Discovering my freedom in Minnesota

Sometime nailing one side of the board keeps it from cracking. Later nail the other side. I prefer working with green lumber…:wink:

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I use bat and board on my house. I used white pine that I had cured up on the back forty for a couple of years. No matter how close I nailed to the edge, I didn’t have one board split. Love my white pine. I used nails and no pre-drilling. I owe it to well cured wood. Also after 20+ years I don’t have one crack in a ceiling or wall. Again well cured lumber. TomC

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Yeah, I think tom’s right. If you dry the wood well enough you won’t have a problem. My house is sided with southern yellow pine. We tend to not get things as dry as we would like some times. A few of the boards split if fastened too well and too green.

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To be honest 95% of the the time I just nail any board up and don’t notice much if any cracked boards. Maybe it has to do with the species. The green boards dry straighter nailed up also. Boards don’t last long enough around hear to dry in a stickered pile. But I do sticker them so they do not mold.

Happy nailing !

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Every Saturday the wife and I sell at the farmer’s market. It’s a good place to network and make an extra couple hundred dollars.
Mary makes jams, baked goods and other things. I make things out of wood. This week I decided to make bird feeders. All my materials are free. I decided to use slab wood from the sawmill for the top of the feeder. I think it turned out okay. We’ll see what the people say tomorrow.

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Ya know Bill, I can see clock movements in your creation ! ! :wink:

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I like that Jeff. I will post a picture when it’s done.

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There isn’e a more freeing feeling for me than to not have to run to the store for every little thing I need. A minimum drive time of 1 hour for food or hardware. A 3 hour round trip for lumber.
We are getting more established every week, month, year of being here.
I bought some 18"-20" pine logs from a neighbor for $10 each. I don’t have many mature pine here and I don’t want to cut up my Maples.
Having a greenhouse to start veggies and have some for extended ripening time will be a huge advantage to us.

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I made making firewood a little easier this year.
I don’t like getting in and out of this old skid steer while it’s running.

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Bill love the boards on your green house. But one small suggestion run the outside boards vertical next time like the old barns. I have a barn built back in the 1750 timeframe. Two layers of vertical boards offset so the gaps between them don’t go all the way through. It still has the orginal boards after all this time the outside layer half inch inside 3/4 I think ayer 1 inch on the inside but the only real issues are where they where hit with a tractor or where the old square nails have worked loose from the years of wind. If you like gray no paint is required.

Oh I forgot to mention a friend told me once that after I setup my mill I will never split wood again easier to saw it out and after it is dry saw it to stove lenght and stack in the shed. He claimed the side benefit is you can always steel from your wood pile to do a project…

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Bill is practicing LEAN one step at at time ! Good job !

What if bunkers were placed behind and level with the XXX’s. Then load the bunks with logs. Then roll log on to the XXX? With a cant hook, like a sawmill?

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I’m guessing LEAN is an acronym but unable to figure it out.
My goal is to get forks for the skid steer so I can get 2-3 logs on at a time on a stand in place of building bunker. Then I can move it as needed. Eventually I will be making a firewood processor because I know I’m not getting younger and the 3 hernias in my back remind of that everyday. I’ve been collecting material for it for the last year now.

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Bill, it kind of started with Benjamin Franklin and traveled to Japan then back to the USA. It is about constantly getting rid of the stuff that bugs you, make things easy and simple. And better if you can use or repurpose the stuff you already have. Exactly what your doing naturally. Never stop improving a little at a time. The word LEAN came from Toyota, I think.

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hey bill look into hand held log tongs or a pickaroon/hookaroon with a long handle for moving logs instead of bending over. I started using one last winter and they really help keep your back straight when moving bucked or split firewood.

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Trying learn my sawmill.
I cut the 2x4’s and sheathing for the mudroom I’m adding on. I did use plywood I had left over from the greenhouse on the roof.
It feels good to build something from everything that came off my land. A lot of work but gratifying in a way I’ve never felt before.

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The ring that secures the sending unit and both straps in my plow truck rusted out. The mechanic threw his hands up because the fuel tank is discontinued. A friend of mine and myself fixed the tank and this morning I made new straps.

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Ha ha, some Mechanics just can’t seem to improvise when it come to old vehicles. Good job, and look at the monies you saved not paying the mechanic.
Bob

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The ring on the tank was all rusted out. It was a twist and lock ring but the slots to lock in were deteriorated. This is an 18 gallon auxiliary plastic tank and found it on the internet for $552 but was listed as 'discontinued. I happened to have this laser cut flange left over from the scrap bin at Discount steel when I lived in the city. It fit perfectly. Another problem solved.

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Liability has become a BIG concern in any trades fields now-a-days in sue-happy USofA.
As a “professional” you fudge-fix anything on a gasoline fuel systems . . . later there is leakage . . . you and your professional liability insurance company will be on the hook.
I’ve passed on fuels systems, electrical, brake, and suspension make-your-own substitute repairs for other too.
Using a factory part (even if a take-out used) at least they are in-line too for the suing-harvest.
On my own stuff now . . .
whole 'nother story on make-it-work repairs.
tree-farmer Steve Unruh

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Yep, my favorite kind of repair is the ones that “can’t” be done.

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