Recent content by donaldj

I have the XR3135H and it runs a 5' medium duty rotary cutter fine. I'm cutting overgrown wooded area brush (mature grapevine and asian bittersweet vine, predominantly). Basically I'm using my FEL a couple inches off the ground to ensure I dont hit rocks and stumps, it knocks down most things...

No, it's not a p*rn title... This book gives a great account of firewood harvesting, firewood use, and other information. It has a GREAT 'ambiance' about it, generating a classic and traditional mindset. There will be very interesting points for old timers as well as modern folks turning to...

Winter is coming.

Hi all, I am in Michigan and have 13 acres. The property has been wooded since forever, and includes oak, maple, apple, and a few others. There is significant undergrowth everywhere... all kinds of weeds, vine, etc. Your standard Michigan outdoors. =) While clearing out an area, I came across...

Well, it's started! The area it's in is wavy ground, so I am slowly evening it out and using that dirt to start the berm. It's hard to see scale but the berm is about 7' tall and about 15' long. Once I get the length to about 30', I'll likely start on the other L (after putting in some...

Hi all, I just built my house last year and am hooking up the outdoor wood boiler to get it going. I was wondering how much wood I can expect to need for a full winter. Some details: Region: Lower Penninsula, Michigan. Anticipate heating requirements from November to March. Boiler: Portage...

Hi all! I have 13 acres, and am planning on converting about 0.5 acres into a shorter range gun range. I've identified my requirements as: Need to create a berm 8-10 feet high. Berm will be in an L shape (to reduce noise in the neighbor's direction). Main backstop area will be 20-30 feet...

I did buy it from Aeschilman's! I live just north of Brighton, actually. Here is my house. The apple trees are the smaller ones on the right of the photo. There are some ultra-large pine trees right behind them as well. My property goes all the way back to them. The area to the left, just off...

Hi all, Don here. Got 13 acres in a town just outside of the Detroit area, with 10-acre+ lots all around me. We just got our house built on it in March, and are now starting to enjoy the self-sufficient homesteading experience (subdivisions with HOAs suck!!). We're fortunate in that our house...

Hi all! I now have 13 acres and a new house on it. I want to work the land a bit and get about 4 acres of lawn/garden/range and in the 9 wooded acres put in a couple trails. In the long run, I will likely harvest apples from a couple dozen trees on the property, and firewood. Currently I'm...