them to short pieces and heating that way.
I noticed on a walk with TL that two trees were dead by a building we have. I knew they were elm, and we get elm bores which kill them. They do have seed, re seed some American elm, but they are dead by the time they get a foot in diameter.
I forget what I was reading, maybe a Poulon PDF but they were explaining how to cut down trees. I have cut down lots of trees with a great deal of adventure and thought I was using their method, so I decided as the one was leaning toward this old building, that I would cut it anyway and see how things went.
The directions were to cut straight in about 1/3rd of the way in a straight cut. At least I think that is what they said. Then you cut at about 45 degrees on the same side you want the tree to fall and meet that cut and take the wedge out.
Next you go on the back side, and cut about 45 degrees down into that wedge area, and it did surprise me, but both trees went where I intended them too, and this was with jack knife cutting in not getting things right as trees grow by other trees and in piles of junk so you have to ............well it is not like they say in pretty pictures, but the Holy Angels, thank God kept me from getting killed by falling lumber or cutting off my body parts with huge spurting of blood.
So that is where it stands as I wait on my cousin on the price of the metal trailer he has, which I plan to store the wood in outside, so it will be dry and close to the house, and hopefully easier than the trying to get long sticks maneuvered through tight spaces.
Our cellar is damp until it gets heated up enough, so I can't store burning material down there or it just smokes which was a lesson I did not forget last year with downdrafts. Lo pressure systems, wind from the east and moisture in the air really is not the time to be lighting fires in this cellar, but it is by association the time we need extra heat.
I'm not ready for winter, but am going to be ready with things in a few more years I think. I will know by then the wood situation here, as I do not like cutting green wood, as it has creosote problems, and prefer what I have been burning is old widow makers, dead for so many years the bark has fallen off. Those are the best trees to burn, and I just cringe if I will have to start begging people to allow me to clear out the dead trees they have. My Grandparents land has trees, which will probably be rendered into fuel too. I just know like Stephanie and Richard discovered in that Texas below zero and no lights heating adventure that you burn up lots of wood and you start wondering if you are ever going to have enough wood the way your are burning it.
I'm thinking I must have burned up a cord of wood last year, as we stared late and then once it gets into the 40s for daytime highs, the Richard and Stephanie propane furnace does not run that much. My plan not in the wet was to try and keep the cellar and house warm before it got colder, so the furnace would not run that much. Is a plan, but I have lots of plans and it was nothing but delays and more delays in fixing things and fixing things.
It would be so much simpler to have 3 cords of split would delivered and stacked but that is rich people stuff who lay on bear skin rugs and pretend they are not fat asses.
Nuff Said
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