Cody,
Someone I know does cut sweet gum into short discs before splitting. Sweet gum is much more difficult to split than oak.
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This is the probably at least 50 year old vineyard thats not beed touched for the last 30 years, the Gamay l told about. Hope l can get enaugh cuttings from it for a few dozzen plants
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Looks like I fixed the bulge in the skid steer tire by lowering the air pressure. 
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I could show you my vines Kristijan. Part grapes, part Japanese Beetles. I fought them for years. Now I don’t bother. It was a losing fight anyway. I figure they leave enough leaves to let the grapes mature, so why drive myself crazy. I don’t think you have them in your neck of the woods.
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Finally found a video confirming my idea of cutting flat discs from logs and then using those in my splitter. From a gasification fellow to boot.
He definitely went absolutely hambone with a 12 way splitting head but he stacks the discs up to make a conga line of wood chunks.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PoCFl43-n4o
I took a closer look at the hot water heater tank that I got, and it’s just absolutely corroded in the bottom. I think I will make it into the bottom chamber of a charcoal retort.
My idea would be to use the heater tank as the permanent bottom that heats up the main body of the retort, and I would use 55 gallon drums as the replaceable once ruined top chambers where the real charcoal is made. The local scrapyard has tons of really thick sturdy drums with lids that would make good candidates. Just need to pick a good spot to build the retort on. If I could do it right I would cut into the side of the heater tank so it nests the 55 gallon drum and I could seal it up with refractory or clay. Have a chimney for the pyrolysis gasses to self heat once it reaches critical that goes into the bottom chamber. TLUD and Flame Cap is really great but I’d like to find a way that takes less constant attention and a higher chance to use bigger pieces of wood into coal.
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My day started by raking hay at about 10am when the dew was still on it
86 bales back into the barn waiting to be delivered to a customer.
90 bales i think not sure if i have a customer who wants then or not might have to unload them in the barn. Back in under cover for the night.
135 bales stacked in the barn.
180 bales stacked in the barn.
240 bales backed into the barn for the night.
There is rain comming tonight and tomorrow according to the weather it was 1:30 am when I backed that last load into the barn. I got it all under cover so that makes a good but long day. I was planing another day to get it off the field when I mowed.
Ok the photo shows there where 2 bales that I just couldn’t fit if they get wet my cows will enjoy eating them.
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I noticed you stack bales with a different orientation on the truck than on the trailer. Seems easier to me to grab the twines of the bales on the truck than the trailer. Is there a reason for this?
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The accumulator and grapple put the bales on their side. I chose that accumulator because it is very simple two hydraulic cylinders one kicks them on a trailer bed flipping them sideways and one dumps the bed when it is full. The accumulator that lays flat is a crazy mess of levers and trip points to alignment the bales. I know several people who have those parked behind the barn because they are too hard to keep working.
But the grapple doesn’t fit a pickup bed
or the other two trailers. so I had to hand load those to get more off the field before it rained. I really want wagons and my bigger 4wd case 5240 tractor so I can haul with the same tractor I load with. The D15 at 40hp is really way too small for the job. It is hell on the clutch pack for the forward reverser but it does get the job done.I have to stack them sideways in the stock trailer because I can get an extra row in that way I can get 88 vs IIRC 60 the other way
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Got my first Chipdrop today. Looks like the stuff @Joni uses in his Opel. It’s really various in sizes but there are some big chunks in there.
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Since the Garden Truck is almost done functionally I’m already scheming for a new piddle project.
I have an incomplete gas powered shifter bike that used to be a Huffy Ultima road bike, added a one way jackshaft on the crank so I still have my 6 speeds in the back but the gas engine assists via a jackshaft to the crank. If I pedal, it will spin the wheel, but the crank will freewheel when riding along if I stop pedalling thanks to the one way bearing.
Only thing I’m missing on that is to actually attach the engine to the frame and hook all the chains up. Little Lifan 79cc 3HP engine that I got from a mini bike.
I’m really tempted to add a rack and put in a little updraft charcoal unit. We’ll see. This would be practice for making a charcoal powered motorbike.
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an afternoon stroll through the surrounding hills
a little adrenaline in the slope, the old Subaru is amazing
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While I was writing a response to Rindert, I had my sanity reconfirmed.
There are now TWO Beavers flying back and forth from Houghton to Isle Royale. I have listened to the old Beaver’s slow turning radial engine for several years now. The big radial never turns more then 1800rpm. Then the other day I heard the radial fly over and it sounded different, maybe even sickly. I almost called the dock, to tell them their bird was in trouble.
Just now, I saw them fly over together. There it was, the old sound, and the new different sound. My worries are over. I rejoice in the sounds of the big radial recip engines flying over every hour or so. The turbo prop float plane is not nearly as pleasent to listen to, but it definitely crosses the sky in a big fat hurry.
Anyhow, good times in August!
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In the late 1960’s I used to go on these two week fishing expeditions with my dad. We would drive up to the Canadian soo and fly north two or three hundred miles and land on some mostly small lakes. In 1967 we were on one of these trips and when the day came to depart, no plane showed up to pick us up. Two days, then three and we finally heard the sound of the plane. In the meantime the black flies hatched, so about as close to hell on earth as I ever want to get. The plane that we flew up in was broke down so they finally sent a back up but it was a little underpowered and when we were ready to leave the lake was dead calm so with no chop the pontoons couldn’t break the suction of the water. The pilot taxied around a couple of circles to make some kind of wake and we finally got into the air. I heard the pontoons brush against the tops of the pines. Good times.
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That sounds like a Pat McManus story from outdoor life, must have been a great adventure!
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Finally got to mounting my tube bender on the stump and playing around with my scrap pipes and tubing.
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Also tomorrow I’m going to try to get the gosh darn blower in the Mazda running again. I might not have A/C anymore since I removed the condenser but I can at least get some kind of air for goodness’ sake.
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Rolling down the window should get you some air
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It’s hell on earth when I’m at a stop light. Right now I have a little 12v oscillating fan but it isn’t cutting it. Without my blowers I also don’t have defrost.
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It was a nice, sunny day yesterday. I thought - what could be better than go collect some wood and do some chunking. I fired up the Mazda and went for a safari down by the river to clean up some trails.
While enjoying myself in the sunshine, swinging the Vejnic and listening to the birds singing, it suddenly hit me…
…My thoughts had wandered away…I thought about @JocundJake and his roadtrip. One thought led to another, and I was suddenly back on @Wayne 's porch. I found myself smiling when remembering how Wayne laughed and commented on the word “veranda”. I didn’t quite get it at the time - why the sudden comment - until now, 2+ years later.
@KristijanL and I had both been phoning home to our wifes that afternoon. I recall the wife asked me what we where up to, and I answered: “Vi sitt på Waynes veranda” (I doubt a translation is needed).
Now, this is what I believe Wayne picked up. However still to this day, I don’t quite get difference in meaning between porch and veranda.
As far as know we have three words - veranda, altan and farstukvist - they pretty much mean front porch, back porch and entrance extension. I get the feeling there is somthing else involved when determining whether Americans have porches or verandas.
This is the advantage of manual labour - your brain is set free to process random information. Very refreshing. And by the time you’re back in the present the truck bed is loaded.
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