New pole barn smashed to pieces....

[charliepff]

It must be the week for yellow jackets. I was burning brush piles the other day and uncovered a nest of them. I got hit numerous times. I actually jumped a small wood pile with the bx 2350. My neighbor thought I needed a straight jacket after flying threw the yard, jumping the tractor and then running around the driveway with my arms flailing. I am allergic so this had the wife really worried. She went to spray them to knock them down and she ended up getting nailed 4 to 5 times. They are vicious. I could not believe how many there were and how mean they were. They wanted blood. They also were trying to bite the tractor. This happened last Saturday and I am still taking benadryll due to having some hives and itching from it. I need to start keeping my epi pens closer in the future.

MX, I really feel bad for you all down there. Wish we were closer so we could help. The weather people really did not predict that storm well at all. It really did everything opposite of what they thought it was going to do. I have an 8 thousand watt portable generator. It works well but keeping fuel in reserve is a problem. Next year we are adding a 10 or 12 KW propane powered generator and a propane hot water heater. We are actually getting low on supplies ourself and this last storm made us do an inventory. We are going to hit up costco and sams club within the week to restock. Mainly food and water products. The last tax free sale in VA I bought a ton of tarps, clear plastic sheeting, flashlights and a ton of batteries and candles. I also stocked up on furring strips to tack the plastic down on the roof or over windows. We are also buying another saw that is easier for my wife to use. The 390 STIHL really beats her up especially since I do not run low kickback chains. We pick a 180 stihl up next week. We are also upsizing tractors due to us buying property next to us and the fact the state takes four days to clear up hear after a snow storm. We will also eventually be off grid whenever we can afford it.

Keep us posted on how you are making out and watch out for yellow jackets.

 

[MotorSeven]

Oh, man MX...yellow jackets...insidious beasts.

I hear ya on the propane: 1 gal = 84,300 btu's vs gasoline's 114,000 btu's. Is is quiet and handy though in a 300 gal tank.

 

[mx842]

It must be the week for yellow jackets. I was burning brush piles the other day and uncovered a nest of them. I got hit numerous times. I actually jumped a small wood pile with the bx 2350. My neighbor thought I needed a straight jacket after flying threw the yard, jumping the tractor and then running around the driveway with my arms flailing. I am allergic so this had the wife really worried. She went to spray them to knock them down and she ended up getting nailed 4 to 5 times. They are vicious. I could not believe how many there were and how mean they were. They wanted blood. They also were trying to bite the tractor. This happened last Saturday and I am still taking benadryll due to having some hives and itching from it. I need to start keeping my epi pens closer in the future.

MX, I really feel bad for you all down there. Wish we were closer so we could help. The weather people really did not predict that storm well at all. It really did everything opposite of what they thought it was going to do. I have an 8 thousand watt portable generator. It works well but keeping fuel in reserve is a problem. Next year we are adding a 10 or 12 KW propane powered generator and a propane hot water heater. We are actually getting low on supplies ourself and this last storm made us do an inventory. We are going to hit up costco and sams club within the week to restock. Mainly food and water products. The last tax free sale in VA I bought a ton of tarps, clear plastic sheeting, flashlights and a ton of batteries and candles. I also stocked up on furring strips to tack the plastic down on the roof or over windows. We are also buying another saw that is easier for my wife to use. The 390 STIHL really beats her up especially since I do not run low kickback chains. We pick a 180 stihl up next week. We are also upsizing tractors due to us buying property next to us and the fact the state takes four days to clear up hear after a snow storm. We will also eventually be off grid whenever we can afford it.

Keep us posted on how you are making out and watch out for yellow jackets.

Well this morning most of the swelling has gone down and I can see again but some of the bites are itching like crazy. It's been raining to all get out the past two days and I haven't been able to get my revenge but this just gives me a little more time to lick my wombs and dream about all the nasty things I would like to do to each and every one of those bad boys in the dirt that attacked me so mercilessly for just strolling by.

My wife and I have an agreement I don't fool with her vacuume cleaner and she don't mess with my chain saw.:laughing: My wife is somewhat of a city girl but is country at heart. She loves living in the woods but the problem for her is that everything in the woods likes her so she has to be careful. Bugs, even tall grass makes her break out awful and if she isn't careful we are headed for the doctors office. I have to keep the trails around our property cut real short and I have to keep them treated with bug juice so that she can enjoy a stroll through the woods. I'll have to give her credit though she tried really hard to adapt from sidewalks to woody trails but it seems like the bugs know when she is coming and they are ready and waiting. She wanted so much to work in the garden and pick the fruits as they came in but one trip to the bean patch would keep her out of action for days all she had to do was reach into the string bean bush a few times and she would break out like mad.

I like the idea of a diesel genny because it is safer to keep diesel than gas stored and it tends to last longer without losing it's energy than gasoline does. I've been looking around but just haven't decided to pull the trigger on anything bigger just yet but one day I hope to have something that is automatic where I don't have to go into the electric panel and wire it up. I have had a 12 circuit genny switch since the last storm but never hooked it up but when the juice came back on this time I went ahead and installed it so it should be a lot easier next time I need it.

Not to worry, you guys have your own problems over there in God's country and just the thoughts and moral support from everybody will keep our spirits high and our minds on the task at hand to see us through. Thank you for your thoughts.

 

[mx842]

Oh, man MX...yellow jackets...insidious beasts.

I hear ya on the propane: 1 gal = 84,300 btu's vs gasoline's 114,000 btu's. Is is quiet and handy though in a 300 gal tank.

Yes sir they are bad especially this time of the year because I think they know their days are numbered and they want to take as many with them as they can before they go.

check out these u tubes of people dealing with yellow jackets.

How to remove a YELLOW JACKET NEST (Do not try this at home) - YouTube

How to Kill Yellow Jackets - YouTube

And this one really shows how mean these little critters are. I wouldn't want to be holding that camera.

When Bees Attack. Yellow-jackets. Shocking Video - YouTube

 

[mx842]

Well it's all over, I got healed up enough to be able to see well enough to go down and take care of business. It was a piece of cake and I didn't get hit one time. Had a close call or two but my flame thrower bee eradicator took care of business. I did burn all the hair off one arm and I set my shorts on fire......just a couple of small places that never burned all the way through and although I am now left with only one eyebrow I am satisfied with my accomplishment of removing 1 bee nest from da hood where I live.

I posted some of the pics of the event and put them in my photo album here and had planed on making a video of the action but there was a minor malfunction when the 350,000 btu flame got a little too close to my video camera and set it on fire as the small container of gas I had sitting on the stump next to it as backup in case the torch had a flame out or something exploded. I had to resort to a back up plan and just take still shots of the event but that also allowed time for the nest to calm down a little from the huge fireball that erupted as the can of fuel took off skyward.

It's amazing how much altitude you can get out of just a gallon of gas these days. Of-course the only neighbor I have within 600 feet of the action wasn't too happy as the gas can trailing a 30 foot fireball landed next to his tool shed almost setting it on fire. It was probably a good thing it did almost get sub orbital before it decended back to earth where it could burn most of the fuel that was left after the initial blast off because I have enough stuff to fix over on this side of the fence without having to build a tool shed for a neighbor that don't like me in the first place.

Anyway, things are almost back to normal and after a few more days of healing time under my belt I'll be ready to start cleanup again. Please don't tell my wife about the fire as she has already took all matches away from me and I have been barred from playing with matches unless I have proper supervision. I don't want her to find out that my torch has a auto start function because that will be next.

 

[mx842]

Shucks the pics didn't show up I guess I'll give it another try.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

How about a pic of your swollen eye with the burned off eyebrow?

You might want to "hang out" on the safety threads for a bit...otherwise, I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry for you but your tales and writings of them are kindof humourous. I just don't like to laugh at someone else's mistakes when they get hurt.

 

[ChuckinNH]

I'm glad to hear that you, and your wife are fine. It only takes a moment in a storm like that to lose someone. I have to agree with her about yelling at you for running around in the storm with the chainsaw. Too many bad things can happen. I'm sorry to hear abour all the damage done to your trees too. The eye of that storm was supposed to come right over my house, but it stayed west, and I got off very easy. This is a good time to think about a set of forks for your tractor if you don't have them! I can't believe how much they help with logs, brush, and odd shaped things that just don't fit in the bucket.

 

[mojoinco]

:thumbsup:

I feel for you guys and the yellow jackets -- but I have to admit you 'turned my frown upside down'!

On the smaller chainsaw. I bought a Stihl with the 'easy2start' and and tool less chain tensioner. Feels really weird to start it, but makes it likely that a weaker (or hurt) person could run it, worst case (and no chain adjuster wrench to loose). I have a case from a larger saw and can keep a small bottle of 2 stroke oil and a quart of bar oil in it too. That only leaves keeping a can of gas with it and an axe or maul.

I hadn't thought about tarps and furring strips, I guess as I usually have stuff like that laying around (projects past, projects future, and projects not yet completed). Something to consider on the emergency materials list.

When our addition is complete I intend to buy one of the 275 gallon fluid tanks (the metal caged plastic tanks on a pallet). We will have a garage door accessible heated space then (easy to get to, no freezing, easy to drain and fill occasionally when the water gets stale).

Bummer on the weather hit! And all that hard wood to rot. Hard wood is not native here (unless you count aspen -- I don't). Sounds like an interesting idea to try a mill. After the yellow jackets hibernate (ours are usually paper wasps and some will usually winter over when you find a nest). They are slow when it is cold and easy to kill.

 

[mx842]

How about a pic of your swollen eye with the burned off eyebrow?

You might want to "hang out" on the safety threads for a bit...otherwise, I'm not sure if I should laugh or cry for you but your tales and writings of them are kindof humourous. I just don't like to laugh at someone else's mistakes when they get hurt.

I did snap a pic of my eye and I'll look for it and try to post it. I didn't think to get a brow shot though cause burned off eye brows and lashes are not that big a deal around here with all the welding and cutting I have been doing lately.

No problem with the laughing I don't mind cause when it was over I did a little of both as I thought about it. Laughter is good for the soul and sadly to say It seems like there is not much for people to laugh at these days with the economy the way it is. Also, I would not have wrote it the way I did if I didn't want for people to see the humor in my adventure and sometimes humor has to hurt a little to be funny. Also there is an old saying, don't mess with Mother Nature and now I can brightly see where it came from.