Bruce's Journal

[Bruce]

I don't think it does, at least it wasn't mentioned in the 2 videos I found on the same or very similar saw. When I dropped it off she agreed that it should be using oil at about the same rate as gas (no surprise). The guy will look at it Monday since I didn't get there until about 4:30 yesterday.

About done digging the pond it will hold water! I don't think there are any tadpoles left but there are a number of really small frogs in the mud puddle along with the bigger ones. I am concerned the frogs won't make it long though unless we get a TON of rain. I am pretty sure they winter over in the mud under the frozen water but if there is hardly any water, won't they freeze as well? Or freeze well before winter actually sets in since it doesn't take much to freeze a few inches of water.

Plan to make a test cordwood holder/transport cage tomorrow. I think I can get a 3.5' wide one right on the porch landing with the forks, accessible from the enclosed porch. No more loading the dump cart then unloading at the porch steps and stacking in the holders on the porch. A cord of dry hardwood runs about 2,000 pounds. If I read the fork manual right, the forks will lift that and more. Given I will be loading them right off the splitter, the wood will weigh more then than it will after it dries. The tractor specs say lift capacity to full height at pivot pins is 1,650 pounds. So if I can work it out dimensionally, I should be able to fairly easily lift a run, right? To be safe, I suspect I best limit myself to a quarter cord, not sure the porch landing will hold more .... or even that. Maybe I better get the whole family standing on it (~600 pounds) and see if it collapses. If it doesn't maybe get 1 more person and if it still doesn't collapse, perhaps I could actually get a full run in a holder.

Now let's see a run is 16"x48"x96". I don't think the landing is 4' deep so maybe the cages should be 42" wide x 36" deep (4" spare for pieces 2 deep) and about 5' high?? Or maybe make it 7' high in the front, 5' in the back so I can put a piece of metal roof on it to provide snow protection when it is up against the porch door; load only to about 5'.

 

[Latestarter]

Ahhhh the possibilities seem endless! Hope whatever you finalize works!

 

[Mike CHS]

I think you might be over thinking this bit.

 

[Bruce]

You don't think it is important to consider the size of the platform and lifting capacity of the equipment?

 

[Mike CHS]

Bruce - if I try to lift something and it strains, I drop it and take less.

 

[Bruce]

Yeah, that works for picking up stuff you need to move from here to there and it doesn't much matter how many trips but my long term plan is to fill the cages for drying then move one as needed to the porch landing, leave it there and move wood from it directly into the house to use, no extra intermediate moves onto the porch. Thus the cages kinda have to be somewhat of a known quantity as to how much they are holding. I burn about 4 cords a year so knowing how many I need to make a cord means no measuring to make sure I have enough. Which I won't this year, spent lots of time on the pond. Don't know that whatever else I cut now will have time to dry.

 

[Latestarter]

If you cut it after leaf drop, most of the sap will be gone and you set it for "last use" so it has time to dry a little more. When you stack it, stack really loose so lots of air can get in and around it to help dry it.

 

[Baymule]

You also run "stickers" or a length of lumber between the layers to give more air flow. I get stickers from Lowes for free and use them for all sorts of things. They are usually 4 feet long and I even find treated ones. They are the short pieces between the bundles of lumber to create the gap so the forks will fir under the bundle to lift it.

 

[greybeard]

You also run "stickers" or a length of lumber between the layers to give more air flow. I get stickers from Lowes for free and use them for all sorts of things. They are usually 4 feet long and I even find treated ones. They are the short pieces between the bundles of lumber to create the gap so the forks will fir under the bundle to lift it.

They will also allow more snow and ice to build up in between the layers. Lot of difference in where Bruce lives and where we do.

If you still have the hoe attachment on when moving the racks of wood, you can lower the boom down and stretch (extend) the dipper out to act as a counterweight. Do however, be extremely cautious about left/right stability. It's easier to turn one over on it's side in this configuration, when making even a wide turn.

 

[Bruce]

I expect I'll have the backhoe on to keep some weight on the back. Load to be carried LOW, just above the ground, until it is lifted onto the landing which is about 3' high I think. I will definitely keep your roll over caution in mind!

Rack is a work in progress. Decided on 44" wide, 38" deep. So far I have made a pallet with 4 vertical corners on the outside. That leaves a few inches on the sides for "slop" when putting it on the landing. Deciding if should make a bunch of vertical pieces to hold the wood in or maybe wrap 3 sides with chicken wire. Thoughts?

Going to make it 5' high and since I only need the angled top when the rack is on the landing, I've decided to make a single removable top which will be a bit more than 7' off the landing at the wall side ('front') so it is above the top of the storm door. I have the "base" of it made, still need to make the side triangles and top brace then cut a piece of metal for it.

The "racks in waiting" can just have a piece of metal roof on top to keep the snow from filling them. Might need to tarp the whole mess when a quantity of snow is expected. Long term I would like to make a woodshed to hold the racks of wood with open front and back during non snow seasons for more airflow. Some way to close up the back side in the winter.

This is, of course, taking longer than it should for 2 reasons:

1. First time is always long figuring out what to do
2. I'm using old wood that was pulled from the house (figure Bay will approve) and it has sheetrock screws, nails and lots pneumatic gun staples in it. Takes a fair bit of time to pull all that out. The 3/4" pieces are made of hardwood flooring that was ripped out. Good thing looks don't matter on this project!