I thought the idea was to graze a clean path, maybe a 10" saw motor driving a 7" blade would get deeper in rough bark?
For smoother stuff I expect it works ok.
There are also chainsaw tip debarkers, work like a jointer head, time consuming but still better than sawing through dirt.
The blade looked proprietary. But then I looked at their new pallet breakdown machine, and they use big 2-ply car tires for the bandsaw blade wheels on that thing, so it might be off the shelf. It looks a -lot- like this design:
https://www.vm-surplus.com/collections/milling-cutters/products/10-00-inch-diameter-master-mill-hva-face-mill-vf-5a-75ca100c12r
For a mud saw go to an Amish saw shop and they will make ya the real deal. Used one for years on the old circle saw.
I’ll keep my spud because I get to harvest 99.9% of the bark. Waste not - want not.
Does Steve or others know about the Sportsman 1000W generator inverter. They seem to be at all the big box stores with a price from $200 to $240. Warranty and customer support. I didn’t have any plans of buying another dynafueled generator but this looks enticing.
Thats a face mill for metal surfacing. Used on an angle it would likely debark like crazy, but the inserts would require a different angle, and perhaps a different grade. The insert idea has attractions.
Cheap skilsaw blades are available in the anti kickback style, Diablo brand comes to mind. Probably have to gang 2 to get a wide enough kerf, or wobble mount 1.
Right. but it has approximately the same shape and geometry. I did find a couple of circular blades with a 1/4" kerf, but they had too many teeth… I am guessing that is what they tried first, to get the geometry right, then had a saw shop make them custom blade with that geometry since it is far cheaper.
Well I do know frist hand about 1000 watts (nominal of an actual 700 watts) engine generators.
Too damn small. You will get much more usability starting at 2000 watt (nominal ~1600 watts) units.
1600 watts with a bit of surge capacity allows you to power hair driers, microwave ovens, and such. Or . . . a combo of other useful things and have thousands of lumen of LED lighting too.
Those with 1000 watt rated unit whether direct-driven AC synchronous, or Inverter types always wished they had bought next step up larger.
For cheap watts per buck spent I think the “tailgater” type Chinese 2-stoked engine (a Yamaha clone-copy) that I’ve put into service cannot be beat.
Beware!! There are many different companies/factories making these in China. Quality varies tremendously. The 1200 watt, more expensive one of these I bough under an AllTrades brand is the one that failed.
For a features stripped down unit the HarborFrieght 700/900 watt units all still up and running. One did develope a fuel tank seam leak. Repaired using the AllTrades unit as spare parts now.
For inverter units since these have much reliance on electronics and electronics components selection and manufacturing the ONLY brand I will personally use and recommend are Honda and Yamaha units.
Most other brands you can buy 2, 3 units for the price of a Honda/Yamaha.
Look up reviews on Amazon and you will see why.
The very best warrantee is the one you do not have to use. And the most pleasant customer support interactions to have is to just never have to contact them.
J-I-C Steve Unruh
Hmmmm, good advice from Steve. Me stick to homemade junk. Service center could never be closer…
For milling that would work great. I thought Jeff was trying to completely remove bark so as to keep it out of his char system…maybe I missed something…
Speaking of milling. I worked most of the afternoon. splitting and milling the “smaller” one half of the smaller of those two old post oak logs.That was that 138 year old tree that fell over after a storm a while back. Beautiful lumber. I milled it using the 1/4 saw method so as to make good flooring lumber…Tired…Hot…
Also, for debarking and cleaning up a log to mill I often just use a regular old chainsaw with an old chain and run it perpendicular to the log to knock off the Alabama red clay…
The main reason is another product from the log. Then the benefits of a debarker log.
This is about putting weeds to work with less.
Hi Jeff,
Looks alike the little 2 stroke i had running on woodgas… ( the one on the left, tailgator)
One observation on all the advertising on those generators; it seems that they always indicate the max load that the actual wire size (copper windings ) can hold, but its never the real load you can get out of them…
I just skimmed through some of this as I haven’t had time to read it all. When you are trying to debark a log try it everyday for a month. The bark will come off at a certain phase of the moon I can’t remember which phase of the moon it is but at the right time bark will be very loose on the log. I thought it was crazy talk when I was told that as a kid but it works.
Not debarking persay, but moonwood is a thing. It kind of makes sense if the leaves are collecting light at night.
We finally got our first summer rain here in western WA/OR. Been no-rain dry for 61 days. The record year was 2012 at 71 days without.
My hand watering of the garden with sun warmed watering cans use audit for this period works out such:
61 days at 42 gallons min
11 days of that at above 90F temps needing a second watering a day
4 days of +100F needing three waterings a day
80 times; of 42 gallons = at Least 3360 gallons used.
That is a lot of rooftops rain water to have had to capture and store. And that first rain wash-off will be laden with dust and pollen’s galore. We only had a 2/10 inch rain. Waste dumping off the first half wash-down, cleaning? Make a muck-yuk filter to have to clean every time?
Our volcanic ash and glacier dropped/blown-in soils here will not make ponds or reservoirs without plastic liners.
Some of the why’s I cold shoulder the roofs-capture-and-store ideas for the annual drought season.
1/2 horsepower of expended energy can pump up gallons a hour of nice earth stored and filtered water from our 198 foot “Ag-Use-Only” private deep well. The water table drops to ~100 feet this time of the year.
The difficulty doing this on woodgas is actually the low-long-need for power requirement.
Next years gardening project will not to less water but attempt to double the garden output on this same water. Wife long single rowing is wasting too much space and water.
Regards
tree-farmer Steve Unruh
I have been reading a new book on this vein of approach:
“GROW MORE With LESS”
Less Water - Less Work - Less Money
Sustainable Garden methods
by Vincent A. Simeone 2013
published by Cool Springs Press Minneapolis Minnesota
A very well balanced approach book. Too many of the US east coast and west coast books and efforts are single-dedicated purposed. Ignoring as Coasters do: culturally, morally, climate/soils/possibilities of the whole center of the “fly-over” continent.
For a gardening book in comparison to some of the pounds heavy 500+ page tomes that I’ve now collected up now; a very small 192 page, info dense informative/inspiring balanced-approach book.
Hand methods as appropriate. Small power equipment as is needed. Results, and cost of results versus wasted pages of convincing-believer-spinning.
Not in this book, but did you know that one gallon US of gasoline is equated to at least 200, to as high as 500 hours of humans-as-power, work-sweating?
Think not?
Hand whack a long ditch line versus a 2-stoke weed whacker.
Set aside the gasoline chainsaw and arm-strong buck up with 6’ cross cuts and sweed-bowsaws.
Silly to use three-four different gasoline power tools for a 10,000 square foot lot with a 3000 square foot-printed house attached garage and paved driveway. True story. One town neighbor just down the street. Power lawn mower w/bagger. Power hedge trimmer. Power turf edger. Finishing out with a power blower.
Just as silly as the “view” property next to him if weed whack thier 40 acres by hand. That fellow could “to save carbon foot print” have himself and his now three teenage boys out hand swinging. Nope. Just like me a Stihl HD 2.5 hp forestry weed wacker. And 3-4 gallons of mix a year does it in all in under 100 hours annually.
Regards
tree-farmer Steve Unruh
BALANCED approces are pratical
I couldn’t imagine putting up a years worth of wood for heating without gasoline by myself. Just dropping the trees and getting them to 8’ lengths takes up a lot of gasoline.
Well wouldn’t you know it . . . . just ran across an acronym version of the LESS word.
John Micheal Greer in his “Green Wizardry” published in 2013. Pages 177, 179-181; his LESS strategy:
personally dedicate yourself to “Less Energy, Stuff, and Stimulation”
I got this book used for $1 at a used book sell. I though so much it would be typical ex-hippy green-spin that I bought a more traditional four family’s gardening stories book, “People with Dirty Hands” (makes for happiness) to balance out my mind input/outputs.
“You are what you eat” is true - you WILL be influenced by what you read/let-into your head is true too.
Why he is saying us moderns now are so, too addicted over-stimulated that itself becomes a weening off habit as bad as energy-hogging and being possessed by our lust for more and more Stuff.
Interesting man postulating hard history based projections for civilizations/societies that once the growth blushed possibility’s were used-up/declining, then hard into expectations contractions.
He says before we could ever get to a better-world-tomarrow; we surrounded by built-up/accumulated things of a dino-hogging-rich Today must go through a salvage-society phase. That it will take half a century to re-purpose/use-up what at a much lower energy-posibilites can never be maintained let along replaced.
History lessons:
After the “fall” contraction of Rome many of the massive stone works were torn down and the cheap-labor slaves cut stone re-purposed to build more reasonable dwellings.
Post WWII Berlin has mound-hill parks and expansion areas built up from the bombing rubble of hundereds of years accumulated buildings. Same for Tokyo.
The 19th century steam iron-works mostly all got melted down for newer internal combustion 20th century works.
He makes a lot of practical sence.
In this book he says he will only recommend methods and tecniqics that he has done himself. Home energy conservation, small livestock, food gardening, etc.
Had to give up his 1980’s years “Down Home Funk Lifesyle” after meeting, marrying and then comes a child phase of life. He now lives/recommends a self proclaimed “Retrofit” lifestyle. Old farm house improved, etc.
One very, very interesting broad-society approach that he recommends is, “The Way of the Dissentious”.
Woodgasing this means trying, developing many ways.
No one way will fit all.
No one way will fit all cercumstances.
That anytime as individuals, species, societies we become lock into just one perfect/best way of anything . . . . . conditions WILL change; circumstances WILL change; and then we Will fall down stuck out on that single weak limb…
You see this try anything/everything approach in 'Ma Nature a lot.
She spews seeds out capaciously letting circumstances sort out the survivors for that time and place. Multi birth critters one of her quick expansion to circumstances way.
Ha! Anyhow as a current publication book of course I could not find another used copy.
Ordered two more, new, to be able to gift out.
use “Less energy. Have less Stuff possessing you… Subject yourselves to less Stimulation’s distractions.” And always to live long, happy and wise, keep the hands getting dirty used.
tree-farmer Steve Unruh
You may have heard of the Chinese saying:
“Man can possess twelve objects. Above that number, objects possess man”
Someone with English as first language might be able to help out with a more elegant translation.
I read his blog until he folded it up earlier this year. He published a novel in segments called retrofit based on his retrofit ideas. I agree with a lot of it some objections as it should be…
Still have his long descent book. The most memorable line to paraphrase was “an englishman thinks one hundred miles is a long distance and an American thinks a hundred years is a very long time”…