Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[roadhunter]

We were burning some piles last week when he weather was cooperating with snow. Trying out some techniques to make biochar from piles of slash.



Also used the winch to flop over all the stumps to get the soil back in place before they are burned.

 

[roadhunter]

 

[dragoneggs]

Beautiful view for a burn pile...

I put our old tree in the brush area behind our property. I stand it up and it stays green until spring. There's about 21 of them back there now. I can only see about 2-3, the rest rot down to dirt pretty quickly. The little birds like to sit in them in winter. Good cover.

Yeah it's not hard to come up with an excuse to burn at my place. Often I drive my tractor next door and scoop up my neighbor's burn pile before he gets to it and put it on mine if I'm burning. One time I asked him if that was okay after I realized I might be stealing his pleasure. :laughing:

 

[ultrarunner]

In Thurston we have burn restrictions and need a permit if I remember correctly.

Anything like that were you are?

 

[dragoneggs]

In Thurston we have burn restrictions and need a permit if I remember correctly.

Anything like that were you are?

Kitsap County has free annual burn permit. Only restriction is size of fire and distance to structure/trees and must have water source nearby. No adding to existing fire after dark. Usually around July 4th or whenever it really dries up the county will put on a ban that lasts until October or whenever the rains come.

 

[MossRoad]

Lol, a porcupine. Tough as nails. They're murder on spruce and fir trees though.

Thanks. He looked kinda shocked! :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

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That looks like a fun piece of equipment. Was that you that posted about it a couple years ago?

 

[roadhunter]

That looks like a fun piece of equipment. Was that you that posted about it a couple years ago?

Yes. It's a little trencher that has had the trencher portion removed and a hydraulic winch installed. I've also added a extension to the 6 way blade and foamed the tires and added a set of chains.

I do small jobs with it skidding trees and cleaning up messes after fires and wind storms. It was kinda funny on this latest job I got stuck pulling up the steep and narrow driveway coming up a canyon. I drove the skidder off the trailer and even then I could not get enough traction in the truck to get going. Ended up dragging the 2500 Dodge and trailer up the hill with the little skidder. When I get to the house the homeowner had gotten her suburban stuck pulling up the driveway as well. I ended up pulling her suburban up the hill. It's quite heavy for it's size (just the tires and chains weigh almost 1,000) and it has 600 pounds of counterweight on the front. I'm guessing is weighs around 5k pounds. It's certainly not a replacement for a real skidder but it is much more capable than a 4 wheeler or UTV when it comes to pulling logs. The little 31 hp deutz has enough power to do some work and it's pretty amazing what it will pull in low gear (3 speed tranny). I bought it to use instead of buying a 3 point winch for my tractor. It has a much lower center of gravity and works well in the hilly terrain around here.



If you quench your fire when it turns into coals and before it completely burns up you can make a valuable soil amendment called biochar with your brush piles

 

[94BULLITT]

If you quench your fire when it turns into coals and before it completely burns up you can make a valuable soil amendment called biochar with your brush piles
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I've been thinking about sifting through the ashes from my stove and add the biochar to my garden beds. I guess I could build a fire then put it out and make a bunch. Is there any type of wood that works better?

 

[roadhunter]

I've been thinking about sifting through the ashes from my stove and add the biochar to my garden beds. I guess I could build a fire then put it out and make a bunch. Is there any type of wood that works better?

Yes. The dry kind. I don't think the species make a huge difference.

You can also make biochar in your stove by putting wood in a box inside your stove. A section of stove pipe and a couple of caps works well. Similar to this.
Biocharlie Biochar Log - Make Your Own Biochar in a Fireplace - Blue Sky Biochar

You could also dig a trench or pit in your yard to improve yield

.

Ideally having the same sized material works best for making biochar but you can just push the bigger pieces to the top or simply pull them aside and let them burn out while you quench the main pile of biochar. Here is some information I used when I was getting started.
Backyard Biochar: Top Lit Open Burn

Piles like this are pretty easy to manage by hand and a hose could be used to quench.