Life goes on - Summer 2018

I like the simplicity but the space requirements usually kill it for me. It gets pretty good lift though and you could power it with a bike.

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I don’t know about the spray but I can tell you elderberries are the one thing pigs won’t touch. They will leave them completely alone they where always the only plants growing in the pig pen when I was a kid.

Yes, I heard about wood for fuel too :smile: I wonder how many thousands of miles are wasted by now.
We have been covered in smoke all day here. The nearest fire is 120 miles away and was 7,500 am acres and growing this morning.

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It isn’t just the lost miles of travel or valuable work that wood could do. The smoke is another sign we could burn that so much cleaner in a nice gasifer.

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My wife and I are creating fires of our own. I had several hundred board feet of lumber stored in my shop when it burned. The 2x8’s and 10’s were stacked tight on top of each other so only got burned on the edges. I sent those out and had them re-sawed into 2x6’s for my reconstruction. Most of the rest were burned too bad to save much. My wife and I have been cutting everything into 6-8 ft lengths and stacking them into a Tee-Pee about 8 ft around and 8 ft high. One pile a night we have been burning them-- weather permitting. I could just cry. I have to sit up with the fire to make sure everything is safe, until the fire gets burned down where there an no more flames, just glowing coals. Perfect for charcoal. I have to let these beautiful coals burn to ash. I filled 6 - 55 gal drums from the charcoal that remained after we pulled the boards out of the piles. I don’t know what I will ever do with all of that charcoal but it was so perfect ( other than being soft wood) that I just couldn’t throw it out. When my wife and I go to the house we both look like black folks and she is complaining she will have to burn our cloths. She can not get the char/soot/ash out of them well enough to use themfor anything but cleaning the burnt wood pile. TomC

PS Just went down to the orchard and our summer apples are ripe. I tried to eat one and found my new teeth don’t work well enough for that.— going to have to make applesauce and pies.

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If I remember my O-Chem correctly, the elderberry plant contains hydrogen cyanide. Apparently pigs know this and avoid it. Moderate amounts of the chemical doesn’t hurt people. In fact, it might even be part of what gives elderberry its natural antibiotic properties…? Not sure about that…
And it is broken down when fermented into wine or cooked with heat. I could be remembering this wrong, that was a long time ago.

They asked me a question…
Guess what…

Yes we can…

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Where you going to put the gasifier on that thing…?

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The tractor is Eric Lombard, manufactured in Chicago with a gas generator Imbert, the car runs steam Monsieur Chapel, driven by the doctor Guy Plantier, and the single cylinder with a gasogen imbert Bernard and Aline Perrouse, who morning were at the old mechanical demonstration of Saint Vincent de Haute Loire in France.

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Francois Pal, nice post, thanks…

We finished our summer program this week. Kind of a relief to have a short break. Working on an inspection trip to DR Congo here shortly.

We started getting ready for the fall garden this week. Will probably set out another batch of tomatoes and beans this week.

Went to a farm auction today. As usual, came home with three loads of stuff for $111. Best thing I think was a 250 gallon propane tank and a 100 lb propane tank. Also some kind of chicken house heater with a heat exchanger in it that reminds me of Don Mannes stuff. Lots of pipe, shop tools, socket sets, big pile of treatd 4x4’s, and a piece of 1.5 inch rebar about 10 ft long.
Also bought 4 sets of school lockers, but sold them to someone else before we got them loaded, so I got the contents and $3.00 out of them.

Oh, does anyone need a 4 barrel Edelbrock carbruetor. Got one in the bottom of a bucket of stuff that looks like it might have been brand new when it was put in there. I wouldn’t be very attached to it if someone on the site needed it for something. If so, let me know. I think it was to fit the farmer’s 1984 chavy 305…But not sure…

Everyone is busy it seems. Not many people on the site.

Wayne, did you get your hay in?

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We feel your wildfire pain here too J.O. here in Washington and Oregon states.
A very bad year . . . again.
Most here are up in the mountains lighting caused.
Some by summer celebration fireworks.
Getting so dry now that some have been caused by gasoline engine lawns mowing.
I have reverted now to just arm-strong hands swinger weeds whacking.
Firewood chainsawing ONLY in early morning still higher humidity hours.

And of course the wild fires caused by people smokers, campfire smores makers, and the wanna-see-something burn types.
I’ve come to believe that although we are a globe apart the wiggle/waggle of the far north hemisphere jet stream seem to oscillate coincide with your far northern/western Europe and here PNW north America.
tree-farmer Steve Unruh

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Thanks for asking Billy.

I hauled in 4 loads and stacked in the barn yesterday .

I barley missed the rain while rolling and got some rain on after rolling.

I have 15-20 acres yet to cut. Need about 3 days without rain.

What I have already cut over is ready to cut again but no way I will have time to get to it before fall.

A little scrap wood will do a lot of work :grinning:

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HI Billy, I could use the carb. let me know how much, and shipping.

You best fasten that one down good there is a small chance it will be used for high speed cornering…

Thanks Steve,
The American West Coast, Canada and southern Europe - Greece, Italy, Spain and Portugal. All known to have wildfires now and then.
Up here we’re unprepared. We had a big one in 2014, but that’s about it. Normally late summers are green and damp. Now it’s brown and hot. Not even any early morning dew.
This is why most Eurpean countries now are helping us out. A convoy of 45 Polish fire trucks with fire fighters and all going north passed close by just today. People are standing at the roadside waving flags. The Italian and French Bombardier water bombers fly by low right over me every day. Swedish Airforce Hercules planes sent new crews of firefighters from southern parts of the country this morning and choppers from a number of countries are buzzing like bees dumping water. Local farmers are spraying water whereever they can with there fertiliser tanks. People are baking pizzas and pies serving the firefighters. 65,000 am acres at fire right now. This is like a war zone where every invador is welcome.

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Okay where is the unlike button. I will be praying for rain in your country. We have fires every year because the dry area we live in. But this is not the case for Sweden, it is more like our west side of the mountains with more rain fall.
Bob

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It is wonderful and how loving people are. Laying down there differences and just helping one and other out in this hour of need for your country. Sometimes it takes a common event like a fire for this to happen. Fire has no mercy, it just burns everything in it path.
Lord have Mercy on Sweden, send them Rain . In Jesus Name. AMEN.
Bob

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JO. real sorry to hear about ya’ll’s plight. Let us know if we can do more than pray…

Wayne, good year for cow hay. At least you’re not making horse hay…

Al, I will see where the boys put that carb…let you know.

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I had a zucchini invasion.to control.
My sons goats got most of these
What’s scary is there are more Coming!

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We need an “unlike” button for such news. It seems the farther north one looks, the hotter and drier it is. Northern Manitoba is burning just the same, setting records for heat, and not enough rain. I fear the climate train is moving now, and no one can stop it.

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