At Home In The Woods

[Obed]

I pulled the trailer full of firewood long lengths of wood to the area beside the house where I do my splitting. I located the back of the trailer close to the log splitter. This orientation allowed me to pick up the heavy logs and place them on the splitter without having to manuever them around on the ground to position them on the splitter. My back appreciated that setup.

I split and filled a couple pallets of wood. My wife put some plastic over the wood remaining in the trailer. A few weeks ago I moved some 6' to 9' long log sections from the wood pile to my splitting area. I didn't get to cut them up at that time so I left them on the ground. By the time I got around to cutting them up and splitting them, they had gotten wet sitting on the ground through a few rains. Being able to park the wood on the trailer under some plastic allows me to split a little at a time without the wood getting rained on in the meantime.

I believe I finally have enough wood cut and split to last through the winter. I still have the need to cut up and split next's year's supply to get as much drying time as possible. Of course, I have other projects that will compete with my time. We need to finish our back porch and deck and need to get the garden started.

 

[Obed]

I've been fighting a nasty cold the past 2 weeks and I'm still badly under the weather. Something ugly went around work and I caught it. Unfortunately, we had some things break at work so I was up until after midnight several nights in a row working. The lack of rest didn't help my body fight the cold and, I suspect as a result, I've gotten really sick.

I'm getting ready to take a nap. This afternoon I may split a few hickory pieces, move a pallet of wood into the garage, and call it a day. Not much else productive will happen on my end this weekend except hopefully get some needed rest. The firewood pictures I just posted were from work I did last Saturday before my cold made me stop.

On the positive side, the night temps are in the 20s and we have a nice warm fire burning!

 

[dstig1]

Here's what you need. A poker welded on one end and a slip hook on the other. Loop that around the log and then hook a chain from your tractor with a grab hook onto the chain:

From a quick web search here:
Log Harvesting & Log Skidding

You can make that as easily as anything. The poker helps you get it under logs on the ground. If you had that welder you've been talking about, you'd be able to make that up quick. There we go spending your money again...

 

[CurlyDave]

... However, after spending 15 minutes trying to wrap the chain around the end of that heavy red oak log, I think I'll get a pair of $40 tongs. The tongs would speed up the process of pulling the logs off the pile and with 80 logs still needing cutting up, I can use every minute of time savings...

The terminology is a little confusing, but by "a pair of tongs" I presume you mean one set of tongs. Just like a pair of pliers is actually only one item.

Tongs are frequently used in pairs of sets. For example, think of one set of tongs hanging from a short chain at each end of your FEL bucket. This allows you to pick up a log and keep it more or less level even though you might not be centered on the exact balance point. This is going to be really helpful with the large log pile you have.

 

[Obed]

Here's what you need. A poker welded on one end and a slip hook on the other. Loop that around the log and then hook a chain from your tractor with a grab hook onto the chain:

From a quick web search here:
Log Harvesting & Log Skidding

You can make that as easily as anything. The poker helps you get it under logs on the ground. If you had that welder you've been talking about, you'd be able to make that up quick. There we go spending your money again...

Dave, the poker would work well if the log were on the ground. However, at times, it would not work very well getting the chain around the log on the log pile depending upon the orientation of the logs. A set of tongs would work every time and be very quick to attach to the log.
Obed

 

[Obed]

The terminology is a little confusing, but by "a pair of tongs" I presume you mean one set of tongs. Just like a pair of pliers is actually only one item.

Tongs are frequently used in pairs of sets. For example, think of one set of tongs hanging from a short chain at each end of your FEL bucket. This allows you to pick up a log and keep it more or less level even though you might not be centered on the exact balance point. This is going to be really helpful with the large log pile you have.

CurlyDave, yes I meant one set of tongs like one pair of pliers. I could see how having two sets of tongs could add even more capabilities. I will probably start out with one set of tongs and see how it goes.
Obed

 

[clemsonfor]

I got an old set of tongs from my family farm. There cast. I think they used them for logs back in the day for skidding maybe. I used them for pulling 8ft lengths off my big trailer when a logger loaded 8ft logs on it. I used it attached to a chain and my boom pole on my tractor.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I've been fighting a nasty cold the past 2 weeks and I'm still badly under the weather. Something ugly went around work and I caught it. Unfortunately, we had some things break at work so I was up until after midnight several nights in a row working. The lack of rest didn't help my body fight the cold and, I suspect as a result, I've gotten really sick.

Same here Obed. Whole family has been down. Started kind of like an allergy, then we all got to vomiting and such. Then the phlegm and cough just won't go away. The following week, my young children ran persistent fever that got up to 104 so we took them to the doc. After an x ray, the doc says that it seems like a bronchial infection and prescribed antibiotics. It still took 2 days and 4 doses of antibiotic for the fever to subside. We are all still coughing and coughing. If your daughter gets fever or symptoms, I recommend a trip to the doc ASAP.

 

[RadarTech]

I hope you both get to filing better soon...
The 5th season starts soon and we all know that during Tractor season it us really tough when the tractor is a calling for attention and your sick...

Chin up... Sickness out rest well and hope to hear good news soon!!

 

[Obed]

We had to go hide out in the basement twice today/tonight due to tornado warnings. My wife and girl went down to the basement while I was leaving work. That storm missed our property. Then tonight we went into the basement again when the weather service observed a tornado located right where we live. We got hit with hail and heavy rain and wind. The noise of the storm was ferocious. The radar showed the strongest part of the storm going right over us. We'll see tomorrow if we have noticeable hail damage.

Two days ago a tornado hit 4 miles from the 61 acres we sold last year. That tornado killed 2 people and made a swath 6 miles long and 2 miles long. It destroyed 7 houses and damaged 50 more. With that news fresh in my mind, the new storms that came through today got my attention.

Fortunately, the tornado did not hit us. I'm hoping the vehicles didn't get dented up. I put our new car (2003 Subaru) in our garage 15 minutes before the hail arrived. I wonder how the plastic John Deere tractor did?

Obed